Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2005
AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2005 -- (House of Representatives - July 13, 2004)
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 710 and rule XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union for the further consideration of the bill, H.R. 4766.
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Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to this amendment.
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Mr. Chairman, the irony here is enormous.
Today we are hearing from anti-tobacco advocates who: want to keep the federal government in the tobacco business; want farm families to stay hog-tied to the tobacco industry; are pushing for the continuation of the tobacco program, not the ending of the tobacco program.
This Amendment seeks to prevent USDA from eliminating the federal tobacco program.
Every day, the Gentleman from Arizona comes down here to the well of the Floor to complain about the size of the federal government; the number of federal programs; and the fact that government bureaucracy is handicapping U.S. enterprise.
On these principles, I agree with him. However, I find it ironic that my colleague is now offering an amendment that will do the very thing he claims to vehemently oppose.
The bipartisan House-passed tobacco provisions will: Permanently eliminate a depression-era federal program; Get the Government out of the tobacco growing business; Allow U.S. growers to compete on the free and open market; Stop market share loses to Zimbabwe, Brazil, and China.
The tobacco provision will not: Bankrupt the federal government, as it is entirely offset through the extension of customs fees; Dramatically increase teen smoking.
There's absolutely no correlation between smoking and the buyout.
I urge my colleagues to reject this amendment and support family farms and ending the federal tobacco system.
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