In Support of Rep. Murphy's Legislation to Eliminate the Market Access Program (MAP)

Dear Representative Murphy:

On behalf of the 362,000 members of the National Taxpayers Union (NTU), I write to offer our support for your legislation to eliminate the Market Access Program (MAP).

The wholly unnecessary MAP uses funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Commodity Credit Corporation to aid in the creation, expansion, and maintenance of foreign markets for U.S. agricultural products. Since its inception in 1985, taxpayers have contributed over $2 billion to the program for commercial activities such as consumer promotions, market research, trade shows, and trade servicing.

NTU and its members strongly favor free trade and the private efforts of American businesses to engage in both export and import operations, but taxpayer-subsidized trade is not free trade. Furthermore, the Government Accountability Office recently found that the economic benefits of the program are overstated and have no discernible effect on U.S. agricultural exports. Our government loses considerable credibility here and abroad when taxpayers are forced to support unnecessary and economically dubious ventures like the MAP.

It is our hope that Congress will act swiftly to abolish some of the most wasteful federal programs that continue to bloat our already overgrown budget, so we can curb spending and reduce our debt. Your “Scrap the MAP Act” takes us one step closer to reaching these goals.

We applaud your efforts in introducing this legislation and look forward to working with you to restore fiscal responsibility in Washington, DC.