Reid Ribble: “I thank the chairman. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the legislation today. I'll tell you that I've often told folks…”

“I thank the chairman. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the legislation today. I'll tell you that I've often told folks back in Wisconsin that working in the House of Representatives is sometimes like living in an alternate universe. For the last hour and a half here we've been debating what is not rather than debating what is. Maybe we should debate what is, and that is what is in this bill. This bill, for the first time, eliminates direct payments to rich farmers. I think that sounds like a pretty good idea. It eliminates it by $14 billion. We remove subsidies to people who no longer farm, and I think that sounds like a pretty good idea. For Wisconsin, America's dairy land, we fix our Nation's dairy policy. That sounds like a pretty good idea as well. We fix forestry problems and improve timber harvest. We stop the brain drain that has been going on in our national forests. It improves the fruit and vegetable production in the Midwest. Finally, it minimizes reforms and improves important regulatory problems that have put burdens on producers. These are all of the really great things that are in the bill, and I think we ought to focus on what is there rather than on what is not. Let's worry about what is there today and worry about what is not tomorrow.”