[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 80 (Thursday, May 15, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E941-E942]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 2419, FOOD 
                  CONSERVATION AND ENERGY ACT OF 2008

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 14, 2008

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the 
Conference Report of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. 
I'd like to thank the conferees who worked diligently, day and night 
for weeks, to craft this bipartisan agreement.
  This bill provides an adequate safety net for our farmers and 
guarantees an affordable and nutritious food supply for the youngest 
and most vulnerable among us, all in a fiscally responsible way. This 
bill also helps producers of all commodities stay on the land they hold 
and love so they may continue with their livelihood, and encourages 
conservation of natural resources and land for use by future 
generations.
  The bill before us today addresses many of the needs of those in 
southwest Georgia and Georgia's Second Congressional District, which I 
represent. The peanut rotation program in the conference agreement, 
which we paved the way for in the House bill last summer, will bring 
peanut growers into the next generation of agriculture by encouraging a 
cleaner, greener method of planting while ensuring an affordable and 
accessible supply to the markets that rely on U.S.-grown peanuts.
  I'm also pleased that Congress has seen fit to include $100 million 
for Pigford Claims. This funding will begin to make up for USDA's 
historical inability to govern our Nation's agriculture programs in a 
fair, equitable, and nondiscriminatory manner.
  Many in this legislative body believe this bill is not perfect; truth 
be told, I am among them. I have concerns about this legislation's 
ability to completely serve our family farmers in the face of 
skyrocketing fertilizer and diesel costs, an unstable commodities 
market that could

[[Page E942]]

see prices plummet just as easily as it saw prices skyrocket, and 
increasingly unpredictable weather patterns that decimate entire crops 
in mere seconds.
  Despite those worries, I am even more concerned by those who view 
this bill as not having reformed our commodity programs enough.
  No, not every single reform requested by President Bush has been met. 
No, we haven't reduced the AGI to $200,000, or completely rearranged 
the accounting in this bill to deal with the changing baselines and 
budgetary gimmicking touted by the White House.
  But, there has been meaningful compromise on behalf of the lawmakers 
to whom this legislation is most important. This legislation meets the 
White House demands by more than half way; this legislation represents 
billions of dollars to not just rural America, but to people living in 
every corner of this country.
  And, if we can spend billions of dollars fighting a war and 
rebuilding another country, including supporting that country's land 
use and agriculture programs, I think we ought to be able to find it 
within our means here in Congress to support American agriculture.
  Mr. Speaker, we must pass this conference report today, and we must 
do it by a sizable margin to send a message to the President that we 
will not be bullied by his negotiating tactics.
  Today, I say to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle ``Let us not 
let the `perfect' be the enemy of the `good'.'' Let us pass this 
conference report today for our farmers and the others across this 
great Nation who rely on a safe and domestically grown food source.

                          ____________________