Statement of Congressman Robert Simmons, Monthly Meeting of the Northeast Dairy Compact Commission, Mystic, Connecticut, August 8, 2001

 

I thank you Shirley very much. Thank you Mae for inviting me to be here this morning. I see here two of Connecticut’s most distinguished members of the farm community sitting here in the front row – Jack Tiffany and John Mordasky.

 

I can tell you this – one of them is a Republican and the other is a Democrat. Can you tell the difference by looking at them which is the Democrat and which is the Republican? No, you can’t, except they both walk a little slow because their joints hurt. They’ve both probably wrenched their back at one time or another, they both have probably broken a bone or two and they have both engaged in probably the most difficult occupation in America today, which is called farming. And you can’t tell which is a Republican and which is a Democrat because frankly ladies and gentlemen, when it comes to farming, it doesn’t matter. When it comes to farming, we don’t care. When it comes to the issues farmers face, it should not be a Republican or a Democrat issue. It should be a bipartisan issue.

 

Let me welcome you to my home. I reside in Stonington, Connecticut. Mystic is an unincorporated village in Stonington. It’s on the Stonington side and the Groton side. So, for many years when I was traveling the world in the military (I also worked for the CIA for a little bit of time. As my colleagues know, don’t ask me about it, I might have to kill you) people would as me, “where are you from?” “Stonington, Connecticut.” “Never heard of it.” So then they’d say, “Where is it?” And I’d say, “It’s a mile north of the NY, CT, RI border.” And in fact if you go to Stonington Point, half a mile out there is the point where NY, CT and RI all converge, the tri-border area. But that doesn’t help them, they couldn’t figure out where that was. So then I’d say, “It’s near Mystic.” And invariably people around the world would say, “Oh yeah, Mystic. You’ve got a seaport, you’ve got an aquarium.” So welcome to my hometown, it’s a real treat to have you here.

 

A three-minute drive down the road is my wife’s family farm, purchased by the first family member in 1765. He had trouble making a living as a farmer back then, so he studied medicine and practiced medicine throughout his life. That family farm has been in my wife’s family ever since. It’s about a couple hundred yards up the road from my family property. Up until a few years ago we had dairy cattle there. Back in the day there was a milk truck and milk processing and the whole shebang. But over the years it downsized. Probably one of the saddest moments in our family’s life was about 10 years ago when they finally sold the herd. Finally sold the herd. That’s a story that’s happened all over Connecticut, it’s the story that’s happened all over New England.

 

So what happens after you sell the herd? Well, we switched to horses. We got horses running on the property but it’s just not the same. And members of the family not interested in farming have subdivided the land. Sloughed it up and subdivided it for development. And we’ve worked hard to try to prevent that from happening. But that’s the story of the American family farm. And this is the story that we have lived in our own lives, and this is the story the people around this table are confronted with. It’s a story that’s particularly important now.

 

I’ve read through your agenda, and you’ve got a comprehensive agenda. But let me tell you something – something very, very serious and something very, very bad is happening to New England family farms, and most people don’t even know about it, and it has to do with the Northeast Dairy Compact.

 

This past week the Senate passed an agricultural bill without Compact language in it. This follows the house doing the same. The assumption in the House was that it would go in the Senate when the bill went to conference and we would preserve the Northeast Dairy Compact. But you know what? I’m not so sure. I’m not so sure. And if there’s nothing else that you folks do this day you must focus on this issue which is a political issue and it’s going to need very, very aggressive work on your part and on the part of the farmers of New England if we are to solve this problem.

 

When I heard that Senator Jeffords was considering leaving the Republican Party, I called him on the phone, I tried to make an appointment. I could not get an appointment. So on that Wednesday I went over to his senate office and I camped out in the lobby until finally someone was willing to talk to me. I did not talk to him; I talked to his wife for about half an hour. His wife. I begged her, "Don’t let him do this." He is a critical part of our effort to preserve this Compact. This Compact is a critical part of New England farming. Needless to say, I was not successful, but that’s how important I felt this issue was then, and I believe this issue is even more important today. Time is running out. We have to move quickly and expeditiously and we have to galvanize the farm community. All states have to be involved in this effort.

