[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 98 (Thursday, July 15, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1388]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2005

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 13, 2004

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4766) making 
     appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and 
     Drug Administration, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year 
     ending September 30, 2005, and for other purposes:

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, today I rise on behalf of the 
hard-working farm families of Southwest Georgia who have more than 
earned the economic assistance that a tobacco buy-out would provide.
  By introducing this amendment, my colleagues seek to make a statement 
about the tobacco industry as a whole. In reality they are punishing 
American farmers who have already suffered the loss of more than fifty 
percent of their income. A tobacco buyout does not provide an incentive 
to grow tobacco nor does it get the U.S. Government out of the tobacco 
growing industry, rather it provides our farmers with an honest chance 
to survive.
  Those of us representing American tobacco growers are in the best 
position to understand the unique importance of tobacco reform. We have 
been working on a bipartisan basis for over two years to end the 
depression-era price support system that, despite severe cuts in quotas 
and the even greater economic losses of our farm families, has not been 
touched in nearly 18 years. This amendment obstructs our reform efforts 
and complicates the chances of any real solution. Our farmers deserve 
better.
  I urge my colleagues not to support this amendment.

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