Statement by Rodger Schlickeisen on Farm Bill Vote

(05/02/2002) - "This Farm Bill shortchanges independent farmers and conservation, opting instead for business as usual, feeding the insatiable maw of commodity programs. "Instead of vision for the future, this Farm Bill exhibits one of the worst possible Washington delusions, the belief that you can fix a broken idea by spending a whole lot more money doing what’s never worked before.

"What this country needs is a Farm Bill with:

1) Meaningful increases in traditional conservation programs like the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program and Farmland Protection Program.

2) A fully-funded Conservation Security Program.

3) Meaningful limits on commodity payments.

"We are gratified that Senator Harkin’s Conservation Security Program – the single most innovative idea to promote real-world conservation results on America’s farms offered in this Farm Bill – seems to have come out of the conference with enough resources to make a real difference on the ground.

"But on balance, this bill is a bad deal – for family farmers, for taxpayers, and for wildlife, all of which will suffer to fatten up the profit margins of a few agribusiness corporations."

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Contact(s):

Brad DeVries, (202) 772-0237