Finally movement?

From the House Ag Republicans:

Opening Statement of Rep. Bob Goodlatte

Ranking Member, House Committee on Agriculture

Meeting of House and Senate Conferees

April 10, 2008

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Suffice to say, this day has been a long time coming and while we still have a significant amount of work to do, it is a good sign that we are all meeting in this room here today. As we sit around the table today, we all have different ideas about what should be in farm bill based on what we think is best for the farmers and ranchers in our districts or states. But as the 60 Members of the Congress selected by the Leadership to guide this legislation through this process, we have an obligation to approach these negotiations with a broader perspective: the overall good of American agriculture.

American agriculture is best served by us working together in a collaborative fashion to put together strong agricultural policy that allows this sector of the economy to flourish. Farm bills contain much more than just farm policy, yet without farm policy, our nutrition programs, conservation programs and energy initiatives would suffer. The agriculture sector is directly responsible for meeting some of our most fundamental needs, yet it is target of constant criticism and litigation. Yet, here the 60 of us sit, charged with the significant responsibility of ensuring that our food and fiber supply remains safe, abundant and affordable and no matter how progressive our reforms in some areas or expansion of programs in other areas, it will not be enough for farm bill critics.

So, why bother? Because if we don’t, no one else will and it is not just the American farmer or rancher that will the feel the effects of our inaction, but every person that eats a meal, buys groceries, drives a car, reads a book, takes a prescription medication or relies on food stamps to get the daily nourishment they need. If we are not willing to put aside our differences and truly work together in a bipartisan, bicameral way to put together a solid, reform-minded bill, we cannot succeed. I encourage you to bring your ideas to the table and we will have serious discussions and deliberations about the issues in the farm bill, but we must all be willing to compromise.

It is imperative that we get straight to work and finish this bill as quickly as possible so that we do not have to keep prolonging this process without end. We are days away from the extended extension of the 2002 Farm Bill and it is not realistic to think we will be able to finish this conference, pass the conference report through both chambers and get the bill to the President for his signature in the next week. We have entered peak planting season. Weeks ago farmers began planting their crops without any idea of what

policy, if any, would be in place when they pull their crops out of the ground. And we’ve yet to resolve the uncertainty that inaction on the farm bill has caused them. This is unacceptable. Our farmers and ranchers have already waited too long, we must act with purpose and haste to resolve the differences between us.

And no one knows more than Chairman Peterson how important finishing this bill is. I want to commend the efforts of Chairman Peterson who has worked tirelessly to move this bill forward. Between his meetings with House Members, Members of the Senate and the Administration, farm groups and various other constituent groups, dealing with media inquiries on a constant basis, I’m not sure there’s anybody he hasn’t talked to about the farm bill. But all of those conversations and all of those meetings have helped us get where we are today and I want to thank him for his leadership and his efforts to make this process as bipartisan, bicameral, and transparent as possible. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and both sides of the Capitol to bring this bill to the finish line. I believe we CAN produce a modern, forward-looking farm bill that addresses the needs of all areas of American agriculture and will win the support of the House, Senate and the President.