Expressing Sense of House Relating to Tariff-Rate Quotas for Raw and Refined Sugar

Floor Speech

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Mr. MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I stand in strong support of the Pitts amendment on the House resolution on the farm bill.

The sugar program included in the 2008 farm bill that became permanent in the 2013 House farm bill, contains a harmful restraint on trade and sugar between the 6 months of October and April, which makes it so that the Secretary of Agriculture cannot allow an increase in sugar imports, even if the marketplace needs it.

This detrimental restriction led to record-high prices for both the sugar producers and consumers alike. The higher costs resulted in many manufacturing companies, some are located in my district, struggling or having to even shut down because they are unable to sustain these high costs, killing good manufacturing jobs in the process.

This resolution ensures that the U.S. will not be forced to face higher sugar prices that are two times the world price because of an erroneous restriction in the current law. These high sugar prices have unfairly cost consumers $3.5 billion a year.

Simply, the U.S. should be able to control these costs and adjust accordingly so that we do not impose unjust costs upon our consumers, especially in these economically trying times.

The bottom line is this: the problem is not Mexico. The problem is an outdated anti-taxpayer, anti-consumer, anti-business sugar-reform program. The Pitts resolution will help restore some balance to the program and remove artificial pressure from the current government intrusion into the marketplace, which is what we are looking for here.

What will the Pitts resolution do? It will help fix our broken sugar program by, one, allowing sugar farmers to retain their commodity program; two, to help ensure taxpayers will be less likely to have to pick up the tab for this program; and, three, help to ensure that hundreds of thousands of good manufacturing jobs and sugar industries will be less threatened.

I urge support of the Pitts resolution. It is a commonsense approach.

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