nine resolve that the following member is and is hereby elected to the following standing committee one committee on natural resources mr scully and two committee on for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise the speaker i call up the conference report on the bill h r twenty four nineteen the food conservation and energy act of two thousand and eight and ask for its immediate consideration the clerk will report the title of the pursuant to pursuant to the house resolution eleven eighty nine the gentleman from minnesota mr peters and the gentleman from virginia mr goodlatte ajmal control thirty minutes chair recognizes the gentleman from minnesota yield ten minutes of my time to the gentleman from wisconsin mr kind and ask unanimous askant that this be allowed and that he be allowed to control that time this is because of a mix up in the rules committee so we want to make speaker members it's been a long road to get to this point and i want to start off by thanking mr goodlatte the ranking member of the committee again for his great work my subcommittee chairman  who started this process off of the ranking members on the republican side and my friends on the ways and means committee mr rangle especially mr pomeroy for their hard work to get to this point the speaker for backing us up and  helping us keep on track here to get to a final consideration and for all of my colleagues in the house for being patient and working with us and giving us your input we have come to a point where i believe we have a good bill  bill spending is going to be allocated on a ten year basis which is what we have to go by the nutrition in this new food secure city of conservation and energy act is seventy four percent of the spending over the next ten years and this food bill and commodities are sixteen percent back in zero two these numbers were sixty five and and thirty five or something conservation is seven percent and the energy in the special crops and the other items are three percent that shows another chart how we got to those numbers we had a fifty eight billion dollar reduction in our baseline that happened before we started because the prices were up and the amount of money going out to farmers was down so we started off if the eight billion in the hole we were provided ten billion dollars from our friends in the ways and means committee of additional spending over the baseline and this is how that spending was allocated out nutrition was more than the ten billion dollars of new money that was put in the bill ten billion three hundred million conservation additional four billion dollars now especially crops two point three billion and in the commodity title we actually had a reduction in addition to the thirty to the fifty eight billion that we reduced we had another three point six billion that we took out of the commodity title to help put money into these other areas having done that we still have an adequate safety net for farmers it's very much like the current law that we've been operating under and we have made some minor changes and we have brought the the a g i limits down from two and a half million dollars to five hundred thousand dollars on non farm income seven hundred fifty thousand dollars on farm income so we've made some reform not as much as some people would like but more than others would like so we got both sides a little bit upset so i think we're doing something pretty close to what we should and to show you how the in attrition you can see there's a substantial increase conservation the commodity title is down and energy is up a little bit so we have i think a balance bill that maintains a safety net it and includes a new disaster program that is paid for this bill is paid for the ten billion dollars just comes out of custom user fee extension which is not a tax increase which has allowed us to have a bipartisan bill so we've put a bill together here that i think addresses what people are concerned about in this country it has a loan guarantee program for cellulosic ethanol it has a new bio energy reserve could i have additional one minute the gentleman is recognized for an additional one minute has a bio energy reserve program to allow us to learn out of grow switchgrass and how to harvest it and store it and move it what he biomass so we can get  ethanol going we have for the first time a significant money in for fruits and vegetables which are fifty percent of the agriculture in the united states we have country of origin labeling is going to be mandatory on fruits and vegetables and meat starting september thirtieth we have interstate meat shipment and other issues been hanging on for twenty years so we've solved a lot of problems in this bill we have a bill i think that covers all the interest in the country and when i have a bill that we should all be proud to vote for in this house so again i want to thank all my colleagues for their hard work and i look forward to having a strong vote on this and encourage you all to support this bill now you'll back jill and reserves the balance gentleman reserves the balance of this  the gentleman from virginia is recognized misspeak i asked him consent that ten minutes of the time allocated to me be granted to the gentleman from arizona mr flakes of the he can manage that that time without objection so order the gentleman from virginia to recognize the speaker i yield myself two minutes gentleman's reckon up two minutes i arrived today in support of the farm bill conference report i thank the chairman all the other members of the agriculture committee on both sides of the aisle for working in such a bipartisan spirit to produce good legislation i also thank my staff and the majority staff for their hard and i know it to them seemingly endless work on this legislation this farm bill contains solid reforms while addressing a variety of issues including forestry rural development renewable energy nutrition conservation research specialty crops and livestock and still maintains the safety net necessary to ensure a safe reliable and affordable domestic crude supply this farm bill is a good work product and i'm proud of the work we've done the bill contains more reforms than any previous farm bill eliminating payments to millionaire farmers eliminating the three entity rule and increasing the efficiency of the crop insurance program among numerous other reforms its one hundred percent pay go compliant and is fiscally responsible scoring four billion dollars less than the house bill and five billion dollars less than the senate bill i think you would be hard pressed mr speaker to find a conference report in the history of this body that came back scoring less than the house and senate bills that is a significant achievement and i think it would be foolish to overlook the positive changes this farm bill has undergone when we talk about the farm bill many believe that the congress is voting on a two hundred eighty eight billion dollars bill that goes directly to farmers the truth is that only seventeen percent of the farm bill ending is devoted to farm programs while nearly seventy percent goes to the nutrition title alone in fact there is very little farm in a farm bill anymore in two thousand and two the farm program funding comprise just three quarters of one percent of the federal budget today farm program funding accounts for just one quarter of one percent of the federal budget a two fold reduction in just five years agriculture policy is essential to the lives of every american and it is important that the policy we formulate is responsible effective and i yield myself an additional thirty second gentleman's record for an additional thirty secs and at a low cost to the taxpayer and this bill meets those requirements i support the farm bill because i believe american agriculture is vital to our national security health and way of life and i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important legislation i reserve the balance my time gentleman from minnesota the gentleman from west cons new farm bill they need to know what the rules regulations are that they have to work and live under but we need to do a farm bill the right way not the wrong way one that also maintains an important safety net for family farmers across the country but is also responsible to the american taxpayer unfortunately i kind of feel like paul harvey here in the well today about to give the rest of the story and this farm bill could beef summed up in simple words it's a missed opportunity in fact it can be summarized by the phrase where's the beef where's the real reform why do i say that let's take a look for a second at the so called reforms under the commodity subsidy programs by the time you food off farm and on farm income and allow double entities dual entities on the same farm a nd their adjusted gross income you take that adjusted gross income up to two point five million dollars in they still qualify for taxpayer subsidies that would constitute approximately two tenths of one percent  farm entities that might be affected by these so called reforms are the direct payments let's remind ourselves these direct payments are twenty five billion dollars that will go up for the next five years regardless of price regardless of production that's happening throughout this