ms. stabenow: yes, that's my intention. i strongly agree we should not be spending taxpayer dollars to fund these direct payment subsidies and i will do everything i can to make sure the conference committee adopts the senate version of this issue. i would also say to my friend from arizona that if we don't get the farm bill signed into law by september 30, then direct payments are scheduled to continue, so i hope we can count on your support to make sure we can pass the farm bill in time and eliminate direct payments. mr. flake: i thank the chairwoman for her commitment. to be frank, i think the senate bill leaves much to be desired. in fact, to gain my support, the farm bill will need to undergo dramatic changes to reduce the taxpayer cost of federal crop insurance, to remove market-distorting price supports and limb the scope of the federal government in u.s. agriculture. that said, the chairwoman is right to point out that as uncertainty continues to surround the farm bill, congress appears poised to pass yet another ex

ms. stabenow: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: i, too, join with our colleague from oregon in raising great concern about what this proposal would do. this is a proposal we've seen actually three of them now that would cut all federal funding for any community that has either defaulted or, more importantly, is at risk, has problems financially. so what does that mean. the presiding officer: it means any city, any county, local unit of government struggling with a tight budget could potentially lose all federal funding? we're not talking about a bailout here. we're talking about the same federal funds that go to every community. no funding for emergency services like police departments and fire departments, no funding for transportation, for roads and bridges, cutting off funding for special education and for our schools, no funding for economic development to help these communities who are challenged because of possibly economic circumstances or shifting manufacturing base or other economic issues beyond their control. so