Public Interest Groups Oppose Sugar Subsides

As members of the House Agriculture Committee consider the 2007 farm bill, several public interest groups are urging committee members to reject plans to expand the U.S. government’s sugar subsidy program. Representatives of several consumer, taxpayer and humanitarian groups have joined an open letter highlighting the perverse and costly consequences of federal price supports for domestic sugar producers.

“The Sugar Program is already one of the most egregiously harmful government programs to the American people; by adopting the Chairman’s Mark, Congress would further increase consumers’ and taxpayers’ burden. Thus, we urge you to oppose the changes in the program proposed in the Chairman’s Mark for the 2007 Farm Bill under consideration by the Agricultural Committee and to undertake true reform of the Sugar Program,” wrote the signatories.

Co-signers of today’s letter include representatives of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Hudson Institute’s Center for Global Food Issues, Citizens Against Government Waste, Consumer Federation of America, DKT Liberty Project, Foundation for Democracy in Africa, FreedomWorks and the National Taxpayers Union.

CEI is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy group dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government. For more information about CEI, please visit our website at www.cei.org.