Tom Harkin: “So we hear the old refrain, get the Government out of agriculture; give the farmers more freedom. That is what this…”

“So we hear the old refrain, get the Government out of agriculture; give the farmers more freedom. That is what this amendment does. If that is what you like, this amendment gives the farmers more freedom. I just ask my colleagues, what kind of freedom do they have in mind when they talk about giving farmers freedom? The freedom to be forced out of business by events beyond their control? As I said yesterday, I read a comment in the newspaper by one of my colleagues here who said they wanted to give farmers more ability to manage their destiny. I said, I do not understand that. How can my corn farmer in Iowa manage El Nino? How can my soybean farmer in Iowa manage the disastrous Southeast Asian economy? How can our wheat farmers manage the subsidies that other governments give their wheat farmers to compete unfairly with us? How can those wheat farmers manage the disastrous scab disease that we have had in some of our northern Great Plains States? These are all events that are beyond their control. Is this the kind of freedom that my colleagues have in mind for farmers? To be forced out by events beyond their control? The freedom to be forced to sell their crops at a loss because they cannot afford to hold onto them or get a decent loan to be able to market it when prices improve a little; is that the kind of freedom we have in mind? Is the freedom that my colleagues have in mind the freedom to struggle at poverty-level income while growing the food for our Nation?”