Tom Harkin: “There are farmers who are hurting all over this country-- not just in Iowa, or North Dakota, or Kansas but even in…”

“There are farmers who are hurting all over this country-- not just in Iowa, or North Dakota, or Kansas but even in Idaho. Quite frankly, this Senator went out of his way to accommodate the wishes of Senators in this Chamber representing family farmers in their States to put into that bill what was necessary to meet some of those needs. In fact, I say to my friend from Idaho, there are provisions in the bill that will help his farmers in Idaho that are not in the bill they passed in the House. Second, I say to my friend from Idaho that the budget that was passed here allows in the 2001 fiscal year for the Agriculture Committee to spend up to $5.5 billion. It allows the Agriculture Committee to spend for the year 2002 $7.35 billion. The Agriculture Committee in the bill we are trying to consider here adheres to those limits. It is absolutely within the budget.”