On the recordJuly 14, 1998
We can close our eyes to it. We can try to ignore what is going on, but the fact is, there is a crisis of immense proportions happening all over rural America. In our sense-of-the-Senate resolution, we pointed out that net farm income for 1998 is projected to fall to $45.5 billion. That is down 13 percent from 1996. Now, with farm income going down 13 percent--I asked my staff to check and see what Wall Street did last year. The S&P 500 index went up 36 percent last year; farm receipts down 13 percent. Farm debt for this year is expected to be $172 billion, the highest level since 1985. So what we say in our sense-of-the-Senate resolution is: . . . emergency action by the President and Congress is necessary to respond to the economic hardships facing agricultural producers and their communities. Very simple. Very straightforward. It is an emergency situation and requires emergency action.
Source
govinfo.gov
