(Washington, D.C.) ¾ The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today condemned Rep. William Delahunt’s (D-Mass) vote against an amendment to the Agriculture Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 1999 which would have reduced the federal price support level for sugar by only one penny per pound.

“We are disappointed that Rep. Delahunt, in voting against the amendment offered by Reps. Dan Miller (R-Fla.) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), opposed even modest reform of the sugar program,” said CCAGW President Thomas A. Schatz.  “U.S. consumers pay a whopping $1.2 billion hidden sugar tax each year due to increased costs of food products, while the sugar program primarily benefits a handful of wealthy sugar barons.”

Noting that the amendment would have amounted to less than a 10 percent reduction in the support price, which is at a level twice the world price, Schatz stated, “This amendment would have provided a small step toward equity between sugar and other agricultural commodities that are transitioning to market orientation under the 1996 Farm Bill and saved consumers and taxpayers at least $200 million annually.”

Recently, at least 121 CCAGW members from Representative Delahunt’s district had written to urge support for the Miller/Schumer amendment.  “We are particularly disappointed that Rep. Delahunt chose to ignore the concerns of these constituents,” said Schatz.

CCAGW is a 600,000-member lobbying organization dedicated to enacting legislation to eliminate waste, inefficiency and mismanagement in the federal government.