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

Floor Speech

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Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman.

I rise today in strong support of House Resolution 378.

The current sugar policy in this country is outdated and this year will cost American taxpayers millions upon millions of dollars. It is time for us to recognize that there is a global supply of sugar that American manufacturers need to be able to access, and the world price for sugar futures consistently trades lower than domestic futures. If it weren't bad enough that our policy causes food prices to be artificially high, this year taxpayers will pick up the bill to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars when the USDA purchases the excess supply. We will be converting our excess sugar into ethanol to support an industry which does not need any more taxpayer help. In fact, that is another discussion for another day of bad policy.

At a time when we are all taking a hard look at every dollar we spend, we need to take a hard look at this sugar program. Every Member of Congress should ask themselves: Is this the best way we can use limited taxpayer dollars?

Taxpayers are paying for the current sugar program when they write their checks to the IRS, and they are paying for it when they write their checks to the local grocery store. We need to support this resolution, Madam Speaker.

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