 

I’ll tell you something – Farms have been under the gun for years anyway. We all know that. And yet if we cannot preserve the Compact, my guess is, that upwards of 50 percent of the remaining dairy farms are going to go out of business in the next 10 years. And think about the impact of that on our states and on our communities. Think of what that means for eastern Connecticut. Think what that means for MA and VT and RI. I can only guess the impact but it’s going to be substantial. And when those farms go down what happens? What comes in their place? Subdivision, development, sprawl.

 

It goes beyond an economic issue; it goes beyond a social issue. Many of us in this room believe that farming is a good life and the values of the farm are good values and the work ethic you develop on the farm is an important work ethic for our children and for the next generation.

 

It goes beyond all of that. It goes to environmental protection. It goes to preserving and protecting the Quinapogshutucket Valley, the last green valley in New England. It goes to having farms for our tourists to see and visit. It goes to protecting and preserving the environment that has make New England what it is for 300 years.

 

This is a very, very serious issue. It is an issue that I am wrestling with as a six-month freshman. What can I do? How can I be more effective at this? It’s an issue where we’ve lost one of our advocates as a Republican so we have to recover him on the Democrat’s side and insure the Senate sends Compact language to the House in some bill. It has to be done or the New England we know, the northeastern United States that we know, will not be there for our children and our grandchildren.

 

That’s a serious message, and I believe sincerely everything I’ve said.

 

I want to close in a little more upbeat fashion, I hope. I suppose many of you didn’t know that when you were going to have your conference here in southern Connecticut it was going to be the deep south of Connecticut. It’s a little warm out there. But you know, if you take the ties and jackets off, lean back and enjoy yourself, there are shops across the way, there are wonderful vistas and views at the seaport and downtown. The aquarium that we have here, with the assistance of my colleagues from the Connecticut General Assembly, the aquarium we have here is second to none in the world today. We did a $45 million upgrade and we brought Bob Ballard over from Wood’s Hole, the foremost ocean explorer in the world today, Bob Ballard who discovered the Titanic. This is a wonderful, wonderful place to visit, we are so pleased to have you here today. Thank you for all your hard work for the Compact and for America’s farm communities. Enjoy your day, thanks very much.

 

You’re composed of the northeast states, and every one of you has two Senators. Depending on the size of the state you have at least one Congressman. Vermont has one, Rhode Island has two, Connecticut has six, you just go around the various states. You have to make a concerted effort to contact every one of these people and to get them to commit to preserving the Northeast Dairy Compact. You’ll have to do that. Washington is a city of lobbyists. You thought Hartford was bad – you have to wear a raincoat indoors in Washington, DC just to keep them off of me.

 

If you’re not lobbying your issue, you’re not going to get your issue. As a Compact you can’t lobby, but as individuals every single one of you can call your representative. That’s a constitutional right. If you don’t make that point, you’re going to lose. Now, I have a good friend in Washington, Mark Kennedy from Minnesota. He won in a challenge race the way I did, he’s a freshman. I talked to him about the Compact briefly. I said, “I need your help with this,” and he says, “No way in Hell.” I said, “Wait a minute, Mark. We’re buddies, we’re freshman. The two of us beat an incumbent. We’re the only two Republicans to beat an incumbent. You’ve been to New London, I’ve taken you out on a submarine, you’re my closest buddy, you’ve got to help me.” He says, “No way we’re going to help you. We’re in competition with the Northeast Dairy Compact.” I said, “Well I don’t think that’s really true,” he said, “That’s the way my people see it. There’s no way in Hell I can vote for it.”

 

The numbers are lining up against us. And they’re lining up against us along these kinds of political lines. So if we are not strong with our own Representatives and Senators, if we’re not strong with them, we’re going to lose. It’s just that simple. I under stand that you’re charter, or the articles of incorporation that you have my prevent you from doing certain things, but you’ve got membership. What’s going to happen a year from now if this thing fails and goes down? What’s going to happen to the people you represent? I urgently implore you to take this message to heart and figure out what you can do to legally and effectively address this issue. Thanks.