Tom Harkin: “I sympathize with the majority leader and minority leader on the issue of moving ahead with the legislation. There are…”

“I sympathize with the majority leader and minority leader on the issue of moving ahead with the legislation. There are some very important issues here on agriculture. We have a crisis looming for our farmers, ranchers, and our rural economies all over America. Maybe it has not hit with full force and effect yet, as it has in North Dakota, and maybe a couple of other places, but we are on the cusp of it in Iowa. I had an Iowa farmer call me yesterday. The corn price in northwest Iowa is down to $1.89 a bushel, and it is dropping every day. It doesn't look like it is going to get any better. There is nothing out there, nothing out there that is going to do anything between now and harvesttime. The corn price in Iowa is getting down to that same level again, when you consider the increase in the cost of inputs and everything like that. So we are back where we were, right before the wave of foreclosures and bankruptcies in 1985, 1986, 1987, and 1988. You would think we would learn from history not to repeat that, not to wait too long before we respond to this crisis.”