country it's not a safety net it's an entitlement program that each and every one of us will have to go home and look our taxpayers in the eyes and try to explain to them why some of their tax dollars going to go to a farm entity with an adjusted gross income of two point five million dollars if you look at the loan efficiency program in the countercyclical the two other subsidy programs that currently exist we went in the wrong direction rather than the right direction with reform they will still be allowed double dipping under the loan deficiency program and the loan rates are being increased rather than decreased and under the countercyclical the target prices are going to be increased what does that mean it means that they will be triggered much earlier and will cost the taxpayer much more if prices start to decline one of the reasons there is less funding out of the commodity title is because we're at record time of commodity prices throughout the country in fact since the last time the farm bill was on the floor last year for consideration you look at the five major commodity titles and they have gone up tremendously since that time wheat an additional one hundred twenty six percent soybeans up fifty seven percent corn up forty five percent cotton thirty two and rice thirty one percent those are the main subsidized crops that we have throughout the country yet instead of going forward with some reasonable and eminently justifiable reform to tighten up these program i am sort is more justifiable to the taxpayer they're going in the opposite direction i always believe that we have the capability in light of current market prices to produce a farm bill that maintains an important safety net for our family farmers but in a way that's less market and less trade distorting and is also justifiable to the taxpayer who is currently facing increased costs of food and feel that will be paying more alternately over the next five to six or seven years by the time we get a chance to look at the next farm bill and talk about the reforms that may be needed i led an effort five years ago on the last farm bill for some commonsense reforms people back then said wait for the next one it's coming i've been here long enough to understand that tomorrow never comes and today is the opportunity we have in light of current market prices to do the right thing and i'm sure it's my colleagues to vote no on the farm bill the six recognition gentleman from minnesota the shoemaker i'm going to recognize my good friend mr rangle before i do i'd like to recognize your call soils conservation program unfortunately this house language did not survive in conference existing programs like krypto not address the needs of muck farmers like the black dirt farmers in orange county new york and the hudson valley this is led to full retirement of soil and rate rent inflation the needs that would have been addressed in the house bill remain proposed administrative changes and future craft contracts will not address impacts of contracts that are in place today and will be perceptible years the ongoing challenges for farmers in my district and throughout the northeast growers especially crops and producers of monk crops who have been thrice under served by previous farm bills again i think the chairman asked if he would be willing to continue working with us today on solutions that will be conservation goals and address unintended economic consequences of existing programs i hope that i thank the congressman from new york for his remarks and his work on this issue these are indeed some serious concerns about the implementation the new york prep and its impact on the gentlemen's muck farmers it is my understanding that the u s d a and the state in new york have taken steps to ensure that any new enrollments will not have such negative impacts the conscious report under consideration direction secretary to work with the producers in new york smocks oil areas to use existing programs to help implement farm bill conservation programs and acres still under production i look forward to continuing to work with the congressman from new york on without objection so ordered gentlemen new york to recognize i know that some of you may want to let an old man like me from harlem that have been interests in the ag bill distinguished colleague from new york talk about fahmy so important to us as a form state that we be involved in those type of things but the truth of the matter is that while i recognize there are times the be quiet and to listen and look intelligent i had earl pomeroy right there at my side asking what are they talking about i've learned a lot about trust funds that i didn't even agriculture but at the end of the day we have to play the cards that have been given to us and so i do know the good that has come out of this bill and the pride that i got as a member of this congress and seeing the work that mr peterson has been able to do working with the republicans this deduction that the other side in all parts of the bill and all parts of the leadership on the house and on the senate side and with them and i'm telling you if all of us could have the optimism that he's this played in the last few years about the salvation of our country we would have no problems it was like a big j saw puzzle and each time he told me we got the last piece there and when he plugged it in something even bigger dropped out we buried this bill so many times but i'm glad to see that through the bipartisanship the friendship and the cooperation with be able to give this country and the world a product that we are proud of a product that our from a sub worked on to be able to be the food basket not only of the world with wisconsin gentleman from wisconsin is recognized the two minutes i think the gentleman for yielding mr speaker i say this regretfully but this bill is an absence of leadership this bill shows that we're not leading that america is not leading that's a new majority is not leading why do i say that the mood new majority brought this bill to the floor and they waved paygo they swept paygo under the rug and they're violating paygo in two places in this bill a lo they'll say we're trying to conform with the senate pay go rules well that does so at the very expense of the house pay go rules what i find interesting is right after this bill is passed they're bringing up the new budget resolution which if that passed before this bill passed would violate the senate pay go rules how convenient the point is this were sweeping money under the rug this bill is hiding twenty three billion dollars in an extra cost it's not having measuring the amount of payment increases in price increases th here but where this is really a lost in leadership is i don't think the american taxpayer who is having a hard time making ends meet today who is stretching their paycheck really far with high gas and food prices like the idea that we're going to give couples earning two and a half million dollars subsidies for growing agriculture why are we giving agriculture subsidies to multimillionaires this does not reflect the values that the taxpayers sent us here to achieve more to the point mr speaker this will hurt the family farmers that's what a farm bill ought to be about helping family farmers not corporate farmers but by doing it this way or making it harder to open up markets for family farmers so they can sell  dairy to all their other products in foreign markets ninety seven percent of the world's consumers don't live in this country they're in other countries we should open the markets for their products this bill with its huge subsidies closes those markets it hurts the third world from being able to light live their lives out of poverty and it waste taxpayer dollars and all you have to do is look at the role that passage says wade pay go one more time the rules don't apply let's hide all this extra spending this among many other reasons why people should vote against this bill gentleman's time has expired gentleman from virginia i think at this time i'm pleased to yield two minutes the gentleman from oklahoma mr lucas a ranking member of one of our some many gentlemen from oklahoma's rec many without objection so ordered jones recognized mr speaker i rise today to offer a few brief observations about h r twenty four nineteen the farm bill now let me preface my comments by noting that this is a representative democracy and while i may not always agree with the actions of this body i am obligated to vote the will of my oklahoma constituents my farmers and ranchers want to farm bill they know how important it is to have a comprehensive federal farm policy for both producers and consumers of america's food and fiber they watched as the majority leadership of this body ordered the cuts of three hundred million dollars of direct farm commodity support and soon they'll figure out that a single maybe earmarks not the proper phrase a single project in this package will spend almost two hundred fifty million dollars to subsidize a land purchased by a private entity they know that the committee had no new money to spend on production agriculture when we started to write this bill and they will be amazed when they realize that the majority leadership of the house demanded and received ten billion dollars in new