[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 28, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H1401]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                DO NOT DESTROY AMERICAN WORKING FAMILIES

  (Mrs. MINK of Hawaii asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks and include 
extraneous material.)
  Mrs. MINK of Hawaii. Mr. Speaker, the House is about to debate the 
farm bill, and it will be a contest of the wills of both sides of this 
Chamber in its dedication to the concept of jobs.
  One of the most interesting developments in the Republican 
Presidential race is that they have discovered that jobs are uppermost 
in people's minds. In debating the farm bill, I hope that this House 
will keep in mind the fact that we are talking about jobs, not about 
commodities.
  There is this wholesale effort to try to destroy the farm community. 
I come from a farming district. Sugar is an important commodity. If 
they do away with the sugar program, it will mean 6,000 jobs in my 
district alone.
  And so when we come to this floor to talk about the farm bill, it is 
not commodities. It is not some abstract notion about something that we 
put on the table to consume. It is thousands of jobs in the sugar 
industry alone. It is 420,000 jobs that are about to be eliminated.
  So, focus on what the American people are concerned about. It is jobs 
in America. Let us not destroy our American working families.

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