U.S. Reps. Rodney Davis (IL-13) issued the following announcement on Dec. 10.
From Rep. Davis’ remarks:
So, I just really appreciate being able to speak to the Farm Bureau members again, and I look around, and I see some of the folks in my district, I see a lot of friends, a lot of folks that helped us actually craft two Farm Bills in my time in Congress, Farm Bills that have given us great policies, Farm Bills that have used the private sector to help us reduce the amount of money we actually spend in Washington D.C., and there are attacks all the time.
There are attacks all the time on the programs that each and every one of you, and the Illinois Farm Bureau, worked with me on, on things like crop insurance. Crop insurance is a public-private partnership that works to reduce the amount of taxpayer dollars that we spend responding to disasters in the Ag industry, right? Why in the world would our colleagues attack it? I don’t know, but it’s that balanced approach that you all taught me when I first got elected 9 years ago and got a seat on the House Ag Committee, that we still continue to take to D.C. today.
But that fight, that fight sometimes was with Republicans and Democrats when it came to the Ag sector. Now the fight right now is with the Biden Administration. It’s with Nancy Pelosi. It’s with Chuck Schumer.
Just when I thought the Ag economy couldn’t be hit any harder, what we see are President Biden, and Speaker Pelosi, and Leader Schumer’s attack on each of you through their “Build Back Broke” program.
This is a reckless tax scheme, and it’s going to destroy some of the good agricultural policies we’ve put in place. Democrats, they know how unpopular this “Build Back Broke” program is, and while the tax provisions were recently pulled from the House bill, they still haven’t outright abandoned their plan to bankrupt our country with the changes in stepped-up basis, and also the estate tax.
…Now we’ve got a fight on our hands when it comes to things like pesticide registration which I helped lead the fight in the last Farm Bill. We’re going to the far-left priorities of this Administration and frankly we’re gonna fight the far-left priorities of Speaker Pelosi and the House Ag Committee.
We are doing that united, we’re doing that together, and that’s what I need, and that’s what I ask from each and every one of you in this room. As we move forward to fight for you, and to fight for what’s best for Illinois’ agricultural economy, we need you to continue to stand up as the Illinois Farm Bureau. Make your voice heard, make sure that you are a loud voice in this state, and do not be bullied by those who are in charge in state government, do not be bullied by those who are charge in the federal government, stand strong for what we know and what we all believe is working and will work way into the future.