Policymakers are telling us that they're not hearing enough from their constituents about Farm Bill reform. Despite the advocacy and outreach by so many NGO's, the message is just not getting through to Congress. Powerful pro-subsidy farm lobbies have dominated the advocacy field in Washington. Yet, an unreformed 2007 Farm Bill will negatively effect the lives of African farmers for the next five years - so call your Senators. Write to them. Tell them farm subsidies mean profits for no one except large American factory farms. If you need more persuasion, perhaps this statement, presented last week in Washington, will incite you to action.

"We are grateful for the opportunity to be here today, as the United States Senate begins discussion of the next Farm Bill. As John Carr has just said, this legislation affects not only the people of the United States, but many people around the world. Many of those people who are impacted by the farm bill live in our parishes and our diocese, where extreme poverty is our daily bread.

Bishop Dioiff from Senegal, Monsignor Cyprian from Mali and I are not economists or politicians. Nor do we have specific comments on the various proposals being considered before the Senate. That is someone else’s role. Rather, we are bishops and pastors from West Africa who know first hand the reality of millions of Africans who depend on farming and who struggle everyday to make a decent living to support families, raise children and provide some chance for a better future.