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“Madam Chairman, I serve on both Agriculture and Financial Services, so I can look at this with a very jaundiced eye. And I think what we have to do is make a decision in this move based upon what the lay of the land is.

“First, we're talking about renewable energy and ethanol. Where is that going to take place? It's going to take place in the rural communities where the products, where the crops are that will make renewable energy.

“This proposal is tied very tight, and I think that farm credit deserves to have an opportunity to compete in this new burgeoning industry. The businesses that are made eligible are ones that process or handle farm products that are directly used in renewable energy.

“This is very tight. I do not believe that the farm credit needs to be denied this opportunity. I do not think it blurs jurisdictional lines.

“We should not close the door on an industry, an opportunity for farm credit to provide a service that is not directly competitive with our bankers.

“Madam Chairman, we are at an extraordinarily important moment. The people of America are watching us all across this country.

“The U.S. agricultural community and industry employs over 20 percent of our entire workforce and accounts for $3.5 trillion every year in our economy.

“And it is just somewhat baffling to me as we look, and we have worked together in the committee to get many competing forces together, that the gentleman and gentlewomen on the other side of the aisle would turn their backs on the American people and all the work that we did together and in bringing these competing forces together, whether it was black farmers or our traditionally black colleges, or food stamp recipients, all with compelling needs, country of origin labeling, on a whimsical excuse, because we had to balance and score this at a time so that we would have pay-as-you-go so we wouldn't put it on the backs of our children and grandchildren to pay for this farm bill; went to Ways and Means and asked them to find a way to get us $4 billion, and they went and got a way that was first presented by President Bush.

“President Bush said, let us close this loophole on foreign companies that are using what is known as earning strippings to stop paying taxes like every other American business.

“When President Bush said this just 6 months ago, there was no hue and cry about a tax increase.

“There is no tax increase on this. This is a good bill. Let's pass it.”