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Prepared Floor Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Agricultural Act of 2014
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Mr. President, I rise to speak about the Agricultural Act of 2014, also known as the Farm Bill.
This farm bill process has been long, hard and no doubt frustrating for all who have been involved. Some of us on the Senate Agriculture Committee have participated in two committee markups and two floor debates for this bill. I voted for and supported the bill at every one of those junctures.
I believe our country needs good farm policy, which means an adequate, yet limited safety net for farmers. Our farmers face real, uncontrollable risks every year. The farm bill provides farmers with a number of programs that help mitigate those risks.
Agriculture remains a changing industry. Unbelievable technological advancements are taking place right before our eyes. Farmers can now control irrigation equipment and monitor grain bins on their phones from the other side of the world.
Agriculture technology is progressing so quickly, the next time we debate the farm bill, autonomous tractors may well be doing a considerable amount of the field work in America.
Farm policy has also changed over time. Unfortunately, the majority of farm program benefits have started going to a concentrated number of farmers. In fact, 10 percent of farmers get 70 percent of the benefits in the farm bill. One reason for this, is that current farm policy offer farmers essentially unlimited subsidies if they hire the right lawyer.
As a farmer, a citizen and a legislator, I believe it is wrong to expect, or allow the government to give unlimited support to my farm, or any farm. Especially since our country has a record $17 trillion debt.
During the first full Senate farm bill debate in the summer of 2012, my payment limit reforms were adopted by a vote of 75-24 here on the floor of this body. During the first round of floor debate in the House, Mr. Fortenberry from Nebraska offered the same reforms and the House adopted them by a vote of 230-194.
Congress has spoken and overwhelmingly agrees with my common sense approach.
One would think policy, which is widely supported in both bodies of Congress, and which saves taxpayers nearly $400 million, would be untouchable in a conference committee. The rules of this institution outline that. It’s Senate Rule 28 if anyone would like to look it up.
However, once again, behind closed doors, Washington decided to intentionally screw up common sense.
This conference bill increases the payments available through the counter-cyclical program, now called Price Loss Coverage or PLC, by 150 percent compared to what Congress had already agreed upon. And I have yet to hear a single legitimate reason for this change.
Additionally, the powers that be in this town have proven they learned nothing from the World Trade Organization Brazil cotton case. That dispute has resulted in the U.S. paying a $143 million fine per year to Brazilian cotton farmers. This farm bill doubles down on the same market distorting policies that brought us that trade dispute.
The original payment limit reforms this Congress approved also eliminated abuses through what is known as the ‘actively engaged loophole.’ To sum up this loophole, it makes it easy for non-farmers to get farm subsidies. This results in the largest 10 percent of farms getting 70 percent of the farm program benefits as I’ve already mentioned.
Yet the conference committee, in another brazen act of manipulation, eliminates my simple, enforceable reform. I think one non-farming manager per entity is more than generous.
The language in the bill now says USDA will have the opportunity to review and fix the actively engaged loophole, should they choose to. USDA could have fixed this problem at any point since it is the result of their rulemaking. So giving USDA power they already have, and claiming reform, is a true example of a Washington hat trick. The conferees didn’t stop at just kicking the decision to USDA, they also tied USDA’s hands with unnecessary requirements that must be met before action can even be taken.
I hope Secretary Vilsack and the Obama Administration finally use this authority to produce a strong enforceable rule regarding the number of people who can be eligible for farm subsidies from taxpayers. I’m certainly going to offer them my thoughts on the issue.
The Government Accountability Office released a report in October of 2013 that clearly outlined the problems with the actively engaged loophole. One farming partnership they highlighted was composed of twenty-two LLCs, with twenty different owners and sixteen ‘managers’ who got their eligibility through the actively engaged loophole.
At least four of the managers for that operation live out of the state while several others live in cities around the state, well outside of commuting distance.
Additionally, just yesterday, it was reported that a large farming operation in Illinois is being fined $5.3 million because they were exploiting taxpayers for farm subsidies. In this case, the government determined their business structure was intentionally designed to evade payment limits with the exact fake entity structures my provisions would have nearly eliminated.
U.S. Attorney Jim Lewis said the following regarding the case-
"We are pleased with this favorable resolution of the government's claims of misuse of farm subsidy programs. These programs are designed to help farmers withstand market price volatility and the intrinsic risks associated with farming from year to year. Any attempt to exploit the system to take more than one's fair share is an improper use of government funds that erodes the public confidence in such programs and threatens their continued viability."
I wish that U.S. Attorney could have been part of the farm bill conference committee; his logic and expertise would have really helped.
If a farm’s business model depends on lawyers setting up complicated Mickey Mouse legal structures, just to get more government subsidies, perhaps the owners of that entity are in the wrong business.
My provisions would have limited subsidies going to a few thousand people who are very well off and quite frankly don’t need unlimited farm payments from the government. Especially, since by definition, they would be people who don’t actually work on farms!
If we can’t cut subsidies that go to non-farming millionaires, how will we ever find the courage to fix the other entitlement programs this country has?
With all that said, there are a few things this bill does that are good.
The dairy provisions have ended up more market oriented than where we started which I believe is a very good thing. I’m glad the crop insurance program will remain strong for farmers across the country. And the nutrition program reforms are welcomed.
In the end, I have to make a judgment of the bill as a whole. I believe this bill, sadly, is a missed opportunity. The Congressional Budget Office says the final savings in this bill is only $16.6 billion. That is a pretty small amount, compared to the fact it will spend nearly a trillion dollars.
I played by the rules with my reforms, they were adopted on the floor of both bodies of Congress. Yet in the end, a few people with the single minded intent to keep unlimited farm subsidies flowing out the door proved Congress deserves its 12 percent approval rating.
I want to be clear- I strongly support the business Agriculture. I’ve been involved in farming my whole life. I understand the industry. Growing wholesome food to feed the world has always been one of the noblest occupations in my opinion.
But if I were to vote yes on this bill, it would be an endorsement of the egregious manipulation of my payment limit reforms behind closed doors. I cannot in good conscience do that. Therefore, I will oppose to Agricultural Act of 2014.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.