Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) met with the Illinois Farm Bureau Sunday to discuss government regulation involving the farm industry. The Illinois senator called for a ban on government regulation that would cost more than $100 million and said the ban might materialize in 2012 if more conservatives are elected into the Senate next year.
“My guess is that we’ll have to elect a few more fiscal conservatives in the Senate in the next election, and then it probably would sail through the Congress pretty quickly,” Mr. Kirk said, as reported by Illinois radio station WJBC.
Mr. Kirk also told those attending that he supports their fight of a proposed dust rule by the Environmental Protection Agency, that would require farmers to take measures to control dust pollution from their farms.
Though EPA chief Lisa Jackson has stated that they will not be imposing that rule, she has said that her agency is considering it. The proposed dust rule became a hot button issue in Congress earlier this year when Rep. Kristi L. Noem (R-S.D.) introduced a bill that would ban any EPA rule calling for dust regulation.
“Right now I trust (EPA Administrator) Lisa Jackson that she’s not going to bring it up before the election,” Mr. Kirk said of the dust rule.
“After the election, though, I think all bets could be off. So, we’ll see,” Mr. Kirk added.
He blamed President Obama for all of the “federal regulation” that Illinois farmers and farmers around the country deal with, professing that another wave of conservatives in the next election would greatly benefit them.
The Illinois Republican also relayed “some good news and some challenges” relating to new free trade agreements between the U.S. and South Korea, as well as new agreements with Panama and Colombia.
Domestically he stressed the need for infrastructure improvements despite the U.S. deficit problem, he wants Congress to be “open minded” about his proposed legislation.
“The big picture is highways, airports and railroads, where I’ve offered legislation that creates new public/private partnerships and revenue streams to unlock all of those sectors so that they can get new construction going,” Mr. Kirk stated.
But, my read on the Congress right now is that the locks and dams situation is not going to be considered as part of a transportation bill where the big battle is going to be. It’s going to be part of a water resources bill. But the same rules apply,” Mr. Kirk added.
