Tom Harkin: “I thank the Senator. That is a step in the right direction to put that $400 million for the Crop Insurance Program. That…”

“I thank the Senator. That is a step in the right direction to put that $400 million for the Crop Insurance Program. That was in our initial proposal. I am delighted to see it in this one. But I must say the entire package is still not enough. Will it help? Sure, it will help. Heck, $100 would help. I have farmers out in my area who would take $100. One thousand dollars would help. Yes; this will help. If I might analogize it a little bit, it is the kind of help that if a person is out there drowning in deep water, and you throw him one of those little life preservers, the drowning person grabs ahold of the life preserver, only to find out there is a slow leak in it. It is going to keep that person alive for a while, give him a few more moments of life on Earth. Then the air is going to go out. That is sort of the way I see the Republican amendment before us now. It will help. It will get some farmers through. It is going to leave a lot behind. I think it is going to hold out some false hopes. The last thing our farmers and ranchers need now is false hope. They need real hope that we are going to significantly address the problem.”