Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2012--Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

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Mr. REID. Mr. President, I appreciate very much the statement made by the Senator from Maryland, as usual. She will outline a way to proceed on this matter that will be dignified and strong.

I filed cloture on this motion to proceed to this very important bill relating to farm programs in America and nutrition programs in America--extremely important legislation. I am confident--maybe it is the wrong thing in the temperament of the Senate today--that we are going to be able to complete this bill. It is an important bill for America. It will be a good thing for this Congress to do this farm bill. The two managers of this bill, Senator Stabenow of Michigan and Senator Roberts of Kansas, have done a remarkably good job. This bill creates jobs and reduces subsidies by a significant amount. Where else would you find a bill that reduces the debt of this country by $24 billion? This is a fine piece of legislation, and I hope we can work something out so we do not have to have a vote on this matter on Thursday, that we can start legislating.

We have had good fortune shine upon us on the last couple of big bills we brought through here. We had the managers work with floor staff to work on the relevant amendments and then have a way to finish the bill. I hope we can do that.

I repeat, I have confidence in Senator Stabenow and Senator Roberts. They are very good legislators. We need to proceed on this bill. This bill is not a Democratic bill or Republican bill, it is a bill for America.

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