on this vote two hundred twenty eight ne r one eighty nine the question of consideration is decided in the affirmative gentleman recognize speaker i think the house is still not an order mr speaker for clause ten of rule twenty one the so called pay as you go point of order says that it is not in order to consider a bill if it increases the deficit if applied today over a period of fiscal years two thousand eight through two thousand and thirteen and a period of fiscal years two thousand eight hundred two thousand and eighteen the effect on the deficit is a determined by the budget committee relative to the most recent baseline supplied by the congressional budget office used in considering a concurrent resolution of the budget mr speaker for the gentleman in the back of the minority side to take their conversations off the floor mr speaker according to the congressional budget office relative to its march two thousand and eight baseline the farm bill will increase the deficit by two point nine billion dollars over the period of fiscal years two thousand and eight through two thousand and eighteen but if using last year's outdated two thousand and seven baseline she b o states that it would decrease the deficit by about one hundred million dollars over that same period two thousand and eight to two thousand and seventeen mr speaker under clause ten of rule twenty one which bank which baseline provided by c b l was the most recent and should therefore be used by the budget committee in order to determine pay as you go compliance the march two thousand and seven baseline or the march two thousand turn from wisconsin is recognized as a speaker according to to clause ten a of rule twenty one in advising the chair the budget committee much use the most recent baseline estimates supplied by the congressional budget office using resolution on the budget for fiscal year two thousand and nine considered by the budget committee and considered and passed by the house use the most recent baseline with which is the march two thousand and eight baseline the chair is not aware of which baseline is being used for the primary inquiry or sconce and the rule providing for the consideration of the conference report to accompany the food conservation and energy act of two thousand and eight includes a waiver of all points of order against consideration does that waiver include a waiver of clause ten of rule twenty one the pay as you go point of order and in addition to all points of order under the congressional budget act and does this mean that a member of congress may not raise a point of order against consideration of the bill even if it is in violation of the pay go rule budget act point of order or the concurrent resolution on the budget go rule in the budget act point of order are also waived in there for a member may not raise a point of order against consideration the bill on those grounds contains an actual been asian of waivers in states while there is a technical violation of clause ten of rule twenty one the paygo rule the conference report complies with the rule mr speaker my inquiry is this is it possible the gentleman may engage is called his colleagues on the rules and budget committees on that point we plan on doing that as speaker i yield back down to my time from california recognized for one hour for the purpose of debate only i yield the customary thirty minutes the gentleman from washington mr hastings all time you did during consideration of the rule is for debate only i ask unanimous consent that all members have nine provides for consideration of h r twenty four nineteen the food conservation energy act of two thousand and eight the continuation of the farm nutrition and bio energy act of two thousand and seven which we passed off this floor on september in september of two thousand and seven joan from california thank you mr speaker the conference report rule waive all points of order against the conference report and against its consideration and provides at the conference report shall be considered as read the rule provides for a one hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee on agriculture and it provides one motion to recommit it should also be noted that despite the blanket waiver the conference report does not violate clause nine of rule twenty one furthermore i want to point out that the conference report uses the see below two thousand and seven baseline the year in which the bill passed both the house and the senate and under that baseline c b o t has determined that this conference report will not increase the deficit in either the of years two thousand and eight through two thousand and twelve or in the years two thousand and eight through two thousand and seventeen scoring windows therefore while there is a technical violation of cla ten rule twenty one this conference report complies with the rule by remaining budget neutral of no net increase in direct spending in other words mr speaker this bill does not increase the deficit and it is paygo compliant mr speaker is chairman of the subcommittee on the house agriculture committee as a member of the rules committee i'm pleased to offer the farm conservation energy act conference report for consideration today this bipartisan conference report represents the blood sweat and tears of many members of the house and senate agriculture committee including myself i would be really remiss if i did not single out a few individuals at this time first i must recognize chairman collin peterson without without whom this bill this farm bill would have never been completed his unwavering debt is haitians are saying this bill through to completion should be examples of us to us all and i am indeed grateful to his commitment especially in the face of tremendous adversity i'm also want to thank ranking member good lot later hoyer and certainly not least our speaker of the house ms pelosi for their steadfast commitment to creating a farm bill that we can all be proud of and to stand behind and because of her her leadership there is in fact significant reform in this bill it is hard to believe but we actually started this process nearly two years ago starting with traveling to every nearly every corner of this country to hear directly from farmers and ranchers of all walks of life about what they needed in a modern farm bill we took these wide ranging commitments to heart and crafted a fiscally responsible equitable and unparalleled farm bill i wish to say that we could it was all a walk in the park the house and the senate passed their respective bills in two thousand and seven and since january of this year members of the house and senate have been hammering out a compromise there have been many battles but in the end this conference report is something that i believe this house should be very proud of while people didn't get everything they wanted that country got what it needed that speaks volumes about the quality of this bill and tells me we ended up in exactly the right place the farm conservation energy act builds upon the past successes of federal farm policy by maintaining the farm bill safety net was the same time providing for substantial increases in conservation nutrition and energy however i'm most proud of the two point three billion dollars in new federal investment for specialty crops an industry that has been uniformly neglected in previous farm bills despite comprising