On the recordJune 19, 2013
In response. To my good friend in Minnesota, my average dairy herd size in western Wisconsin is 125 cows. I don't have the mega-dairy operations and that. So we'll have plenty of time to debate the federally run supply management program that he's been advocating for in the FARRM Bill, which I think will be a disaster and won't work. But to my friend from Iowa, we're not talking about eliminating the crop insurance program. This risk-management tool will be in place. It won't touch 96 percent of the producers out there. The last time I checked, we're running some record budget deficits, and there are areas in this farm program, especially in crop insurance, that we can go to for sensible, commonsense savings that's economically justifiable while maintaining risk within the program today. It's a little ironic that we have such defenders of this crop insurance program when last year alone, the typical insurance company received $1.46 in taxpayer subsidies to every dollar that went into the pocket of our farmers. And five of the 10 biggest insurance companies offering these programs are foreign-owned entities. As the gentlelady from Connecticut just pointed out, many of them are using tax havens on the taxpayer dime. And how they can get up here and justify this program with a straight face is really beyond me. With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
