3 minute read
A Note From Congressman Mike Bost
During a 1956 speech in Illinois, President Eisenhower said, “You know, farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you’re a thousand miles from the corn field.” Those words still ring true 68 years later, as my colleagues and I on the House Agriculture Committee negotiate the new Farm Bill. We see it in our nation’s capital all the time — bureaucrats and big-city politicians overregulating family farmers out of business. That’s why Eisenhower also got it right when he said, “The proper role of the government, however, is that of partner with a farmer — never his master.” There’s a reason rural Americans liked Ike. Too often, I believe the government has strayed from Eisenhower’s principle, and that’s bad for our farmers and our country. That’s why I always try to meet our family farmers where they’re at: on their turf, in their fields. It helps me best understand how we can partner with them in strengthening America’s food, fiber and fuel production. Illinois is an agricultural powerhouse — we are the No. 1 state in the nation for soybeans and No. 2 for corn. Sharing the importance of agriculture in southern Illinois is vitally important, which is why I was excited to welcome House Agriculture Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson to my district last August to hear directly from my farmers and producers. Visits like this, and many more that I’ve had with local farmers across southern Illinois, have provided a valuable opportunity to discuss the Farm Bill. After all, the Farm Bill should first and foremost prioritize the needs of our farmers.
Roughly every five years, Congress re-evaluates the Farm Bill and renews an array of agricultural and food programs. No other bill in Congress gives a better return on investment. At only two-tenths of 1 percent of our federal spending, the agriculture industry creates 46 million jobs, $2.6 trillion in wages, $947 billion in tax revenue, $202 billion in exports and $8.6 trillion in economic activity. As the representative of one of the most agriculturally diverse districts in the region, I can tell you this bill is absolutely vital to southern Illinois.
As I’ve talked with farmers and producers across our 34 counties, three priorities kept re-emerging: strengthening the farm safety net, ensuring farmers have access to credit and bolstering trade through funding the Market Access Program and the Foreign Market Development Program. I am committed to tackling these priorities in the Farm Bill and have already introduced stand-alone legislation, such as the Beginning Agriculturalist Lifetime Employment (BALE) Act, to address my constituents’ needs. Experience makes a big difference when negotiating important legislation such as the Farm Bill. I know that personally, I’m that much better prepared because I served on the committee during the last Farm Bill. However, more than 200 members currently in Congress have never voted on a Farm Bill before. But I’m confident that, if we hold true to President Eisenhower’s words and partner with our farmers, we’ll end up with a Farm Bill that benefits us all.
