Letter to Congress:  Oppose Farm Bill Conference Report

May 13, 2008

Dear Congressman,

We urge you to vote no on the farm bill conference report, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 that is expected to come to the floor of the House as soon as tomorrow. Agriculture committee legislators have had plenty of opportunity to truly reform the farm safety net, yet the conference report indicates they have fallen far short of successful, true reform.

The conference report would continue to funnel tax dollars to some of one of the few booming sectors of our economy — agriculture. While many of us are struggling to put food on our tables and to fill our gas tanks, farm country is seeing record crop prices and average farm incomes are well above those of the rest of America. Yet the conference report actually increases subsidies to certain crops, adds new crops to the program, would continue allowing millionaires to receive subsidies, adds a new permanent disaster fund that will bailout those who plant on marginal land, and continues the egregious direct payment system that goes to farmers regardless of income, crop price, or whether they even produce a crop.

In addition to not addressing existing problems in the farm bill, the conference report adds new abuses. The U.S. sugar industry would get additional support and protection, with the government promising that excess imported sugar be used only for ethanol production. Racehorse owners and timber companies would receive expanded, new giveaways from taxpayers. And budget gimmicks are employed to mask the true cost of the already bloated farm bill.

The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 fails taxpayers. The agriculture committees had widespread support from across the political spectrum, dozens of editorial boards, and from the White House for a truly reformed farm bill. Yet they chose to produce a conference report that is business as usual for U.S. agriculture, and is a slap in the face to the rest of the country.

We urge you to vote no of the farm bill conference report, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008.

Sincerely,

Ryan Alexander
President