Tom Harkin: “I think the Senator from Minnesota put his finger on it. When I heard the Senator from Kansas speak, it seemed as if…”

“I think the Senator from Minnesota put his finger on it. When I heard the Senator from Kansas speak, it seemed as if what he was saying was that we are going to leave farmers and ranchers out there at the mercy of the grain companies, the packers, the wholesalers, the retailers, and the processors. They are making money in the domestic market, but the farmers are not. I ask the Senator from Minnesota: Does the Senator believe that it is a viable responsibility for our government to ensure that family farmers have some bargaining power, some power out there in the marketplace so they can get a better share of the consumer dollar that is being spent in America today? I add to that, I say to the Senator, that under previous farm programs--and under what we have been advocating in terms of raising loan rates and providing for storage and things such as that--they provided that farmers have a little bit better bargaining power in terms of selling their crops, and thus hopefully getting a better portion of their income from the market. I thought it was a curious argument for a conservative from Kansas to be making that the measure of the success of the Freedom to Farm bill is how the Government checks go out to farmers. I find that a curious argument. My question to the Senator is whether or not it is a legitimate role for the Federal Government to play to help level the playing field between farmers and those who buy their products from the farm.”