nearly fifty percent of total farm gate value furthermore this farm bill contains un president reforms that come out of the programs by revising program eligibility and strengthening payment limitations through major changes to crop insurance program we have also increased government efficiency and reduced waste fraud and abuse identified in the current farm programs more importantly this bill is completely paid for through pay go democrats are filling our comprise our promise to live within our means like every household in america is forced to do and i believe the play go rules mr speaker made this a leaner meaner and better bill despite the complexities that the new rules provide present to the times we pledge to stop writing blank checks with reckless abandon and shouldering our country's needs on the backs of our children and grandchildren make no mistake about it mr speaker this legislation agrees to the spirit and it hears the spirit of paygo proving that it can be done mr speaker our farmers have the capacity for immeasurable innovation and success coming from members please cooperate gentleman from california mr speaker i look forward to telling my constituents of the district of california that the united states congress has accomplished what thought many thought was impossible feat and in coming to an agreement on the farm bill mr speaker i strongly and wholeheartedly urge my colleagues to support this rule and the underlying legislation and i reserve the balance of jonas recognize and without objection sort it thank you mr speaker mr speaker this rule provides for consideration of a final farm bill a farm bill that is over seven months late it was supposed to be is completed last september when the old farm bill locks fired it's long past time for congress to be voting on a final farm bill and the one the house will consider today mr speaker is far from perfect it spends billions more than it was supposed to this is speaker in fact despite this being called the farm bill never never the seventy five percent of the spending in this bill doesn't even go to agriculture or farming it goes to pay for government food assistance programs this is speaker let me repeat that in fact despite this being called a farm bill nearly seventy five percent of the spending in this bill doesn't even go to agriculture or farming it goes to pay for government food assistance programs to me that is very concerning there is also considerable dissatisfaction with the income limitations being too high for farmers who may receive payments under this bill the also concerns over while commodity prices in the marketplace have risen since the last farm bill the guarantees in this farm bill have also gone up there is also a special interest provisions that are unrelated unrelated to farming or food stamps that had been stuck in this bill and mr speaker i agree that this farm bill is very far from perfect but like many of my colleagues in the house i must measure this bill by the impact on my constituents in my district and as a representative one of one of the most diverse and productive ag cultural areas in this country i will vote for the farm bill because it does more to support especially crops that are grown in my district than any other farm bill in history imo must point out that the assistance provided for the specially crops grown in my district are not direct subsidy payments or handouts what matters most to farmers and growers in central washington are research dollars and help in opening up new markets abroad specifically i'm pleased that the farm bill includes a new initiative to fund research projects for these specialty crops the conference report also expands successful fresh fruit and vegetables snack program to children in all fifty states this worthwhile program provides fresh fruits and vegetables for school children the market access program is also very important in central washington something that i've worked very hard on to support for many years the market access program or map assist our agriculture committee and expanding access to markets overseas far too long american farm products have this difficulty getting into foreign countries and sometimes are unfairly blocked out right fair market access and fair trade agreements help our farmers compete and the map program has proven this be very successful while i will vote to pass this farm bill this is  strongly oppose this unfair rule because it shuts down fair our opportunities for debate in votes on the house floor and because mr speaker it weighs new anti earmarks in pay go rules written just last january a year ago last january by the democrat majority and already today is to speak we've had a great deal of discussion on paygo and ramifications we've heard it says it complies with the spirit of payroll and it come in and so forth let me let me miss make a point of what happened last night in the rules can eddie in the rules committee there is a provision in this rule that weighs all points of order we had discussion up there on pay go so the ranking member of the rules committee mr dreier offer an amendment to keep all the waivers all of the waivers in the farm bill with the exception of the keep a goal provision that was adopted just a year ago last january by the new majority that man simply said if there is no problem with pay go then why not keep that provision in there it was voted down mr speaker on a direct party line vote appears what has happened here if here is what has happened here in this instance because i think the rules are very clear i think mr ryan from wisconsin pointed out exactly where we are on this and what the procedures are apparently what we have done this to me i think is probably unprecedented we have adopted senate rules in the house for consideration of the farm bill maybe that's a pattern that we will see  hopefully in in other things that we will debate like for example maybe having more debate on issues because the senate can't does have unlimited bait under their house rules so if we're going to start adopting senate rules maybe we ought to do that and on the mr speaker a conscious decision has been a man made to break the paygo rules to increase spending by several billions of dollars the farm bill mr speaker is long overdue and i am disappointed that a bill that provides new levels of recognition to specialty crops as i pointed out in my area marks and central washington is coming before the house was so other many questionable provisions within the bill and with that mr speaker i reserve the balance of my delma reserve joke of california thank you mr speaker the gentleman from washington complains that nearly seventy five percent of this bill goes to the nutrition program i would submit to the house the republican policies with regard to the economy weren't what they were it wouldn't have to be increasing the nutritional support for citizens at this time mr speaker i'd like to yield three minutes the gentleman from california has met tsui job is recognized for three minutes thank you mr speaker i want to thank the gentleman from california for you only me time i rise today in strong support of the rule we are considering on the conference report h r twenty four nineteen the food conservation energy security act mr speaker this important conference agreement outlines the funding for our country's agricultural policy its conservation approaches and its