government nutrition programs they fry it thrived under the flexibility of the last two farm bills they understand that raising target prices and loan rates is a step back to the old days the federal government making planning decisions for them it's not hard to read between the lines the elected leadership of my farm groups back home fear that this is the best that this body is capable of with this house leadership and they are frightened of all the leading candidates for president i understand the fear my fellow farmers and ranchers in oklahoma have for the future of agriculture and at their request i will vote for this as we would say back home in oklahoma half a loaf but this process and this policy i fear aren't good for american food producers or american food consumers thank you mr speaker yield back the balance of my time gentleman of minnesota speaker i'm proud to please conference report but also right to congratulate and commend our chairman and ranking member for a job well done this is a bipartisan product of this committee we very seldom have partisan disagreements but we have regional differences and this bill reflects those regional regional differences it also reflects that all of us had to give all of us had to compromise every title of this bill is a compromise that all of us work together so that we can accomplish in title one we were able to maintain the safety net at the same time to have reform all written into this law title two and conservation and increase of four billion dollars of investment in conservation programs everyone's talking about the price of energy in this country and in part a first time in an ag bill we have a significant investment in energy we have a loan guarantee program for selling cellulosic ethanol that's going to allow us to begin to wean ourselves off the tendency foreign energy and the energy in the nutrition title in this bill is over a ten billion dollar increase in investment in nutrition programs in the department of agriculture this is a good bipartisan agreement i urged to adopt the gentleman's time has expired and the six recognition obviously a lot of their e i've got a two hundred acre farm myself we rotate corn and soybeans have some beef cattle on it and one of the additional concerns i have with the subsidy programs is how skewed it is to the very biggest entities over two thirds of these commodity subsidy programs are going to the ten percent largest entities in agriculture today why is this a problem where i'm from while a lot of these began to these are using the additional subsidy mom money to gobble up the family farms that exist around them it's driving up land prices in wisconsin and making it virtually impossible for new beginning farmers to enter agriculture and you look at the reforms that are being touted in this farm bill before us today and they just don't meet the test of time the income limits that apply currently to direct payments by the time you count dual incomes on the same farm go as high as two point five million in adjusted gross income that's after expenses that's after all the cost of doing business is deducted out and according to last year's tax returns for those who file the schedule and farm income report for tax purposes these reforms that are being touted today might affect two tenths of one percent of foreign entities throughout the country two tenths of one  percent now give me a break and the income limits have been lifted for the other two subsidy programs loan deficiency program and countercyclical program and to top it all off they created the granddaddy of all  permanent disaster fund which we all know based on past history is going to be a very targeted very regional dispersion of this new disaster relief fund now when you think about the fact you've got three existing subsidy programs already l d countercyclical the direct payments you throw on top of that the crop insurance subsidization that goes on in the farm bill why do we need to add another layer of entitlement funding with this new disaster relief program but we all understand how these farm bills come together they usually go above baseline they have to come to the ways and means committee to find offsets in order to pay for it initial thirty seconds jealous was conscious recognize from additional thirty seconds to come up with enough money to throw enough groups and enough individuals at enough programs in order to buy people off or on here and it's the reform effort that's the first casualty in this entire process we saw it five years ago we're seeing it today my fear is we're going to see it six or seven years from now when the next farm is up for consideration it is a missed opportunity the president is right we ought not be giving taxpayer subsidies to wealthy individuals at a time of record high commodity prices in the marketplace i reserve the balance of my time gentleman reserves the balance of this time the gentleman from arizona without objection carolina's reckon us one minute thank you princeton to revise and extend that objection so order thank you mr chairman this bill is a victory for farmers a victory for communities of victory for rule america is chairman of the rule development subcommittee i'm pleased that this conference report contains strong rule development title is support small business expands access to broadband and addresses the critical infrastructure backlog at the u s d a i'm very excited that this conference report also authorizes regional development economic commissions across the country to put a federal focus on jobs and economic development at a time when our economy is struggling the authorisation of the southeast crescent authority or called the southern regional economic commission in this bill represents a great opportunity to help our rule communities thrive for generations to come and also help small business with a new rule entrepreneur and micro enterprise program that will provide technical and financial assistance to businesses employing less than ten people which are the fastest generator of new jobs mr speaker i'm pleased that we have an opportunity to move rule america forward and no longer leave it behind with business and economic opportunity and that's what this farm bill does in my congress follow suit to do the same almost on has expired gentlemen from arizona they have myself two minutes genom of marijuana directed us to mess with mr speaker sometimes here in washington we tend to drink our own bath water and believe our own press releases and if we're to hear some of the debate here you think this is the best bill in the world that everybody out there has got to support it let me just read a couple of editorials from around the country to give you an idea how this bill is being played outside of washington the columbus dispatch says the current comprehensive version of the farm b includes little retreat from the subsidy program that for decades has bled taxpayers fat in the already fat distorted market incentives soured us trade hurt the environment and done little for family farmers san francisco chronicle from the fiscal watchdog perspective this bill is a sign that the new democratic leadership is this praful get as a republican leadership that replaced that more profligate the two hundred eighty six billion dollar farm bill is good politics only because the millions of taxpayers who are paying the bill are not pushing as hard as the relatively few who benefit the album the times corn prices are up samus flour that means farmers are enjoying boom times so what does congress even so why would congress even think of giving more generous subsidies it's a good question spartanburg herald journal the fact that reform has failed and congress is about to pass a renewal of the same failed wasteful subsidies is a testament to all what's wrong with politics in washington congress has reached a house senate compromise bill that will continue to take money from you and other family members struggling with high food prices to further enrich big corporate farmers who are already earning record prices for their crops the dallas morning news the legislators negotiating the new farm bill evidently didn't do their own don't do their own grocery shopping otherwise they would have seen the dramatic rise in food prices and they would have done more to trim more than trim all the four hundred million from the twenty six billion in direct payments subsidies they're planning for farmers we could do a lot better than this one associate myself with the comments of mr kind from member on the coachman gentleman from north carolina's reckon asked to mince now thank the gentleman for yielding in thank you mr speaker iraq today to support this farm bill and especially to thank chairman peterson ranking member good and really especially the incredible members of the house republican and democrat staff for their tremendous work on this very difficult just liason however i must oppose a provision that should not be in this conference report mr speaker our nation the generic ultra policy for the twenty first century anyone who's paying attention to the grocery bill lightly can see that things are changing around the world and in this country it's showing up in the price food if you're keeping up with the news the changes we're seeing in higher