[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 81 (Friday, May 16, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E955-E956]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




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

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. MICHELE BACHMANN

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 14, 2008

  Mrs. BACHMANN. Mr. Speaker, I rise with great reluctance to oppose 
the bill before us, H.R. 2419. After more than a year of negotiations, 
this is heralded as the best compromise that this Congress could come 
to. But with commodity prices through the roof, this bill rejects the 
opportunity to make a difference and instead subsidizes millionaires 
making up to $2.5 million. It makes only a cosmetic cut at best to 
direct payments at a time when some farmers are receiving record prices 
for their commodity crops.
  Taxpayer dollars are not Monopoly money yet this $300 billion bill 
treats them as such and at a time when middle-class families are 
feeling the pinch at the pump and the grocery store and the college 
admission office that is simply unconscionable.
  Additionally, this bill creates a permanent disaster program that is 
costly, unnecessary, and bureaucratic. The federal government already 
pays for (1) crop insurance to assist farmers when a crop fails, (2) 
counter-cyclical payments when prices drop, (3) marketing loans to 
allow farmers to finance a crop and guarantee a price, and (4) Direct 
Payments for no particular reason. Adding a whole new program to these 
existing programs is simply wasteful.
  Mr. Speaker, simply put: This is not a farm bill. This is not a bill 
that provides a safety net for community farmers that need our help. 
This is not a bill that addresses the skyrocketing costs of farm 
products that struggling families experience every day. This bill is 
business as usual Washington-style.
  Our agricultural policies are in desperate need of commonsense 
improvements and this bill fails to deliver. We should reject this bill 
that does nothing to support family farmers and go back to the drawing 
board for real reform.

[[Page E956]]

  Farming is an important part of Minnesota's culture. A true love of 
the land and of nature's beauty is ingrained in our collective psyche 
and I have too much respect for those who live by the land to support 
this bill which does nothing to reform our farm programs but soaks the 
American taxpayers--both those who farm for a living and those who do 
not--with a deluge of unrelated pork and wasteful spending.

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