nutrition programs these initiatives touches each of us in some way whether we're from a rural area suburban or oregon area the farm bill has impact on every single one of us as a farmer's daughter i understand how the food we produce is truly the backbone of our country i am proud of our nation's commitment to a strong farm economy and a long stranding tradition of providing a safe and secure food supply nonny for our country before the world that is why i support this bill from the ten billion dollars increase in nutrition programs to the seven point seven billion dollars increase in conservation funding this legislation provides our entire country i spoken to our producers and this legislation gives them the safety net they need to continue producing the food supply our nation relies upon i am pleased with the balance envisioned in this bill and that is why i will strongly support it i'd like to thank chairman peterson and ranking member goodlatte for all their work on this bill the chairman has shown exceptional leadership in patients through this process this bill turns the page and helped start a new era of farm and nutrition policy i also want to thank chairman peterson and the committee for the inclusion of provisions of the house passed regional water hasnat program by including the sacramento river watershed as a national priority in the conference report my region will be able to preserve farmland as well as provide a comprehensive approach to ground the surface water are nish a focus of the build a strong consensus on conservation and and its value for our region we have a truly unique opportunity to shape the vision for the watershed from the beginning this will help ensure that we will build upon solid local input mr speaker i'm happy to be standing here today is support of this well crafted of the rule and i want to begin by extending congratulations to all of those who work long and hard on this important conference report mr cardoza and i see mr hastings here i know strong supporters of it and i know that there is in fact some bipartisan support for this measure but i will say i personally am troubled with it and i'm going to be voting no on the conference before we get to that point for a number of reasons i do feel very strongly that as we look at the international food crisis that exists with over a billion a billion people on the face of the earth facing either malnutrition or out now starvation it seems to me that we need to take very strong and bold steps to address that i don't think that dramatically expanding the food programs and feeding is the solution to the problem of a billion people who are facing malnutrition and starvation i happen to think that there are a number of very important factors that unfortunately this farm bill doesn't address first and foremost it's key as we look at the fact that developing nations in the world have failed to open up their markets so that they can get on to the first rung of the economic ladder they are preventing us from having the opportunity to address that crisis of starvation and malnutrition similarly we in the united states and the european union have unfortunately provided to service two thirds of the farm subsidies that exist in this world and guess what that creates a great distortion and further diminishes the opportunity for those developing nations to address this very important malnutrition and starvation crisis facing one billion human beings and so i just don't believe in any way that this measure affective addresses that and i think again as a number of people have said if we were to see the european union diminish its level of subsidization then we would do that i was very happy in the rules committee last night that for the first time our good friend from minnesota the distinguished chairman of the agriculture committee did indicate that he would ultimately support that in the past he hasn't as i know he said publicly and in conversations that i've had with him privately on that but nevertheless it's imperative for us to show leadership on the issue of dramatic taxpayer subsidization of the agriculture sector of our economy it is just plain wrong and i hope very much that my colleagues based on that if they sincerely want to address this starvation crisis facing a billion people they will oppose this measure now it was an interesting debate mr speaker that took place  earlier on and has been going on and mr hastings made a very very compelling argument that this is all inside baseball i know our colleagues understand that there are some maybe some outside of this chamber who are following this debate and it looks like it's very arcane i mean we've got copies of the rules manual and we're looking at this whole question of paygo and two thousand and seven versus two thousand and eight well this comes down to a very simple and easily understood issue and let me put it this way yesterday we had a debate on whether or not we should in fact prevent seventy thousand barrels a day of oil from going into the strategic petroleum reserve and the idea behind that was of course if we do increase the supply of energy prices might come down well guess what the people whom i represent in southern california would very much like to be able to pay maybe to fifty to seventy five a gallon and you know what if you go to last year they were able to play less significantly less than four dollars a gallon for gasoline so how does that relate to the debate that we're having right here very simply what is it that our colleagues in the majority are calling for and that is to use last year's numbers to use last year's numbers not this year's numbers in this debate so that's what it comes down to mr speaker it is just plain wrong i would like to pay two thousand and seven prices when i go to the pump and fill up and unfortunately i can't and you know what this majority should recognize their responsibility in the exact same way now as mr hastings said last night in the rules committee i offered where that was a very thoughtful no amendment to the rule everyone continue to say this is paygo compliant this complies with pay go well in one single sentence and one single sentence in the report mr speaker they in fact provide the most confusing explanation it says therefore while there is a technical violation of clause ten of rule twenty one the conference report complies with the rule by remaining budget neutral with no net increase in direct spending what does that mean so begins by saying there is a violation and then it says there isn't a mean it is so confusing now the amendment as mr hastings said that i offered said ok if the majority is in fact complying with the pay go requirements what they should do is they should  say that they don't need to protect the item clause ten of rule twenty one which very clearly states states that they must be using this year's numbers and so mr speaker  as you said in your ruling or your predecessor in the chair said mr pastor who was serving as acting speaker at the time we're having a debate on this and it's obvious that it can be confusing but i bring it right back to the issue of the desire that the people we represent they would love to have to pay last year's gasoline prices but it can't be done and in the exact same way this is being mishandled it is just wrong and so procedurally we're bringing up a bad conference report and so i urge my colleagues to