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Statement by Bob Stallman,
President,
American Farm Bureau Federation,
Regarding President Obama’s State of the Union Address
WASHINGTON, D.C.,
January 28, 2010 – “The American Farm Bureau Federation welcomes
President Obama’s call in his State of the Union address last night for
Congress to pass energy legislation that includes more production of
renewable fuels and nuclear power. We also strongly back his commitment
to opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development. And we
believe he was right on target with his stated commitment to continued
investment in advanced biofuels and clean coal technologies.
“Expanded trade opportunities are vital to America’s farmers and
ranchers, and we welcome and support the president’s call to export more
of our agricultural goods. We appreciated his support for strengthening
trade relations with Asia and with key partners like South Korea, Panama
and Colombia. We join President Obama in his stated goal of doubling our
exports over the next five years and we look forward to working with the
administration on a National Export Initiative that will help farmers
and small businesses increase their exports. We also were encouraged by
his reference to the need for immigration reform.
“While we support the president’s stated position on energy legislation
and the direction of his trade initiative, we cannot support climate
change legislation in its current form. As we have continually stressed,
climate change legislation currently before Congress will sharply cut
the numbers of acres devoted to U.S. food production and will increase
energy costs for America’s farmers and ranchers.”
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