[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 14382]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. COLEMAN (for himself, Mr. Kohl, Mr. Leahy, Ms. Collins, 
        Mr. Daschle, Mr. Johnson, and Mr. Harkin):
  S. 2609. A bill to amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act 
of 2002 to extend and improve national dairy market loss payments; to 
the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
  Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, I am pleased to help lead the effort to put 
the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program on equal footing with 
other counter-cyclical income support programs in the farm bill.
  The MILC program provides critical support to dairy farmers when 
prices are low. When dairy prices rebound, as they have in recent 
months, it makes no payments to dairy farmers and the government spends 
nothing.
  For thousands of family-sized dairy operations across the nation, the 
MILC program has meant the difference between bankruptcy and survival. 
Unfortunately, the program as authorized in the last farm bill will 
come to an end in September, 2005.
  As many of my colleagues will recall, the MILC program was 
established after an extremely painful debate over dairy compacts. I 
remain resolutely opposed to dairy compacts or any scheme that further 
exacerbates regional discontent in diary. Extending the MILC program to 
the 2007 Farm Bill--rather than reopening rancorous regional warfare 
over dairy--seems the only prudent course of action.
  This proposal is a bipartisan and national approach that will provide 
stability and predictability in an otherwise volatile industry. I 
encourage my colleagues to support this effort.

                          ____________________