Expressing Sense of House Relating to Tariff-Rate Quotas for Raw Refined Sugar
Floor Speech
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Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Madam Speaker, we have heard a lot of things today. We have heard from those of us who think that it is a good program, that it has been efficient, and that it hasn't cost the taxpayers money for the last 10 years; and we have heard from the other side that it is not efficient. We have heard conflicting numbers of jobs, about potentially what jobs may have been lost. But what is not debatable are the jobs that are created by the sugar industry, including 142,000 nationally and 12,000 jobs just in Florida alone.
We are going to continue to hear conflicting sides here, but let me tell you what is not really debatable. What is not really debatable is that this is an industry that, around the entire planet, is subsidized. And what we are talking about here is a unilateral disarmament of the U.S. industry that creates, again, 142,000 jobs.
I keep hearing, also, the fact that consumers here are struggling. Wait a second. Sugar here for consumers is among the lowest prices on the entire planet.
And then I have heard, again, that it is affecting the food manufacturing industry. By the way, now we are getting to the real substance of the issue. But let's ask the question: prices of sugar have dropped dramatically this year. Have you seen a dramatic shift, the lowering of prices in the food manufacturing industry? By the way, let me not get that dramatic. Have you seen a dramatic lowering of prices of diet sodas versus ones that contain sugar? No.
Look, if that was the case, if the price reductions were going to be passed on to the consumers, then you would see, obviously, products that don't contain sugar would be a lot less expensive than the ones that do contain sugar.
Again, we are going to hear a lot of conflicting issues, but let's not forget the basic principle here: We have thousands of jobs that depend on this industry, including in Florida. We have, again, some large manufacturers that want lower prices, and I don't blame them. But please don't say they are going to pass them on to the consumer, because they never have. Just look at the price of Diet Coke versus regular Coke.
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