Tom Harkin: “As the Senator and I were talking earlier, lawyers can argue about words and what they mean. Still, the words that are…”

“As the Senator and I were talking earlier, lawyers can argue about words and what they mean. Still, the words that are used in the Senator's amendment seem to indicate to me we have to go through rulemaking. Again, I am concerned, if that is how it is interpreted, then we are going to have a period of time that we may not have any enforceable standards. That is what I want to clarify. That is why I wanted to engage in the colloquy. I do not believe it is clear, on its face, exactly what it means. If it means that the standards we have now were promulgated with sufficient advice that we would not need new rulemaking, then that is okay. That is why we need some legislative history on this. That is why I was trying to engage in a colloquy. I ask the Senator from Mississippi: Does his language mean USDA will have to go through rulemaking again? Does this leave a gap in the standards? That is all I am trying to get to. Maybe if we can talk about it a little more, we will get to this thing. I don't know. Sometimes it is hard.”