Chuck Grassley: “First of all, if you read the history of the Packers and Stockyards Act passed roughly around 1920, I believe you will…”

“First of all, if you read the history of the Packers and Stockyards Act passed roughly around 1920, I believe you will find a lot of the same arguments being used against the passage of the original act at that particular time as you are now finding used against our efforts to modify the act to a small extent. We have had a good Packers and Stockyards Act for 80 years. We are trying to bring it up to date. It didn't anticipate the control that a few packers would have over the livestock industry. We are adjusting it to take into consideration new ways of marketing. Also, I would ask just my Republican colleagues, not my Democrat colleagues--I am not sure exactly which ones I am talking about, but there was a group of us who met with the new Secretary of Agriculture about a year ago--there were probably 8 to 10 Republican Senators present--to give our views on certain issues for her, an incoming new Secretary of Agriculture. I don't take notes on these meetings, but I remember, to my astonishment, the number of my colleagues who told the Secretary of Agriculture as they reflected on the grassroots opinions which they received from their constituents that one of the greatest concerns was about concentration in agriculture.”