[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 19587]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             BUYOUT AND FDA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 20, 2004, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Madam Speaker, I have just had a number of farmers 
leave my office this morning, and they are not real sure they are going 
to be farming this year. So I rise today because tobacco farmers, 
growers and allotment holders desperately need a tobacco buyout, and 
they expect Congress to pass one before leaving in October.
  Without a buyout, approximately half of North Carolina's tobacco 
growers could go out of business this year. A buyout means a difference 
between bankruptcy and solvency, between being forced out of business 
and retiring with dignity, and between surrendering everything to 
creditors or having a legacy to leave to the next generation.
  A buyout would pump almost $4 billion into rural North Carolina at a 
time when they are really hurting. This infusion of capital would 
launch our agriculture sector into a new era of growth and development 
and provide greater stability to those who wish to continue to farm.
  Because the buyout is so critical to North Carolina's farm families 
and to the continued strength of North Carolina's agriculture sector, 
it is time for Congress to make the tough decisions necessary to ensure 
the buyout's success. Now, in the past several months, it has become 
increasingly clear that the ultimate success of a tobacco buyout is 
directly tied to the inclusion of FDA regulation.
  Madam Speaker, tobacco growers do not want us to have a prolonged 
fight over FDA. That is what they have told me over and over again. 
They want a buyout today, and they are fully prepared to pay the price 
of FDA regulation to ensure and expedite the buyout package.
  I have long opposed FDA regulation of tobacco, but let me state 
clearly, if inclusion of FDA regulation gets us to the goal of enacting 
buyout legislation before we leave town this year, so be it.
  Madam Speaker, I know you are being asked by many people to separate 
FDA regulations from the buyout. They promise that a buyout can become 
law without FDA. Madam Speaker, I warn you here and now, if you choose 
that path and the buyout is defeated, either in the House or the 
Senate, for any reason, you and they will be responsible for that 
failure.
  The Senate buyout/FDA amendment garnered an incredible 78 votes, more 
than enough to override a filibuster or overcome a veto. The Senate 
Republican leader and Senate Republican Whip have said FDA is needed 
for a buyout to become law, so have Republican Senators Dole, DeWine 
and McCain. Today, we have seen one of the Senate conferees, the 
chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and 
Pension, Senator Gregg, will insist that FDA remain a part of the 
buyout package.
  Madam Speaker, tobacco growers and allotment holders are at the end 
of their rope. Failure is not an option. Congress must pass the buyout 
without further delay, and it is time to make the tough choices 
necessary to get it done.
  Madam Speaker, let us do right by our tobacco-farming families. Let 
us stop making promises and start delivering results. Let us get the 
buyout to our farmers and quota holders before the election this year. 
They deserve nothing less.

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