prices are being played out as full blown food shortages in other parts of the world sound agriculture policy is not just about our economy it's a key component in our national security but speaker we need to sledge islay sion and i support the passage of the agriculture provisions but there is a provision that was added late in the process that has nothing to do with agriculture nothing to do with farmers or our food supply it's a provision that will liberalize our current trade practices with haiti mr speaker i don't know what the impact of this haiti provision will be leading textural group say the impact will be minimal while a positive benefits of the farm bill will be much greater while i would reject this policy change under any procedure this haiti provision was added without hearings without any debate speaker out of principle i don't think this is the time or the place to add this trade division with haiti and therefore to make that point i am going to cast a no vote on the farm bill conference report today mr speaker let me be very clear  is to protest this haiti provision but my goal is to ensure passage of the farm bill and though there's a veto threat in the white house that the president decides to follow through our will be there voting to override him because i would just say to my friend mr kind you know we all want the whole loaf or bread but sometimes we take a few slices and you have to you have to know the last reform is taken place as chairman live talking to a committee and working with my ranking member  to avoid a very controversial issue and very forward pressure program also the jury to be ensured or producers have adequate safety net and our industry continues to thrive farming would provide a safety net for farmers to increase agriculture but hooters on and off the farm also believe in fiscal discipline and reform and it's for these reasons that i regretfully express my opposition to this farm bill the food conservation and energy act of two thousand and eight during my years of service on the house agriculture committee i've sought to be a voice for indiana family farmers and an advocate for reform i've worked to advocate changes in this legislation and i i want to express my profound appreciation to chairman peterson and the ranking member goodlatte for including provisions in this farm bill that will save indiana jobs and create new opportunities for farmers across the midwest while i differ alternately in the support for the final product i respect deeply these two men and i'm grateful for their work on behalf of these issues i'm opposing the farm bill because i believe it's fiscally responsible and does not contain the kind of reforms in american agriculture that these times demand this bill fails to reduce government subsidies to farmers fails to encourage market based reforms to the nation's agricultural policy and fails to promote international trade it also fails to meet our nation's foreign policy needs within our own budget guidelines farm bill being considered today will actually increase the size and scope of government and will cost taxpayers more than six hundred fifty billion dollars over the next ten years in comparison with the previous farm bill this bill will cost sixty five billion dollars a year as opposed to the forty five billion dollars before it is in effect a forty four percent increase in spending and let me say i i support family farming and i loathe the of many who criticize farm subsidy programs ignoring completely the real world input costs that american farmers face but this bill still goes too far in my judgment will continue to allow married couples with household incomes up to two point five million to receive subsidies and subsidy payments oftentimes under this legislation and previous bills are concentrated in the hands of a few with the top ten percent of recipients receiving nearly two thirds of all farm payments there are other problems with this bill as well it would allow farmers to lock in price support payments at the lowest possible market price and sell their crops at the highest price and the bill also ignores the plight of consumers facing skyrocketing food prices by making a bad sugar program worse you know mr speaker i come to the floor with a sense of melancholy about this having been on the agriculture committee during the development of the last farm bill and coming from the great state of indiana it has always been my ambition to support indiana farmers to support them with federal policy that enables farmers to sustain the american cutting edge in global agriculture but i've always sought to do that in a way that protects our federal budget and protects the american taxpayer a lot for those removed a number that i are opposing this farm bill that expression in urge my colleagues to do likewise gentleman from virginia the speaker at this time i'm pleased to yield one minute and i believe the gentleman from arizona will also yield one minute to the gentleman from missouri mr holeshot that the gentleman from virginia yells the gentleman from missouri one minute and the gentleman from arizona yells the gentleman from missouri one minute for a total of two minutes the gentleman of minutes from missouri is recognized for two minutes in without objection so ordered and i thank the tag team here for allowing me this time and arrises support of this conference report and i commend my friend for his patience and his persistence and bringing to this body this consensus product now i realize that fewer and fewer americans  have a direct connection to the land one reason is because it's becoming quite tough to make a living in production agriculture and certainly that disconnect to rural america has evident here on the floor of the house dwight eisenhower once said farming looks mighty easy when your plows a pencil and you're a thousand miles away from the corn field now or to put it another way mr chairman i quote the saying on the plaque in your office that said if farming were easy congressman would do it well i am a farmer i'm the son of a farmer and the grandson of a farmer agriculture runs in cycles and sometimes those cycles are pretty volatile in september two thousand and five during our corn harvest after hurricane katrina the price of corn at a river terminal in southeast missouri was a dollar forty and i don't recall anybody other than yours truly coming to the floor to extol that fact yesterday that same bushel of corn would have brought five ninety seven at least on the chicago board of train and chicago board of trade and even that isn't a windfall now because we know that it's forty seven percent more this year to plant an acre corn in missouri than it was last year fertilizer is up one hundred twelve percent grain contracts and loans are getting harder to come by debt has increased by thirty percent in the last five years you know farming looks a lot today like it did before the crash of the eight we also know with all respect to those who talk about propagate spending that about three quarters of the farm bill dollar and this bill will not go to farmers but to the equally noble goal of ensuring that americans have enough to eat and quite frankly i expect that most of the farm pay it's to production agriculture and this bill will never have to be paid because the market price is going to be about the trigger level farmers what time is expired so six recognition gentleman from minnesota speaker i am not pleased to recognize the chairman of the general farm commodities and rush management subcommittee outstanding chairman from north carolina mr etheridge for one one minute gentleman from piece of legislation that the house ag committee has produced and one that affects every citizen in this country agriculture is the number one industry and my home state of north carolina has responsible for sixty six billion dollars in income and employs almost one feel for the state's workforce misspeaking it is critical that we have a stable foreign policy in this country not just for north carolina but for every child that participates in a nutrition program for maybe food bank in for  school lunch program the building creases the funding for the nation's nutrition programs global one wellwood ten billion dollars provides a one point one billion for them a new level energy and increases funding for conservation efforts by six point six billion so is the ranking republican mr goodlatte and i know they have worked hard to produce this bill of a clearly most americans think that washington is broken and this farm bill frankly is another example of that i know there's some reform in this bill but when you begin to step back and look at the bill we didn't get anywhere near the reform that i think most americans would expect and at a time when we've got the highest commodity prices that we've seen in a generation you might think that we would take a slightly different approach to the farm bill but unfortunately because of the process because of the negotiations it didn't happen and i just want to point out what i would describe and abused in the farm bill for their own pet projects and if you look at some of the pet projects there are three in this bill that i'm a single out in our motion to recommit one it would strip out the trail to nowhere a land swap