Capitol Hill Briefing 

# Changing Course: Why Congress Should Consider a New Direction for U.S. Agriculture Policy 

##### Watch the Event 

Download:

[ 

Audio 

](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2006/hba-09-21-06.mp3) 

Join the conversation on X using [\#CatoEvents](https://x.com/hashtag/CatoEvents). Follow [@CatoInstitute](https://x.com/catoinstitute) on X to get future event updates, live streams, and videos from the Cato Institute.

Date and Time 

September 21, 2006 12 - 2 PM EDT 

Location 

2226 Rayburn House Office Building 

Share This Event 

##### Featuring 

Featuring **Rep. Jeff Flake**, (R‑AZ) and **Sallie James**, Trade Policy Analyst, Cato Institute. 

In 1996 Congress passed the Freedom to Farm Act, which put our country on a new path toward fewer subsidies and less reliance on market-distorting price support programs. In 2002 Congress abruptly and dramatically shifted course in the wrong direction with the enactment of the 2002 farm bill. This legislation formalized the significantly increased “emergency” spending of the previous two years with a massive expansion of the cost and scope of agriculture programs. As Congress prepares to craft a new farm bill in 2007, Rep. Jeff Flake and Sallie James will discuss why it is time to overhaul U.S. agriculture policy once again.

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).