Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions S667
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mr. HAGEL, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. JOHNSON, and Mr. DASCHLE):
S. 667. A bill to amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to strengthen payment limitations for commodity payments and benefits; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, the American people recognize the importance of the family farmer to our Nation, and the need to provide an adequate safety net for family farmers. In recent years, however, assistance to farmers has come under increasing scrutiny.
Critics of farm payments have argued that the largest corporate farms reap most of the benefits of these payments. The reality is, over 60 percent of the payments have gone to only 10 percent of our Nation's farmers.
What's more, farm payments that were originally designed to benefit small and medium-sized family farmers have contributed to their own demise. Unlimited farm payments have placed upward pressure on land prices and have contributed to overproduction and lower commodity prices, driving many family farmers off the farm.
The Senate agreed, by an overwhelming vote of 66 to 31, to a bipartisan amendment sponsored by Senators DORGAN and myself to target federal assistance to small and medium-sized family farmers. The amendment would have limited direct and counter-cyclical payments to $75,000. It would have limited gains from marketing loans and LDPs to $150,000, and generic certificates would have been included in this limit. That would have limited farm payments to a combined total of $275,000.
That amendment was critical to family farmers in Iowa. I feel strongly the farm bill failed Iowa when it failed to effectively address the issue of payment limitations. This is our chance to remedy the problem.
This bi-partisan legislation provides a limit of $40,000 for direct payments, $60,000 for counter-cyclical pavement, and $175,000 for LDPs and marketing loan gains. The combined limit is $275,000.
I urge my colleagues to support this bi-partisan legislation and to encourage the development of reasonable, legitimate payment limits.