Steven Gunderson: “I was going to withhold my discussions on the dairy title until we got into general debate on the amendments later today…”

“I was going to withhold my discussions on the dairy title until we got into general debate on the amendments later today or tomorrow, but as I listened to the rule debate, I think there are some things that need to be fully understood. The committee proposal on dairy is not the Wisconsin proposal, it is not the Midwest proposal, it is certainly not the Steve Gunderson proposal. Many of you are well aware that we did try to move toward a free market as a part of balanced budget one. Our leadership came to us and they said can you find the maximum amount of reform that is politically acceptable? And so we did that. We have spent the last 2 months working with literally every region of the country to bring about as close to a national consensus as you will ever get the dairy industry to have in terms of reform. That is what is in the committee bill. And I think it is also important to understand when we talk about all these charges about what this bill is going to do to consumers, let us ask USDA. USDA does not talk about a billion-dollar impact on feeding programs; USDA says someplace between $4 to $500 million if we keep the California standards and mandate them for the entire country.”