16th District Candidates on Farm Bill
By: Rachel Havey
Updated: November 1, 2012
WMBD 31 News is your local election headquarters. Leading up to Election Day, we're finding out where local candidates stand on the issues. In the 16th district Congressional Race, Incumbent Republican Adam Kinzinger is being challenged by Democrat Wanda Rohl. Tonight we're asking the candidates what's in the Farm Bill that will help central Illinois farmers?
Kinzinger:
"Well I think it's important to continue to understand that we have to have crop insurance. We have to have a mechanism to ensure that a year like this where there is a major drought that farmers aren't going to lose their shirt and go out of business. And instead then you have these huge corporations that are coming in and farming instead of the small American farmers. So I think crop insurance is very important, disaster relief, you're going to see direct payments go away and I think agriculture has very much come to the table said we're ok with. Uh a year ago you saw ethanol go away, and you've seen ethanol continue to survive on it's own. So I think look the vast majority of the Farm Bill is related to food stamps not to farms. But the part that is related to farms it's important to keep the safety net there. So I hope when we go back in September at least October or November, December, we can at least pass something that's a Farm Bill because this has been one of the biggest most frustrating points of my career so far."
Rohl:
"Well for me understanding the Farm Bill...what I know is not in there is cutting of the Food Stamp program. The way to make sure our farmers who are in desparate need can get low interets loans, or they can get subsidies that they need. And as somebody who leaves on a farm, I can tell you that we're in some big, pretty scary times right now. And we have to make sure that the small family farmer as access to resources that they need that large corporate farms, they can do. Um but we need to maintain protections for our farmers and make sure that they have all of the things necessary and funding available."
