Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013

Floor Speech

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Mr. BOUSTANY. Madam Chair, I rise to support this bill, and I certainly appreciate the persistent hard work and leadership of Chairman Lucas and Ranking Member Peterson, and I want to thank both for bringing this very important legislation to the floor for a House vote.

In 2012, Louisiana farmers and ranchers produced nearly $11.4 billion in commodities. It's a vital and growing sector of our State's economy, and we need a new farm bill now to provide the kind of certainty going forward for our farmers. Throughout south Louisiana, the agricultural economy is the lifeblood of our rural communities. This is a bipartisan bill containing truly significant reforms, with savings of up to $40 billion.

Given the immense diversity of American agriculture, it's important to have price-loss coverage, which is an important option for our Southern farmers, like our rice farmers. This is critical for their future security.

Additionally, an extension of the U.S. sugar program ensures a level playing field with other nations, which continue to heavily subsidize their sugar industry with unfair trade practices. I strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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