Contact: Peggy Armstrong
(202) 220-3508
parmstrong@idfa.org
(Washington, D.C. – June 20, 2013) “IDFA commends the House of Representatives for voting, 291-135, to reform our dairy policies by establishing a new and expanded revenue insurance program for dairy farmers without imposing a controversial program that will have our government get into the business of limiting milk supplies, hurting consumers and costing American jobs. The momentum is now strongly against supply management for our dairy industry.
“The Goodlatte-Scott amendment will provide an effective and expanded safety net for dairy farmers but without adding a program that will make healthy and nutritious dairy products less affordable for our nation’s families. And, it will allow dairy companies, particularly dairy exporters, to continue to grow and create jobs.
“IDFA is grateful for the strong bipartisan support from all across our country but particularly to Representatives Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and David Scott (D-GA) for sponsoring this amendment, to the cosponsors of the amendment, to the Representatives who spoke out during the floor debate and to the many other Representatives who reached out to their colleagues to help win this vote.
“We also thank House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) for his strong and consistent support throughout the Farm Bill process.
“We look forward to passage of the Farm Bill by the whole of Congress and to reforming our dairy support programs without also forcing families to pay more for dairy products or limiting our industry’s ability to capture new export markets. The entire dairy industry will be stronger as a result.”
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The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Washington, D.C., represents the nation's dairy manufacturing and marketing industries and their suppliers, with a membership of 550 companies representing a $125-billion a year industry. IDFA is composed of three constituent organizations: the Milk Industry Foundation (MIF), the National Cheese Institute (NCI) and the International Ice Cream Association (IICA). IDFA's 220 dairy processing members run nearly 600 plant operations, and range from large multi-national organizations to single-plant companies. Together they represent more than 85% of the milk, cultured products, cheese and frozen desserts produced and marketed in the United States.