that was  airdropped into this bill by the senior senator from vermont and the language require the u s forest service to sell a portions of the green mountain national forest exclusively to vermont's bromley ski resort and believe it or not to accommodate this obscure demand portions of the appalachian national scene a trail may have to be moved now actually to move the appalachian scenic trail earmark for the salmon industry that was airdropped into this bill in secret provision was never considered in the house never considered in the senate one hundred seventy billion dollars to bail out salmon fisheries now it should also no that after hurricane katrina when the entire gulf coast fishing industry was annihilated they actually only got one hundred twenty six million dollars from the federal government to fix their fisheries i don't think taxpayers ought to be ought to be required to put up the money for this for an aramark air market air drop or air drop earmark that was brought into this bill never having been considered in either body and finally  proposal was stripped out a two hundred fifty million dollars earmark it's as secured by the chairman of the senate finance committee the gentleman from montana this earmark incredibly enough is targeted for forest the house fish yes we're going to target a forest the houses fish yes incredibly what we would call forest fish only one forest in the country happens to have fish in it and it just happens to be based in montana lo montana where the senators from i don't think the taxpayers i want to be able to have to pay two hundred fifty million dollars to take care of forest fish listen the american people are struggling with the high cost of living whether it's the cost of gasoline the cost of food trying to make sure that they've got health care concerned about whether they have a job tomorrow be able to afford their home mortgage and here we are moving a farm bill that has ear marks in that just don't pass the straight face test and so i would ask my colleagues if you think that this is a wise use of taxpayer farms you go ahead and voted against it but i would invite my colleagues on both sides of the  gentleman must come again to speak at this time unlike the yield two minutes to a strong advocate of reform and for a strong conservation title in this farm bill my good friend from oregon earl blumenauer gentleman from morgan has reckon us for two minutes i appreciate the gentleman's courtesy and i as i appreciate his leadership i heard my friend from madison from missouri talk about the lack of connection to rural america and i think that is in fact the case and we're missing an opportunity with this farm bill to try and strengthen it because this farm bill continues to shortchange most farmers it will fail to fund the majority of the environmental programs that go lacking and most farmers will continue to get nothing nothing from this bill and the richest ten percent will get two thirds to three quarters of the direct farm parm prior payments alone there are a number of things in this bill that i like that i have been working for since the last farm bill to help provide some support for people who grow food not just the five big commodities i'm glad that there's an increase in nutrition but the reason the president is should and i think will veto this bill has nothing to do with the good stuff it's that it is time to reform the farm bill to reduce the limits the two hundred thousand dollar limit on a g i that the president is arguing for is the right thing to do it's something that we ought to be able i have a bipartisan majority to support it will save the taxpayer money it will enable us to fully fund the environmental programs that are so critical particularly for small and medium sized farmers and ranchers and we don't have to shortchange nutrition the nutrition provisions ought to be strengthened and we've got lots of money that's flowing to the richest farmers in america who don't need it that's wrong in fact they have assumed that this bill is so agree jess i invite any of my colleagues to look at section sixty nineteen they carve out an exemption to the freedom of information act so an additional thirty seconds we should not drop a veil of secrecy over this bill we should open it up let the american public know what's in it if for no other reason the notion that we're going to try and play a game of hide the marble with them and not be honest about the true costs and the true benefits illustrates what's wrong with this bill why the president should be told what and why each and every member should the thing with chairman of the department operations oversight nutrition and forestry subcommittee one of our outstanding chairman mr baka from california one million thank you very much mr chairman steele and i for one the gentleman from california is recognize for one minute thank you very much mr chairman for yellin i want to thank our chairman calling peterson for his leadership i want to thank the minority a ranking member mr goodluck in supporting this a stark goal of farm bill which i strongly support as chair of the department of operation subcommittee and i'm strong support of this bill that increases nutrition by ten point three six four billion dollars right now there are thirty eight million americans who do not have enough food  eat this farm bill to help these people fight hunger in america by my make an historic investment in attrition program that will help thirteen million american families this will help an additional ten million americans including three hundred  twenty thousand working poor families three hundred eighty thousand elderly and disabled and plus our veterans this will help put food on the table for many individuals that don't have food this farm bill also ensures that low income elementary school children have access to fresh fruit and vegetables in schools by expanding the u s da snack program to all fifty states leaving no child behind who are left dungaree i ask you support this farm bill that's important this legislation with this legislation a farm couple earning two point five million in combined on farm and off farm income is still eligible for hundreds of thousands of dollars in foreign payments yet an urban couple earning a little more than seventeen thousand eight hundred or owning more than one vehicle can become in the eligible for food stamp benefit i'm not making an argument that we should raise the threshold for sfusd stamp benefits but look at the difference here how in the world can you justify having a farm couple with on an on farm and off farm income of two point five million still eligible for hundreds of thousands of has twelve and a half minutes remaining the gentleman from minnesota has six and a quarter minutes remaining the gentleman from arizona has fifteen seconds remaining and the gentleman from west constant as one and a half minutes or ninety seconds remaining gentleman from virginia misspeak i myself fifteen seconds to say to my friend from arizona that if you know of the farm couple where each couple has five hundred thousand dollars in off farm income and each has seven hundred fifty thousand dollars in farm income the two limits that we've opposed down from two and a half million to five hundred thousand for non farm income and never most important industries in new york state believe it or not and the twenty ninth district alone there are over six thousand farms covering more than one point two million acres employing thousands of workers annually the farm economy generates over three hundred sixty million dollars in my district alone during the writing of the farm bill i hope to a arrest some of the most pressing issues facing new york farmers without destroying important provisions for other states or districts or industries the committee held a field hearing in my district  where we heard about issues such as extending the milk program increasing funding for especially crap such as apples and grapes and hance of a enhancing conservation program such as f r p p n equipped augmenting nutrition and food assistance policy an utilizing our crops to assist in developing a strong renewable energy portfolio this bill makes historic investments in priorities to strengthen the fruit and vegetable industry expands a variety of things like the snack brawler program and i hope minute one minute the gentleman from virginia me and the gentleman from georgia is reckon us for one minute thank you mr chairman let me just say is this a perfect bill no but is it a good bill yes it's a good bill for the people of america  response precisely to their needs now american people are concerned about high food prices this brings it down they're concerned about high gas prices this bill brings it down but has a speaker one of the most pressing areas that this bill does good on it corrects a major injustice to african american farmers by passing a bill which includes in their one hundred million dollars to set up a fun so that these black farmers because it can have their day in court something they fought for fo years it also has money in here mr speaker to set up research grants for predominantly african american land grant colleges of eighty nine florida a and m university agriculture mechanical arkansas and m universe agriculture