Tom Harkin: “There are a couple of other points. The amendment is a straight failure. Senators understand it. But I will point out…”

“There are a couple of other points. The amendment is a straight failure. Senators understand it. But I will point out, because of a quirk in the law, there are some States that are cut more than others. Here is what that means. This gets a little complicated, but I think the States that are going to be voting need to know this. If the total funding for a fiscal year is less than $345 million, then no State shall receive less than one-fourth of 1 percent. Now, last year, since we cut it back to $320.6 million, that means there are 13 States-- Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, and Wyoming--that are not cut by 50 percent; they are cut by 75 percent. Because of a quirk in the law, 13 of our smallest States have a 75-percent cut. That is what they are operating at right now in those States. I say to the Senators from those States, this may not be knowledge to a lot of Members. I happen to know about this program because I am on both the committees that administer it, but this is a program that helps the poorest in our country. I anticipate there may be some other reasons people do not want to vote for this, but as long as 58 Senators signed the letter a week and a half ago, as long as the House is in session, it seems to me we could vote on this and let the House do it. As I said, this is the dead of winter.…”