vote no on this rule which also is a lockdown rule i should say and very very unfair in its treatment of the rights of the minority not that anyone cares about that but procedurally and institutionally i think that there should be some concern about the fact this a lockdown rule and if it does pass it will allow us to bring up what i think is a bill that has some good things in it but our overall basis will not deal with the very important challenges that we face so i original vote on the rule and a no vote on the conference report without your back to balance my time  from california i would just like to reiterate that this bill and this rule fully complies with the senate paygo rules and is totally in keeping with the spirit of paygo by complying with the two thousand seven peco rule baselines as my republican colleague mr knockabout our said last night when he presented the rip the rule to the committee as part of as a republican ranking member at that time speaker from my point of view the farm bill conference report is a mixed bag there are many things in this farm bill that i don't like i don't like what i consider to be an extravagant disaster assistance program i don't like the minuscule cuts to direct payments and i don't like the unnecessary subsidies and i don't like the fact that this bill reduces the mandatory funding for the mcgovern dole international food for education and child nutrition program by seven hundred fifty six million dollars this is a program that is close to my heart mr speaker a program that has proven to work named after george mcgovern and bob dole this program feeds hungry children around the world in a school setting the only thing crueler than not feeding a hungry record the end of my statement let me be clear this is not the end of our fight for funds for mcgovern dole and i look forward to working with the appropriators and the authorizes to ensure that there is proper funding for this program in the upcoming appropriations bill i believe it is a moral imperative mr speaker this is not the bill that i would have written and mr speaker i suppose that i could find enough reasons to justify a vote against this conference report but when i look at the whole bill  have concluded that a no vote is the wrong vote to take today and let me explain why i will vote for this bill today thanks to the leadership of speaker pelosi and congresswoman de lauro and chairman peterson this bill includes the most sweeping expansion in the domestic and hunger safety net ever this bill will do more to fight hunger in america over the next five years than anything congress has done in decades over ten billion dollars will go to improve the food stamp benefit to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to children in schools around this country and to invest in america's food banks over seventy three percent of the spending in this bill will fund the anti hunger safety net damage that has been done over the years the erosion of both the food stamp benefit and the emergency food assistance system for example is fixed and this bill mr speaker the nutrition title of the farm bill is not perfect but it is very very good and i'm voting for this bill on the strength of these improvements and i urge my colleagues on both sides the aisle to do the same these enhancements will improve the lives of real people around the country people who desperately need help putting food on their tables and this time of spiking energy costs and rising food prices this bill will help more than ten million people afford an adequate diet including over two hundred thousand people in my home state of massachusetts unfortunately though it will not end hunger in america and it won't end hunger around the world mr speaker i believe strongly that hunger is a political condition and i believe we can we can end hunger here at home and around the world if we find the political will to do so but ending hunger will take leadership leadership to stand up to the powerful special interests that don't care about ending ending hunger leadership to stand up for the people whose interests aren't always represented here of congress leadership to simply do the right thing and ending hunger is doing the right thing in the face of hunger here in america is not one of sunken eyes and swollen bellies no the hunger hungry in america are our neighbors  children's classmates and the seniors we see every day some serve in the military and others take their kids to soccer and baseball practice all over this country the face of hunger is the face of too many in america but that doesn't have to be the case any longer this bill the effort put forth by the anti hunger community that deserves such great credit and by many members of this congress is just a start with a continued and dedicated effort this can truly be the beginning of the end of hunger this bill is a solid downpayment on our efforts to end the scourge of hunger in america once and for all and for that reason alone it deserves our jelen from washington thank you mr speaker his speaker i am pleased my friend from california said we are complying with senate rules but i believe this is the u s house of representatives and the fact is we have waived the house piggle rules  fascinating that our speaker when she became our speaker said that we are going to have the most open democratic congress in the history of america and yet we have a rule coming to the floor that doesn't even allow dissenting voices to speak in general debate or speaker also at one time said the hundred tenth congress will commit self to a higher standard pay as you go no new deficit spending but instead we waive the peco rule and we baseline shot none zero that's inside baseball that is the gentleman from california said it's kind of like deciding you're going to pay last year's gasoline prices well i wish we could do that and now we have the whole question of earmarks our speaker at one time said that she would just as soon do without earmarks and instead what we have are air dropped earmarks secret earmarks coming in in a conference report that nobody can challenge including want to parrot lee according to press reports that was reached quested by none other than the speaker of the house and so for all of these reasons mr speaker this rule ought to be defeated this is too important of legislation to come before us to be treated in such a frivolous manner now let's talk about the matter at hand the actual substance of the bill now at a time when we're looking at some of the worst food inflation in the last two decades what do we have coming before us mr speaker a bill that will pay out billions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies to a select group of farmers begs the question means mr speaker why do we have a farm subsidy program you know i think about all the people who are going to have to pay these billions of dollars in taxes to subsidize a select group four armors you know i think about the auto mechanic in the ski taxes and i think about the guy working at the grocery store in mineola texas i think about the schoolteacher the factory worker in garland where is their government subsidy program why are we bestowing billions of dollars of subsidies on this one select group this is a relic of the new deal we are paying out money to millionaires we are teaching more people to be reliant upon government programs now mr speaker we need