The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“THE SUGAR PROGRAM” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H3872 on July 11, 2001.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE SUGAR PROGRAM
(Mr. DAVIS of Illinois asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, some of our colleagues defend the sugar subsidy as a no-net-cost program. If that was ever true, it is not true today. The sugar program costs plenty.
It costs tax dollars. Last year the Department of Agriculture spent
$465 million on sugar subsidies.
It costs consumers. The General Accounting Office, a congressional agency, estimates that the people who consume and use sugar, which is all of us, pay an additional $1.9 billion a year because the Federal sugar subsidy keeps prices higher than they would be in a free market.
And the sugar program costs industry. Companies in my community, in my neighborhood, and other places throughout the country are moving away because the price is too high. That is unfair. It is unfair to consumers, it is unfair to workers, and it is unfair to America.
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