FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                  CONTACT: BARBARA RILEY

5/15/08                                         202-224-2841

                                                        LIZ CHAMBERLAIN

                                                        603-430-9560

SUNUNU: FARM BILL FLEECES AMERICAN TAXPAYERS

Votes against bad policy, taxpayer giveaways in $300 billion package

WASHINGTON, DC – United States Senator John Sununu (R-NH) today (5/15) continued to protect American taxpayers from billions of dollars of giveaways to special interests by voting against the Conference Report to the “The Food and Energy Security Act of 2007” – otherwise known as the Farm Bill (HR 2419).

        “The Farm Bill contains funding for a number of important programs, including nutrition and land conservation, but leaves massive subsidies in place even as food prices soar. It allows farmers earning millions to continue to receive subsidies, props up prices for many commodities, and breaks the budget,” said Sununu. “At a time when farms are experiencing record profit, there is absolutely no reason to provide price supports for sugar and extend the ethanol tariff. The bill is a continuation of bad economic policy that taxpayers in New Hampshire and across the country do not deserve. That is why I voted against it last December and supported a number of reforms designed to remove subsidies while encouraging conservation.”

HR 2419, which reauthorizes funding for Untied States Department of Agriculture for five years, passed the Senate by a vote of 81-15.

        During Senate consideration of the Farm Bill, Sununu backed a number of efforts to reform the flawed policies in the Farm Bill including:

·       Co-sponsoring Senator Judd Gregg’s (R-NH) amendment to redirect $1 billion in wasteful funding to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

·       Joining Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) in sponsoring the Farm, Ranch, Equity, Stewardship, and Health Act (FRESH Act), which would have reduced harmful agricultural subsidies by $21 billion while shifting an additional $6 billion to conservation, $5 billion to nutrition, $1.7 billion to specialty crops, $1.6 billion to renewable energy, $1.5 billion to healthy foods, $1.1 billion to McGovern-Dole international aid, and designating $3.2 billion for deficit reduction.

·       Joining Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in cosponsoring an amendment to reform the nation’s inefficient crop insurance program, using the savings generated to expand conservation and nutrition programs.