Post by Ethan Hall (D-IA) on Dec 27, 2005 12:42:38 GMT -5
OMAHA, Nebraska: Congressman Ethan Hall made an appearance before a meeting of the National Farmer's Union in Omaha, Nebraska upon the invitation of the group's president. Congressmen Hall's remarks are as follows:
I'll keep my remarks short here, folks, but I wanted to talk real briefly about an alternative that we have to the Smart Farming Act, which is supported by President Warder. We don't need to throw the baby out with the bathwater, despite what the President would have us believe! We get a lot of benefits out of helping family farmers, even agribusiness - namely in better competition. The W.T.O. allots the United States and European countries a certain amount of subsidies that we can use, so it would be foolhardy to set ourselves behind the European block right at the outset!
Let's start small, by limiting agricultural subsidies and working in a bipartisan effort to make sure that we do this right. First off, let's put a cap on subsidies - which will give the system more fairness, without undercutting our farmers by slashing almost all aid. That will give us the money to give aid based on things like tech advancements and conservation. We can do this right by doing it slow, so let's not jump off the bridge with President Warder.
Let's start small, by limiting agricultural subsidies and working in a bipartisan effort to make sure that we do this right. First off, let's put a cap on subsidies - which will give the system more fairness, without undercutting our farmers by slashing almost all aid. That will give us the money to give aid based on things like tech advancements and conservation. We can do this right by doing it slow, so let's not jump off the bridge with President Warder.