Admiral Sestak Speaks to Pennsylvania Farmers in State College

By SESTAK FOR SENATE

STATE COLLEGE, Pa – Today, U.S. Senate candidate Joe Sestak spoke to hundreds of small farmers and agribusiness representatives attending Penn State Progress Days about his plan to support small farming and next he will join the Penn Ag Democrats Picnic to further discuss his proposals to assist family farms, a key driver of our Commonwealth’s economy.

Joe emphasized the impact that farms have on Pennsylvania: “Pennsylvania’s economic prosperity is directly tied to family farms. Given that they contribute $45 billion to our state’s revenue every year, the policies that we put in place should aid our small farmers, not create obstacles that impede their growth.”

Admiral Sestak proposes legislation to create a tax credit for first time farm purchases for active farmers. Joe Sestak would also like to connect farms with schools to support local farms while improving student nutrition. He received an 87 percent rating from the National Farm Union and was recognized as a “Friend of the Farm Bureau” by the National Farm Bureau for “outstanding service.”

Joe’s opponent, Congressman Toomey, continually puts big business over small farmers. While in Congress, Toomey received a 0 percent rating from the National Farm Bureau for a record that included opposing the Farm Bill, Country of Origin Labeling, and bankruptcy protection for small farmers – three pieces of legislation designed to help farmers weather tough financial situations. He wants to cut assistance to farmers, and has even attacked American farms as “Moscow on the Mississippi.”

Admiral Sestak is a founding member of the House Dairy Caucus, member of the House Timber Caucus and Vice Chairman of the Small Business Committee.

Joe Sestak’s Record for Small Farmers:

Authored the Livestock Farmer Risk Reduction Act which doubles the amount the USDA can spend to support livestock insurance programs, essential to protecting cattle and swine producers from declining prices [HR 4418]
Co-sponsored the Dairy Fairness Act of 2009 to increase the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) payment rate from 45 percent of the difference between the price of milk and the target price to 79 percent. Due to the antiquated pricing system, many dairy farmers face bankruptcy as the price of milk surpasses the price of production [HR 3166]
Co-sponsored the Milk Import Tariff Equity Act to close the loophole that allows foreign milk protein concentrate, which has doubled in the last decade, to flood the U.S. market and put our dairy farmers out of business [HR 3764]
Voted for the American Clean Energy Security Act which exempted agriculture from the greenhouse gas pollution requirements and protects farmers from energy-related price increases. Additionally, farmers could generate extra income by leasing their land for wind turbines or storing carbon [HR 2454, #477, 6/26/09]
Voted for the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act which expanded tax credits for cellulosic fuels, creating jobs by expanding new markets for farmers and ranchers [HR 5351]
Voted for the Farm, Nutrition and Bioenergy Act which provides a safety net so that when prices for farm goods plummet, farmers can recoup some of the money spent on fertilizer, fuel and other supplies used [HR 6124, #417, 6/18/08]

Congressman Toomey Record Against Small Farmers:

Voted against providing farmers opportunities to generate income from the emerging renewable energy market, including leasing land for clean energy production, growing switchgrass and other feedstocks for advanced biofuels and sequestering carbon under their land [H.R. 2754, #392, 7/18/2003]
Voted against providing funding for Country-of-Origin-Labeling (COOL) for meat and meat products, impeding consumers and farmers’ ability to by local products over imports despite Congress approving a mandatory COOL law for beef and pork in 2002 [H.R.2673, #354, 7/14/2003]
Voted against the Farm Security Act of 2001, which contained important provisions for a milk price support program as well as funding for the dairy promotion and research program [ HR 2646, #371, 5/10/2001]
Failed to vote for legislation that would extend Chapter 12 bankruptcy protection for family farmers until Jan. 1, 2004 [HR 2465, #300, 6/23/2003]
Voted for the Estate Tax Repeal opposed by the National Farm Union as the tax only applies to the 2 percent of Americans who inherit estates worth $1.5 million or more and accounts for only 65 of the estimated 2 million farms. The National Farm Union maintains that it would take much needed funds from the Farm Bill with the federal budget overburdened [HR 8, #254, 6/9/00]

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