Tom Harkin: “I wanted to thank the legislative counsel who worked so hard on this: Gary Endicott; Darcie Chan; Janine Johnson…”

“I wanted to thank the legislative counsel who worked so hard on this: Gary Endicott; Darcie Chan; Janine Johnson; Heather Flory; and Tim Trushel. They were indispensable in helping us work through this bill. I thank the Congressional Research Service: Geoff Becker; Joe Richardson; and Jeff Zinn. I thank the Congressional Budget Office analysts. When we always asked them, in the middle of the night, they would come through with the information we needed. They are David Hull, Jim Langley, Greg Hitz, Valeri Baxter-Wolmer, and Lanette Walker. And at the USDA Office of General Counsel, I thank Dave Grahn and Pia Ruttenburg. I will yield the floor, but someone asked me what was the best thing we had going for us when we went into conference with the House. I said: We had our secret weapon. We had the majority leader of the Senate. The majority leader is a valuable member of our Agriculture Committee. I can't think of anyone who has worked longer and harder for our farmers and ranchers in America than Tom Daschle.”