Providing for Consideration of H.R. 1947, Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013

Floor Speech

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Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for his profound leadership on this issue.

You know, I rise in opposition to this rule because there are many amendments that were not made in order, but there's enough pork in this farm bill to make a dead pig squeal. I want to talk about just some of the silly things that are in this bill that were made in order as amendments for us to take up this afternoon, including pennycress as a research and development priority at the Risk Management Agency, or an amendment to direct the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture to conduct an economic analysis of the existing market for U.S. Atlantic spiny dogfish.

But an amendment I had that would have given veterans waiting for disability claims to be processed the opportunity for SNAP as a disabled person was not made in order.

And another amendment that would have made crop insurance subsidies that taxpayers in this country pay, some $9 billion a year, transparent--not in order. There are 26 companies in this country, agribusinesses, that are receiving more than $1 million apiece in crop insurance premiums, but we don't get to know who they are. That was an amendment I had that was not made in order, even though Grover Norquist thinks it should be made in order, U.S. PIRG thinks it should be made in order, and the Environmental Working Group thinks it should be made in order.

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Ms. SPEIER. But we're more interested in talking about the Atlantic spiny dogfish, or pennycress than dealing with issues around veterans accessing SNAP and whether or not the public has a right to know when we spend $9 billion a year on premium payments for crop insurance, just another name for what has historically been a farm subsidy.

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