mechanical north carolina a and t agriculture nontechnical the schools were grounded in agriculture but yet because of past discrimination the black farmers and black colleges have been denied this good bill thank you much bigger i rise in support of the food conservation energy act of two thousand and eight which been a lot of figures in a lot of terms thrown around in this room today about payment limits and adjusted gross income and but let's let's really talk about what this bill is about and what this bill is about is feeding and clothing the american people can make sure that they continue to have access to the safest highest quality products in the world and by the way they're also the most affordable now one of the things that some people talk about is all of these rich farmers now i would tell you it's very interesting if it is lucrative is everyone says was the number of farmers in america dropping go to a farm bureau meeting some evening in west texas and see how many young farmers are dying to get into the farming business or even have the capacity to get into the farming business now i think it's also interesting when we look at this bill that about seventy percent of this bill has to do with providing an opportunity for those people that need a little extra helping hand to make sure that they do have a quality meal a during the day and that is in some of our food stamp and nutrition and yet only twelve percent of this bill has anything to do with growing something now l you that if you're going to feed and clothe people i want everybody to know that those things don't show up at the department store in the grocery store somebody actually has to produce it and we have hardworking farm families all over america that are fulfilling that commitment and i'm a tell you it's difficult the process that some people have been talking about will the process of these commodities up yes they're up but let me tell you look back to three years ago when a lot of people wouldn't plant certain commodities because they could make any money doing it the other question about is is that this bill is about well yes it's about making sure americans have a quality of agricultural products but it's also about who's going to provide  to let american agriculture die so we have to roll out other countries to feed and clothe america i don't think the american people want that our urge my colleagues to vote for this bill gentleman's time has expired listen my one minute this bill cuts direct payments we should not do that that's green box and that helps us stay in compliance with the b t o it cuts a blenders credit on ethanol we should not do that because that slows capital investment into ethanol production from corn requires davis bacon wage scales which will reduce the numbers of ethanol plants we can build from five with the same money down to four it imposes union scale in the country we should not do that it has in it pig farms which the gentleman spoke to that's ripe with fraud and i will prove that over the months as it unfolds the other side of this coin is you have to ask and answer this question how does this bill get better if it fails here on the floor of this congress what comes out of the house and the senate in a better configuration does it get thank you mr speaker and i want to congratulate the chairman and the ranking member the full committee for this conference report in addition to the important reforms in preserving the safety net in the commodity title as well as important increases in the nutrition and conservation titled i worked with the chairman of the full committee during the house version of the markup to place an emphasis on beginning farmers and ranchers in this conference report includes and number of important provisions including reauthorizing tax exempt bonds that provide low interest loans to be getting farmers and ranchers increasing the loan limit for them from two hundred fifty to four hundred fifty thousand dollars in indexing that limit amount for inflation there are also important provisions in the credit and research titles of this conference report for beginning farmers and ranchers the energy title is another area that is mr holden the chairman of the subcommittee on conservation credit and energy pointed out the loan guarantees for advanced biofuel production plants reauthorizing the rural energy for america program which provides loans loan guarantees and grants for producers to purchase and install on the farm renewable energy systems establishing a forest bille energy program and of course championed by the chairman of the full committee the biomass crop assistan to congratulate the chairman and the ranking member for an effort that has extended now over two and a half years certainly the measured before is the food conservation and energy act of two thousand and eight reflects a bipartisan compromise and consensus not easily gained i represent three of the counties a country's most productive agricultural counties in the nation in my district alone farmers grow over three hundred various crops which oftentimes are referred to a specialty crops fruits vegetables all sorts of diversified good food in america for the first time the important segment of american agriculture is being recognized that in the form of subsidies but in support of research competitiveness programs focusing on past and disease prevention efforts not only does this help our growers but it helps and our consumers to ensure availability of safe house the pruett's and vegetables for our citizens a diet that's based upon good science our farmers are working hard to implement better environmental stewardship programs but they face continued challenges as it relates to air quality concerns and water shortages this makes improvements in those areas as well because just because a spell perfect certainly not that it represents a heart lot of people might i urge my colleagues to support the complex legal recognition gentleman from virginia the speaker much has been said about whether or not there's reform in this legislation let me point out that there is very substantial reform we have caps on adjusted gross income limits on farmers and on non farmers we require direct attribution of benefits we reform the dairy and sugar support programs we create revenue based countercyclical programs we have an we address the beneficial interest problem we reform the crop insurance program and we eliminate the three entity rule those of you who are not in agriculture may wonder what some of those things are they are all significant reforms resulting in this for those who say we are not making cuts in the commodity programs this orange bar represents payment for commodity programs into the last three years of the so called freedom to farm act which some of touted as being more reform oriented in agriculture twenty four point seven billion dollars a year during the last farm bill the two thousand to two thousand and seven farm bill that averages twelve point one billion dollars per year the projected average cost for the current farm bill that we are debating right now seven point six billion dollars a year less than one third of what was spent per year under the freedom to farm program this is real reform these are real cuts in the commodity title for america's farmers and ranchers this gives you an illustration of what we're talking about what we're debating about this thing that looks like  this little tiny slice of overall total federal spending is what goes to commodity programs one quarter of one percent of the federal budget down from three quarters of one percent during the t first year of the two thousand two farm bill you might say we're dancing on the head of a pin when we have this much debate about reform for one quarter of one percent of the farm program gentleman's time i  colleagues to support this reform legislation those six recognition gentleman from arizona my very short time remaining let me simply say that we have a huge problem with entitlements in  country one of which is in title a direct payment system for farmers this is not serious reform when you're still paying farmers that make up to one or two point five million dollars subsidies for that tax pair really is an expert on these programs but he knows as well as anyone the reason come out of these spending is down is because commodity prices are up two of the three subsidy programs are based on the amount farmers are getting in the marketplace but that can all return in a heartbeat and he knows that the fact is that you need a few members of congress here today to stand up and say the emperor has no clothes as i said from the beginning where's the beef where's the real reform when you still allowed taxpayer subsidies going to a farm couple with an adjust gross of two point five million that's not reform when you lift the income limits under the l d p and countercyclical program that's not reform and the increase the loan rate and the target price it's not reform and you have  marginal reform with a crop insurance instead of having a farm bill today that has reasonable reform for tax payers throughout the country and has a great conservation title for the twenty first century or the healthy food bill of the twenty first century it's more status quo it's more wait for