[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9197]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       ``NO COST'' SUGAR PROGRAM

  (Mr. BLUMENAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, there is a Dear Colleague circulating on 
Capitol Hill that talks about our no-cost sugar subsidy program. I 
would suggest that each of our Congressional offices have a little 
contest, take the certified smart young interns that we have working 
for us and have a contest in your office. See how long it takes them to 
prove how bogus that claim is.
  How long will it take them to find out that there is a $1- to $2 
billion cost to the taxpayer and the consumer, that there are 
environmental costs for cleaning up the Everglades, that this program 
threatens over 500,000 American jobs in the candy industry that are 
being driven to Mexico and Canada because our cost of sugar is two to 
three times the world price.
  Those interns will find that 40 percent of the benefits go to 1 
percent of the growers, and just two huge companies in south Florida 
get $120 million a year.
  It is time to make modest adjustments and have a serious discussion 
about how to treat sugar in this assembly. I strongly urge approval of 
the amendment that Mr. Flake and I will be offering later today.

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