[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 987-988]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 RECOGNIZING THE NORRIS STEVENS FAMILY

 Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, today I congratulate the Norris 
Stevens family for being named the Drew County Farm Family of the Year 
for 2009.
  I have felt a long kinship with Drew County, and I am grateful for 
the friendships I have made there. I have many fond memories visiting 
the Drew County Courthouse, where my southern Arkansas field office was 
located when I was first elected to the U.S. Senate.
  As a seventh-generation Arkansan and farmer's daughter, and as 
chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, I understand firsthand 
and appreciate the hard work and contributions of our farm families. 
Agriculture

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is the backbone of Arkansas's economy, creating more than 270,000 jobs 
in the State and providing $9.1 billion in wages and salaries. In 
total, agriculture contributes roughly $15.9 billion to the Arkansas 
economy each year.
  Mr. President, our farm families are critical to our Nation's 
economic stability. We must work to continue the farm family tradition, 
so families such as the Stevens family are able to maintain their 
livelihoods and continue to help provide the safe, abundant, and 
affordable food supply that feeds our own country and the world and 
that is essential to our own economic stability.
  I salute the Stevens and all Arkansas farm families for their hard 
work and dedication.

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