a farm program we just don't need a farm subsidy program let me tell you what farmers in the fifth congressional district of texas that i have the honor of representing let me tell you what they need they need some relief in their inner g cost the energy that it takes to run their tractors their combine their farm equipment and the cost of diesel independent to have independent american energy also we benefit one set of farmers at the cost of another this continues the ethanol mandate it continues the tariff on imported ethanol now if you've got a bunch of corn growers it may be very good for them i would say they're in high cotton but i guess they're in high corn but it's not too good for the cattle raisers not too good for the poultry people not do good for the hog farmers or the other livestock people who are all of a sudden seeing their feed prices almost triple what are we doing for them then let's talk about trade ninety six percent of the world's consumers live outside of erica and yet this is an anti trade congress under democrat leadership you had the colombian trade agreement totally one white farmers and ranchers want to export and they're being disallowed the opportunity to do that so we need a farm bill that promotes trade next we need to have tax relief our farmers in ranchers you know somebody in this is a congressional district worked his whole life building a farm and told me congressman you know after the government takes there's there's just not enough to go around you shouldn't work your whole life building a family farm only have until sam take fifty five percent we need income tax relief that's what a farm bill needs to help the true agricultural producers not a i feel have crafted a sound bipartisan compromise bill for all of us to support and they ought to be complimented for their hard work during these fiscally challenging times the underlying legislation makes import reforms that benefit farm of across our nation and assist many industries which are the economic engine of all the congressional district that i'm privileged to serve the bill before us today is an important achievement for the state of florida and for the constituents of that sir as many of my colleagues know i represent along with my colleague from florida mr mahoney the second largest sugar producing district in the country the florida sugar industry has a three point one billion dollar economic impact on the state of florida and i thank the committees for including the provisions that assist this important industry also thank the committees for including the pollinator protection  of the pollinator population people if they know me food finally this bill addresses rising food prices here at home mandell with the bot substantially increasing funding for nutrition programs and food banks and promoting duty free imports in the caribbean thanks to mr wrangle and to haiti where citizens of course now to eat mud cakes to survive having worked as a boy in palms i understand first hand how gentleman from washington hilton it is the gentleman from arizona mr flake gemma's recognized for two minutes i think the gentleman for yielding we detailed many of the problems with this rule one of the worst aspects of which is that as has been mentioned it allows a bit of time travel here for the purpose of going back and choosing another baseline that allows you to actually comply with pay go rules that is should not be allowed under the rule and that's why the pay go rules are actually waived in this bill for all the talk on the other side about paygo compliant if this bill was paid all compliant the rule the paygo rule would not have been waived the same goes with earmarks more than were added airdropped into the bill yet we still have a waiver because we know there are likely other earmarks added in the bill as well and so we want to protect against that also  mention about the rule it stifles debate i don't know of another example where of conference report has come to the floor particularly one of this magnitude where those who are opposed to a bill to the bill have not been given the opportunity to claim time in opposition instead we have to rely on the good graces of those who support the bill to actually be yielded time and actually speak in opposition to the bill finally mr speaker we have a real problem in this country in terms of entitlements we're going to have to reform social security and medicare tell me how tell me why anybody out there outside of the beltway should believe that we are capable of doing that kind of reform when we can't tell a farm couple making up to two point five million dollars in adjusted gross income every year that's income after expenses if we can't tell them that the subsidy party is over how are we ever going to reform entitlements i asked that of my party i asked that of the democrats how in the world can anybody take us seriously here if we can't have a farm bill that reforms the subsidy program without i yield back together from california mr speaker i yield one half minutes the gentleman from north dakota a member of the ways and means committee without which we could not have done this bill mr  recognized for one and a half minutes thank you gentlemen fielding in private i want to express is being a member of the agriculture committee which i also serve on and a day like today makes me especially proud of that membership because what is before us is a collaborative product the majority the minority arm in arm work in this route to build the best farm bill we possibly could bill that attends to the nutrition needs of our country a pursues that safe that provides a safety net for family farmers and a bill that safeguards the highest quality most affordable food supply in the western world this collaborative effort would not have been possible but for the leadership of chairman peterson who had every step of the way wanted to be conclusive in his leadership style having not just a majority but the minority fully involved writing this bill and also salute bob goodlatte ranking member of the committee because he could've walked away with us said we're just going to do the partisan thing on this bill but no instead played a very important role substantially improving the product of this bill by virtue of bob good lots contribution the contribution of the members of his caucus on the ways and means committee our farmers are putting into the ground the most expensive crop in the history of u s agriculture i had a farmer tell me last week that running th tractors in his crop in was running a ten thousand dollar a day fuel bill they've got horrific exposure they need the protection of this farm bill please adopt thank you gentlemen from washington the speaker how much time on both sides little washington has ten and a half minutes remaining jenna from california has thirteen and a half minutes remaining as speaker i am but this time please yield three minutes to the gentleman from illinois mr shimkus gemma's recognized for three minutes thank you mr speaker i'd like to join my colleague in a little colloquy i understand you're going to offer a previous question on this rule gentlemen would yield i am going to urge my colleagues to vote against the previous question so that the rule not replace the rule i'm in the rule so that we can discuss energy prices and legislation to bring the price of gasoline at the pump down and i would assume a