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Sweeney
The 20th District
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The 20th District

Dairy Policy

Since coming to Congress, John Sweeney has been an outspoken advocate for small, dairy farmers, such as those in NY-20. John Sweeney fought to include New York State in the now-defunct Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact. The compact allows farmers in the 6 New England States to receive a higher minimum price for milk than the current federal minimum farm price in the region to enable small family farms to generate more income. The compact expired in 2001, before NYS was given the chance to enter. In the 2002 Farm Bill, a new program emerged called the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC). This program provides direct payments to dairy farmers when the price of milk drops below a certain level. Small dairy operations, like those in Upstate NY, rely heavily on MILC to help them compete with larger operations in the West. Originally, this program expired in 2005, but Sweeney fought to extend it through 2007, which coincides with most other agriculture programs.

Energy

Abundant, affordable energy is the lifeblood of our economy and our standard of living. Because of energy’s importance in our lives, the ability to produce it safely and securely within our borders is critical. Currently, we are heavily reliant on foreign energy resources from unstable regions of the world, particularly the Persian Gulf. Recent events, including the September 11th terrorist attacks and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have demonstrated how critical a sound energy policy is to our national security.

Economy

A strong economy is also critical to our families and our livelihood. Congressman John Sweeney has worked to improve the economic environment through lower taxes, less government regulation and increased opportunity to expand companies in the free market. Three of the fastest growing counties in New York State are in the 20th Congressional District – Saratoga, Warren and Dutchess Counties. Not many other areas of upstate NY have seen this. John Sweeney attributes this growth to his commitment to local projects that have direct impact on local employers.

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