five years we'll do it then all those five years never come to time has never been better today in the president is right we should not be spending taxpayer subsidies the wealthy individuals at a time of record prices in the marketplace when people are facing increase food and fuel costs let us not do this to the american taxpayer and use their money needlessly encourage my colleagues to vote no we can do better i know we can do better in producing a bill that provides a safety net for family farmers but is also responsible to the american taxpayer gentleman's time has expired gentleman from virginia the speaker at this time it's my pleasure to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from chairman i rise and very strong support of the two thousand and seven farm bill this bipartisan legislation will ensure a secure food supply in the continuance of a strong agricultural sector and a very important part of that agricultural sector in my district actually is a production of sugar beets which is helped greatly by this bill the increase in sugar loan rates the first since one thousand nine hundred five is widely supported by michigan farmers also including sugar producers in the development of alternative energies i think is very important it can help to make them an integral part of developing energy resources that will only help consumers and reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy and while the sugar program does face some criticism which we've all heard here on the floor today i think it's important that members be reminded that this program comes at little or no cost to the taxpayers as well our specialty crops farmers will also be protected in this bill while ensuring that the wealthiest farmers are not receiving government subsidies i don't believe that anyone understands more about how to strengthen our agricultural sector than farmers themselves so i certainly listened as i'm sure all members did to our local farmers while this bill was being negotiated i sought their input and their counsel and i'm glad that much of what they stated was needed is included in this legislation and they strongly support this final product i believe this bill is a great example of bipartisan compromise and i also believe it is good for the future of america american agriculture and thereby our entire nation and i would urge my colleagues to support this critical legislation i yield back the balance my time on to the time the gentleman from minnesota former speaker now pleased to recognize for two minutes the sanguine speaker of the house with yielding and i want to congratulate our distinguished chair of the agriculture committee for his important work and bring this legislation to the floor today i also want to commend mr good light for his leadership as well so that we could come to the floor with a  bipartisan with bipartisan legislation that will help lower food prices invest in energy independence support conservation and recognize the importance of specialty crops i want to commend mr kind also for his leadership it is very important for us to reform the farm subsidy initiative programs in our country i think where we have a disagreement is i think that this bill is a good for a step in that direction i don't think we will ever see another bill that will look this way and when we come to the place where the situation is addressed again in a bipartisan way on the next marvell i think that your work will be repaid but i hope mr kind that you take some satisfaction in the fact that to your leadership in advocacy this farm bill is moving in the right direction i too am not satisfied that it doesn't offend terms of farm subsidies but i want to talk about what it does do and what it does do is much better because of the leadership of mr goodlatte as i mentioned our distinguished chairman mr peterson the work of the chairman of the ways and means committee which mr he just did a phenomenal job chairman rangle did a phenomenal job on his aspect of the bill mr pomeroy serves on both committees the ag committee and the ways and means committee so he was a wonderful bridge in terms of these initiatives congresswoman her leadership all of our colleagues here today mr holden who's a number two on the ag committee all across america we're very proud of the work that it was has been done california we're proud of the work of dennis cardoza a member of the ag committee representing some new ideas about fresh fruits and vegetables and how they should be part of this initiative we on the coast mr to my colleague mr scott we wanted to see some initiatives about fresh fruit and vegetables and specialty crops and there are contained in here and then at congresswoman rosa de lauro for her incredible work on the nutrition piece of this as part of the ag bill mr baucus part of the ag committee mr baka was a leader in were one reason for you to vote for this bill it would be to support the new patrician piece of it but there more there are other reasons as well i talked about how it would lower form of our of could lower  grocery prices time magazine recently had this on its website for ways the farm bill could lower grocery bills first with the disaster relief three point eight billion dollars program for farmers hit by drought and flooding could speed up compensation allowing them to bring crops to market faster cuts in ethanol subsidies demand for corn based ethanol has corn prices increase corn prices this bill cut the producers tax credit and creates a subsidy for more efficient cellulosic ethanol made from start grass and would rather than from corn food stamps payments to those on assistance will be more responsive to inflation the minimum monthly benefit would increase from ten dollars where it's been since one nine hundred seventy seven m a i say probably since they put this out the final bill has a strong support for the food the food pantries the food banks throughout america where now if you go to one you'll see a sign that says you can only come one time a month to pick up food because the shelves are bare in those who'd pantries this bill will go a long way to filling those shelves and then emergency food assistance this program which supplies food banks and pantries could add up to one hundred million more in funding per year as more americans affected by the sluggish economy visit its distribution centers that further elaboration on that point the many american people in our country are concerned now about losing their and asic our economy is in a downturn they're concerned about losing their jobs some are many more concern about losing them homes but almost everyone is concerned about losing his or her living standard that purchasing power of middle income families has been reduced while costs have gone up for necessities like gasoline and groceries and health care and education the issue of gasoline and groceries are addressed somewhat in one more than the other in this legislation and terms of energy these high energy and energy costs are contributing factor to our high food prices which is why food and energy the food and energy security act which is this will help reduce gas prices and ensure that america's family farmers feel america's energy independen think of this we're talking about energy independence and with this legislation we take a step for america's farmers to fuel america's energy independence following up on the work we did last year in the energy bill the that makes a one billion dollar investment in energy independence and in addition to that it takes a critical step in transitioning from via fuels from corn as i mentioned and creates a new tax credit that will provide four hundred a million dollar investment and so your loss of biofuels as was indicated earlier these efforts will ensure that we send our energy dollars to the midwest and stead of to the middle east in terms of conservation the bill recognizes that those who work the land america's farmers and ranchers are the best as our great stewards of the land the farm bill improves access to and funding for an initiative that take environmentally sensitive land land out of production it encourages environmentally friendly practices on working lands and invest five point four billion dollars to preserve farm and ranch land improve our air quality our water quality crops specially important to my state of california and as i said those of us living on the coast as well as in the rest of america it provides one point three billion dollars in mandatory spending this investment was made possible by the leadership of congressman dennis cardoza as and mentioned earlier of california who has worked to ensure that the producers who account for more than half of all crop value in the united states are now represented in our foreign policy producers who provide one half of all crop value in the united states are now represented in our farm bill i repeat as a specifically this bill will invest three hundred sixty five million dollars in specially crop block grants two hundred thirty million dollars to create a new dedicated research program for specialty crops three hundred seventy seven million dollars to create a new initiative for early detection prevention the neurotic eradication of emerging test and disease i know that mr thompson of california the