way in which we would do that was there bring in more supply that it would be based on the supply and demand a gentleman's exactly correct i want to thank thank my colleagues you know one of the best things we can do for the family farmer in this economy is the lower energy costs and that's why i'm coming to the floor because i'm excited about my colleagues previous question to bring on more more supply now is pleased to see that my friends on the other side have accepted the supply debate and we did that yesterday with great acclamation saying that bring in seventy thousand barrels of crude oil onto the market would lower gasoline prices your quote not mine between five cents to twenty five cents well just imagine if we brought a million barrels of crude all on our market a million barrels from the u s territory and i think that's what my colleague is going to bring in the previous question because a year and a half ago the price of a barrel crude oil was fifty dollars today a price of a barrel of crude dollars twenty five zero nine i'm telling you know the public starting to wake up i'm hearing it from soccer moms i'm hearing it from labor individuals they understand that the cost of energy is too high the price of diesel has doubled in in agricultural country my farmers are trying to get their being where actually the corn in it's been really wet and it's diesel fuel diesel fuel has doubled we've got small local truckers going on strike because they can't afford to fill up the tractor trailer because diesel costs are too high wire diesel cost too high i because we won't open up any supply i think the previous question will be an opportunity to open up supply on us soil and maybe we'll get a chance to talk about opening up supply on the outer continental shelf you all agreed to it supply will lower prices based upon our vote yesterday but that was seventy thousand barrels are challenges bring a million barrels locally produced crude oil or natural gas because we can't sustain these high prices we can't sustain them in the family farm and that's why i'm excited to be here today to continue to raise this debate on the price of a barrel crude coastal plain the size a state of south carolina a drilling platform the size of dulles airport we want to address the older outer continental shelf both on the east coast and the western seaboard in the eastern gulf we want to address coal to liquid technology behalf those who need it the most those who are going hungry in our country miss de lauro joel is right i thank the gentleman from california and i thank him for his perseverance in this effort as well i rise to support the rule in the underlying bill historic change that will meet the nutrition needs of all americans i want to say thank you to the speaker for her vision and clear priorities on this bill and chairman peterson for his tire leadership and perseverance thank you for welcoming my input on something so critical as nutrition title today as the country faces rising food costs food banks cannot handle the demand and family struggle just to keep up today thirty five and a half million americans live in households where not everyone has had enough food in the united states of america with this bill we are finally taking the right steps to provide people with a fighting chance ending the erosion in food stamps by increasing the standard deduction and the minimum benefit which has been frozen at ten dollars for the past thirty years than indexing them to inflation commitment to help almost eleven million people families with children seniors and people with disabilities yet the current administration is looking for ways to undermine the legislation the administration has argued against expanding eligibility by excluding retirement education savings and combat pay when determining that eligibility what does it say when our soldiers who fight so bravely for our nation abroad are forced to scrape and scrounge for food upon their return and this bill does more it increases funding for the emergency food assistance program including an immediate infusion of fifty million dollars to address supply street shortages as more families than ever are relying on food banks soup kitchens food pantries for help also a dramatic increase in funding for the fruits and vegetables snack program for our schools giving more children greater access to healthy fresh fruits and vegetables at school and we are providing eighty four million dollars in funding for the mcgovern doll program which helps reduce child hunger promote education and represents a powerful opportunity for our nation to export good will around the world i urge my colleagues to support this bill for too long for too long we have failed to meet our obligations as a congress and as a nation failed to act while too many americans have gone without adequate food healthy food and who are facing hunger in our nation today today we can begin to do something about it given from washington mr speaker going to inquire again how much time on both sides  colleague alcee hastings from florida for his undying support and work on that with regard to specialty crops he was joined in this effort by the gentleman from florida mr mahoney who has been just this stalwart and helping me get the specially crop title into this bill and i'd like to yield one half minute the gentleman from florida mr mahoney given flowers recognize for ninety seconds thank you chairman cardoza mr speaker i'd like to begin by thanking chairman peterson and thanking chairman cardoza for their tyler's tireless resolve to bring this is stuart legislation to a vote today i also want to thank commissioner bronson and my good friends and colleagues allen boyd madame putman for their work in delivering to the ranchers farmers and growers of florida the best farm bill in history this farm bill and combination with the energy bill already signed into law completes the foundation upon which florida will build the biofuels industry that will power america's engines and make us more secure it means more jobs for our state it means our children will be able to stay in rural florida and have jobs with the future this farm bill after more than seventy years begins to give florida's growers and farmers parity with commodity crops in florida we grow over two hundred fifty two hundred seventy different varieties of specialty crops and i welcome this one point three billion investment in new programs that supports research test management trade promotion and nutrition for the industry finally this bill makes an investment in our environment by making an additional seven point nine billion available for conservation programs this bill brings farmers an environmentalist together to protect our land our waters and one of our nation's greatest treasures the everglades as a blue dog democrat i'm especially proud that we have been able to accomplish all of the above without having to raise taxes or go into debt we have we don't have to mortgage the farm to pay for this farm bill thank and a half minutes the gentleman from new hampshire mr hodes give us recognize for ninety seconds thank you mr chairman thank you mr speaker i rise today to urge my colleagues to support the rule on the farm bill chairman peterson and ranking member goodlatte have worked hard to put this it bipartisan bill that helps working class families struggling with the soaring cost of food on balance