[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 20773]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               THE FARM BILL AND REFORMING CROP INSURANCE

  (Mr. COOPER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. COOPER. Mr. Speaker, the one thing that we should all be able to 
agree on in this House regarding the upcoming farm bill is the need to 
reform crop insurance. The folks back home are demanding that we cut 
Federal spending, and this is not only a great way to do it, it is 
probably the best way to do it.
  There are only 16 crop insurance companies in America, but, sadly, 
each one is addicted to corporate welfare from Washington. Reforming 
these companies can save at least $2 billion a year without hurting a 
single farmer. Let's stop these middlemen from taking 40 cents out of 
every dollar the taxpayers offer to help the American farmer.
  The Cooper-Waxman-McGovern amendment unites this House, from 
conservative Blue Dogs to progressive Members. It is a bipartisan 
approach. We simply adopt the reform proposals of the Bush 
administration. That is all we do. These are not radical ideas; these 
are USDA approved. But these ideas will save over $2 billion a year. It 
won't kill the industry; it will just trim back the massive subsidy 
flows.
  Farm bill supporters should also endorse these because they reduce 
the need for new revenue, and the Agriculture Committee itself 
recognizes the need for reform. They just want to do it in the next 
farm bill.

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