special interest in this aspect of the legislation the bill takes a critical step toward reforming farm programs not enough i agreed mr kind by elimina farm payments to the ultra rich and closing loopholes that for decades have allowed some to evade farm payment limits the most significant reform this is the most significant reform in farm policy in more than thirty years this food and energy security act will ensure that the future farm bill will never again look like this thanks to the efforts of chairman peterson and many others who have made this historic investment in energy independence and in assistance this bill's effects was also be felt from farm country far from farm country the stills effects will be felt far far from farm country as george washington our first president and we visit every day that we come to the chamber said i know of no pursuit in which more real and important services can be rendered to any country than by improving its agriculture while we were an agrarian society is still a great deal of truth in that statement today with this legislation we will help families facing high food prices fuel our nation's enter needs energy needs with american made renewable energy and be better stewards of the land and protect our environment in addition to all of that we will have fresh snacks fresh fruits and vegetable snacks rajendran in the schools i urge my colleagues to support this new direction  american farm policy farm policy i urge and i vote and again salute mr peterson to mr goodlatte for their leadership it's wonderful for us to have this bipartisanship on the floor today thank you gentleman yield back the balance of the two gentleman from virginia misspeak umask how much time is remaining on he said the gentleman from virginia has four and a half minutes remaining the gentleman from minnesota to a quarter minutes remaining to speak i consent to give one of those additional minutes to the gentleman from minnesota i have only one speaker remaining i don't know where the  without objection the speaker myself the balance of my time gentleman from virginia is recognized that the speaker the speaker just mentioned the bipartisanship in this legislation and that is very true that this legislation is not bipartisan because many republicans we'll be supporting a democratic bill this legislation is bipartisan because it was crafted by both republicans and democrats throughout the conference process and this legislation is very very different than the legislation that passed the house last summer which i voted against primarily because there were tax increases to pay for the legislation there are no more tax increases paying for this legislation in fact this legislation is paid for by means that is acceptable to both sides and acceptable to the administration but there are more reforms in this legislation that republicans prevailed upon our democratic colleagues on in the conference the effort to prohibit states most particularly the state of indiana from being able to seek outside help to reform their flawed food stamp program was removed from this bill and so now not just indiana but all fifty states will be able to continue to use appropriate means to modernize their food stamp programs davis bacon provisions in the northern border economic development commission the southeast crescent and the southwest border regional commissions those davis bacon provisions have been removed from this legislation an effort to undermine the welfare reform act of  six by providing increased food stamp benefits to adults able bodied adults without dependents was removed from this legislation and anti competition livestock provisions which were very troubling to many members on this side of the aisle and on the other side of the aisle as well were removed so while there are certainly advocates for each of those provisions in this bill this bill is bipartisan because we work together to give on both sides to make sure that we came up with a good farm bill that could command strong bipartisan support this bill promotes energy independence by expanding investment in cell biofuels and helping move away from corn based ethanol it cuts the ethanol subsidy by twelve percent it's fiscally responsible because it contains no tax increases and is paygo compliant it it boosts conservation programs benefiting our environment it aids food banks and nutrition in our schools in its nutrition programs it preserves the farm safety net and assures that we continue to have the safest most affordable most i want to thank again the chairman of the committee the chairman of the subcommittee the ranking members on my side of the aisle but most importantly the staff on both the the majority and the minority side who worked many many many weekend over the last two and a half years but particularly in the last few months to craft this legislation to address all of the concerns that were raised to go down blind alleys find that something didn't work come back time jones recognize victor i want to call mr good last comments and without objection i have a left of all of the staff members majority and minority that i would like entered into the record  to honor their work they have you think we've been through a process here that's nothing compared to what the staff has done and so they deserve our thanks and they're going to hopefully get a little bit of rest now once we get this over with  and a follow on mr good last comments there's a lot of reform in this bill that i would call real reform as opposed to ginned up reform that's been done by different folks we have made a huge changes in the conservation programs that are going to make those programs work a lot better in the future work for more different parts of the country we have a new revenue based countercyclical program that we're going to try out of an optional basis for the next five years that may be the new future direction of the farm bill depending on how it works out so we've got a lot of reforms in this bill that never get talked about because all the body wants to focus on is a well i don't have any problem putting a g i limit on non farmers because frankly i don't think they should be in farming in the first place we've got enough capital in agriculture we don't need folks from outside of agriculture coming in and being involved that's my personal opinion but you know we've got a five hundred thousand limit we've got lower but that's as far as we could get we put a limit on farmers on farm income for the for the first time in spite of the fact that this is the only part of the business people in this country that are getting benefits from the federal government that are require going to a g i that i know of i don't know why farmers get singled out and nobody else does why we don't have an a g i an oil companies and whoever else is getting benefits from the federal government that continues to mystify me but i just have to clarify you know all the people keep manipulating these these statistics and we have fixed some of that in this bill as well which i would call reform but as what mr goodlatte said earlier we have a five hundred thousand dollars hard cap on non farm income so i suppose that if you aren't five hundred thousand as a doctor  something your wife or and five hundred thousand dollars as a doctor and then you had a farm and your and seven hundred fifty thousand as a farmer and your wife had a real farm and earn seven hundred fifty thousand you could get two and a half million but i think you need to understand that in order for you to qualify that you're going to have to have a real genuine farm and it has to be your income certified by a c p a or a lawyer and if it's not if they do it wrong they're going to go to jail and you are too so i think the likelihood of anybody getting to this two and a half million dollar limit is almost nonexistent that is a bogus argument that's being put out there being ginned up by people that want to keep this fight going on  l you know if we want to put two hundred thousand dollar cap on everybody that gets money from the federal government on a g i then we'll be right there with you but i don't think that's going to happen just like we try to put a g i limits on conservation we had a revolt some of these conservation groups have been pushing these families much so as we said we're going to have the same limits on them as farmers whether revolt so this is a good bill it's got a lot of reforms by our thanks everybody and  current form the gentleman qualified the clerk will report the motion this trick usually virginia moves to recommit the conference report to a company's ability to or twenty four nineteen to provide for the continuation of agricultural programs through fiscal year two thousand and twelve and rather purposes to the committee of the conference of the disagreeing both of the two houses on the senate amendment to strike one section eighty three zero three relating to the sale of exchange of national forest system land vermont to section one twenty thirty four relating to fisheries disaster assistance and three section one fifty three sixteen relating to qualified forestry conservation bonds adoption of the conference report and motion to suspend the rules on house resolution eleven thirty three this will be a fifteen minute vote