it's a good bill for nutrition and for the small farmers of the northeast the bilbo also helped my home state of new hampshire but because it includes the northern border regional development commission act i introduced this bill that help the struggling communities in the north country of new i'm sure and the region the commission will help bring investment leadership and focus to the north country's economic development efforts thirty six counties in four states that would become part of this commission have poverty levels above the national average median household income that is more than sixty five hundred dollars below the national average persist in unemployment fed by constant layoffs in traditional manufacturing industries and a significant out migration and loss of younger workers the recent announcements of mill closures and growth in gorham berland and littleton new hampshire confirm a clear persistent pattern of economic distress in this region and across the northern border the people of the north country need a new start and more resources to rebuild their communities for a new economy the northern border commission coupled with other efforts will help revitalize the region and rebuild communities which need our help thank you mr speaker i urge passage of this rule for the people of new hampshire's north country the northeast northern border region are counting on us i yield back general washington continue to yield to retiring continues the gentleman collin peterson and ranking member good luck for their hard work on this good bipartisan piece of legislation that does a lot of good things it enhances conservation it provides a safety net that our farmers need to do the work that is so important  this country is a very exciting things with energy and in the end allows these small family farms that that make up most of south southern and eastern ohio to meet their margins in a very difficult profession but it does something more than that it helps meet the growing needs associated with poverty rising food prices a diminishing the manufacturing base rising costs of living seventy five percent of this bill is devoted toward nutrition being mindful of the fact that most of those who will be fed pursuant to the nutritional programs of this bill constitute the working poor in my district many of the counties have poverty rates exceeding twenty percent unemployment rates at six or seven percent meaning thousands of people thousands of people in my district alone are working full time but can't afford to feed their families this bill will help mitigate that crisis this bill is good for farmers it helps diminish the effects of poverty and fight the ever growing clag of property in this country and allow for the farmers of this country to continue to provide the safest cheapest the most abundant source of agriculture on the planet  to talk about the energy issue also there are some good things in this bill for our farmers i want to specially thank the dairy provision i think it was well done there is very important pennsylvania i was in the food business twenty six years of my life i know how people struggle with their family budgets but let me tell you the farmers are reeling with fertilizer costs why are fertilizer crossed doubling and tripling year after year and why is fifty percent of our fertilizer now being imported because of natural gas poc costs ninety percent of the cost of ammonia fertilizer is natural gas cleaning green natural gas this congress refuses to produce natural gas in this country does never been a gas well polluted a beach look at this chart off limits off limits off limits there should be another one in the middle there should be one up here in alaska we have said we're not going to produce fossil feel natural fertilizer folks this country's economic future not just forming our ability to manufacture our ability to heat our homes this winter right today we're putting levon dollar and fifty cent natural gas in the ground for next winter juice last year at this time it was six fifty to seven dollars do the math that's a forty to fifty percent increase in natural gas cost that can prevent us we've lost half of the fertilizer factories of america that's why our farmers are now using foreign formalize or that's why it's cost them three four and five hundred percent more than a just just several years ago folks we have to produce energy in america if we're going to farm and have affordable food if we're going to manufacture products if we're going to have an economy that competes in the global economy we're not in a sole economy anymore we're in a global economy we have to compete with america we pay one hundred twenty five dollars for oil everybody does but we have the highest natural gas prices in the world for eight years and the margins increasing because we refuse to produce energy for america all of these other debates are go be academic we won't have factories we won't have successful farmers we won't will be buying foreign fertilizer to grow products honest country will be buying foreign tractors to produce our farms will be vying for new cars because will have a manufacturing base left playing green natural gas is the answer and we need to open up and we need to drill for oil to there's never been a natural gas well that's harmed us economically and environmentally clean green natural gas urge this congress whether we're dealing with manufacturing farming has expired no help most conservation needs will be unmet and we're going to continue to give money to people who don't need it up to two two and a half million dollars of farm an unrelated farm and over the last twelve years seventy five percent of the direct payments went to just ten percent of the consumer of the largest farmers we don't need to do that to add insult to injury section sixty nine hundred will hide information under the freedom of information act so the american public won't even know the facts this is wrong we can do better we can stop giving assistance to the richest of farmers we can redirect it to strip further strengthen nutrition and the environment i strongly urge a rejection of the rule and the bill and if the president has the fortitude to veto it i hope people will join us in a bipartisan way to sustain the veto from washing yield one minute to the gentlewoman from ohio ms kaptur so one is recognized for one minute i thank the gentleman for yielding up mr speaker with a president that has been unwilling to negotiate in good faith the agriculture committee on both sides  aisle has produced a solid compromise and for the first time under collin peterson's leadership this house has provided for the agricultural interests of this country to lead america forward in a new energy age it has provided a billion dollars to secure specialty crop production in america for a change to try to stunt foreign imports and critical increases for farmers markets to help empower local family farmers and while there are some trade provisions that were  airdropped into this bill not by the agriculture committee the agriculture provisions of this bill are critical for transforming our economy into the twenty first century in a world of increasing trade deficits and economic instability the production of food fib forestry and now fuel are all critical for protecting america's economic independence i want to congratulate chairman peterson for his incredible leadership