[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 14740]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               TOBACCO FARMERS NEED THE PRESIDENT'S HELP

  (Mr. ETHERIDGE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning to call on the 
President to get off the sidelines and support the tobacco buyout once 
and for all.
  Mr. Speaker, across the country families are feeling the economic 
squeeze of higher prices for gasoline, food, and college, record job 
losses, and an uncertain future. In my State of North Carolina and in 
other rural areas, tobacco farm families are hurting because of the 
implosion of the Depression-era quota system. Farmers desperately need 
a tobacco buyout, which this House has passed, but the President 
continues to fail to support our farm families.
  Yesterday the President flew to Raleigh to raise money for his 
campaign. Although he collected $25,000 per plate in campaign funds, he 
failed yet again to stand up for our tobacco farmers and support the 
buyout.
  Let me state clearly: John Kerry supports the tobacco buyout and 
rural America. John Edwards supports the tobacco buyout and rural 
America. Democrats and Republicans alike in this House and the other 
body are working together to get it done.
  We need leadership for a change from the President of the United 
States for our small towns and rural communities.

                          ____________________