in urging yes vote on the rule and on the base bill i thank the gentleman for yielding me the which having his leadership on the bill we simply would not be being in the bill to the floor today the chairman of the committee on agriculture john one from minnesota mr peterson jones from minnesota's recognize for two and a half minutes to wan it's a thanks gentlemen and i rise today in support of the rule and the underlying bill this has been a long drawn out process in a long time since last july when file first passes bill out of the house i want to first of all commend my my ranking member and good friend and colleague mr goodlatte for the tremendous work that he did on behalf of this bill and his as was said earlier this bill is a much better believe they all because of the involvement of mr goodlatte and the great work that he did so i very much thank him for sticking with us here to the end we obviously would have preferred event earlier but this was a difficult call to work out because of all the competing interests and the fact that we started off with fifty eight billion dollars less in bas line that we had back in the old to bill we had in order to make all the accommodations for the different folks that were interested in improvements in this bill we had to find additional resources outside of the agriculture committee which caused additional problems and we had to deal with a much different bill in the senate where you had a lot of powerful committee chairman that brought  issues into the bill that were not in the house bill but we've worked through all of that and we have produced a product here that i think i'd isn't perfect but satisfies in most cases the different interests in this bill we maintain a safety net for farmers along the lines of what we've had in the past i personally would like the safety net to be stronger than it is but it's what can be accomplished at this point we have ten billion dollars of new spending about the baseline in this bill and that ten billion dollars is i guess money is fungible but the increase in this bill for nutrition is ten point three a billion dollars so you could say that we have improved the nutrition funding to the amount of the new money that's put in the bill and this is money going into the food shelves food banks that right now are empty and very much demonstrate nice for thirty seconds i think the gentleman called yielding mr speaker i realize how difficult it is to put a farm bill all together in this place but this truly represents a missed opportunity the so called reforms that are being advocated out of the commodity  subsidy title will only affect at best two tenths of one percent of farm entities throughout the country within the adjusted gross income limit of two point five million dollars these income limits don't even apply to the loan the countercyclical program two of the three subsidy programs that exist today and at the end of the day we should produce a farm bill that's less market and less trade distorting and more responsible to the american taxpayer i yield back farmers and answers and other people all across the country and holding a multitude of hearings there and here in washington as well under began under my chairmanship i have never seen anybody who has  pursued passage of legislation as tenaciously and with such dedication but also listening to so many different people as the chairman of the committee has done and as a result this is not your father's farm bill nor is it even the farm bill that passed out of this house last summer this farm bill has more reform than any farm bill that the congress has ever taken up it imposes payment limitations on farmers and those who own land and have substantial non farm income alike and is well worth the consideration this body i urge its passage joan from california mr speaker and i would yield to my friend gentleman from washington thank you the speaker to speak here you myself the balance of the time jonas recognize the speaker this rule provides for a farm bill that is seven months overdue and i want to again commend the chairman peterson the ranking member goodlatte for their persistence in bringing this product to the floor but there is another concern for farmers in our country that this democratic congress is totally them to neglect clean and that's addressing skyrocketing gasoline diesel and energy costs the cost of running the tractor trucking products to market and running a farm has risen dramatically since democrats took control of congress and they've done nothing to help farmers truckers are millions of americans hurt by rising fuel costs this is speaker why one of the principles of the farm bill is ensuring that america does not become dependent on foreign nations for our food supply we as a country have fertile field that can produce as much food as our countries need steet and even export billions of dollars of foodstuffs overseas but we as a country are not using our energy resources like our farmers use our fields for decades our country has been handicapped by not tapping into our existing oil reserves and the effort to develop just a tiny portion of anwar has been fought and blocked by that to the detriment of america's energy independence and high prices that we're now paying at the pump so today i colleagues to defeat the previous question so this house can finally consider solutions to rising energy costs by defeating the previous question i will move to amend the rules not rewrite it just amend it to allow for consideration of h r fifty nine eighty four the clean energy tax stimulus act of two thousand and eight represented by mr barton introduced by mr bartlett of maryland as well as quote any amendment which the proponents asserts if inactive would have the effect of blowing the national average price of gasoline and diesel fuel by increasing domestic flyable of oil by promoting the extraction of oil in the arctic national wildlife refuge unquote with diesel and gasoline prices going up in american farmers having to cope with these cairo acting costs it's times the speaker for congress act the democrat majority has refused time and again to act we can act by defeating the previous question defeating the previous question will be simply to allow the house to debate rising energy prices the farm bill will still be considered and voted upon so mr speaker i ask unanimous consent to have the text of the amendment and extraneous materials inserted into the record prior to the vote on the previous question without objection so it is the speaker my colleagues to do something about rising rule rule costs and two way to do that is by voting to defeat the previous question with there you go back  commodities specialty crops nutrition groups conservationists and others support this bill a yes vote on this rule and the underlying bill is a vote for america's hungry a vote for our environment of vote for united states energy independence and a vote to deliver on our long standing commitment to rural america mr speaker i ask all of our colleagues to support this pursuant to clause eight and clause nine of rule twenty this fifteen minute vote on or in the previous question will be followed by five minutes votes on adoption of h read as eleven eighty nine motion to suspend the rules on h read you haven't thirty four and motion to suspend the rules on a giraffe's eleven seventy six this will be a fifteen minute vote