Tom Harkin

I did want to make a strong case that the Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee is having some very, very severe problems in meeting the basic health and education needs of the country and the requirements that other…

I objected because I wanted to once again bring the attention of the Senate to the fact that we have a very unfair situation presented to us in terms of the allocation of money for the defense portion of fiscal year 1999 Appropriations and…

One of my neighbors keeps asking me. He said, ``I hear about all these farm problems.'' He lives in a city. He said, ``I can't understand, if the farmers aren't making money, how come I'm not seeing lower prices in the store?'' They don't…

this amendment does not set monetary policy. It is a nonbinding sense of the Congress. William Gaston from the Congressional Research Service writes in a CRS report that, ``Congress has enacted nonbinding language to express its monetary…

Monetary policy has to work for all of our people, not just a few. It has to be cognizant of what is happening to ordinary people in this country. Our dollar is much too strong right now. Because of that, they can't get the kinds of…

It is bigger by a tremendous magnitude. We deal here in budgets in terms of billions of dollars. I know it sounds like a lot of money. But what the Fed does affects the entire $7 trillion economy. The Senator from Minnesota is absolutely…

This Senator was not aware of that. Is the Senator telling me that the Federal Reserve, which I have just stated is a creature of Congress, and exists by law, that the General Accounting Office, our accountant, cannot audit the Federal…

But to say we cannot vote to tell the Fed what to do because it would be politicizing it or we cannot interfere I believe somehow is an abdication of our responsibilities, not only our rights but our responsibilities as policymakers to…

usually when votes are cast, I don't like to revisit them. People have their reasons; we vote and we move on around here. But I heard so much in the well from people voting on this last sense-of-the-Senate resolution that I felt I should…

I thought one of the things it might take is for the Senate of the United States to clearly express itself to the members of the Federal Open Market Committee to lower interest rates now. There are increasing signs of a possible recession…

I have a chart to show that the real Federal funds rate is at its highest level in nine years. What does that mean? What that means is that real rates of interest are at a very high point. For example, even Chairman Greenspan said earlier…

I hope that the Senator, then, would try again to bring up some legislation to provide for an audit of the Federal Reserve. I honestly cannot believe we are not doing that. I appreciate the Senator for his enlightenment on that issue.

This says, ``The President and Congress should encourage the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.'' It didn't say we should have them consider it. That time has passed. I might have agreed with the Senator from New Mexico a year ago…

I find it strange that, as policymakers, we can't stand up and tell the Fed what we think they should do. That is not politicizing it. To politicize it would be for us to pass a law mandating that interest rates be at a certain level, or a…

as the second largest economy, Japan's poor economic situation is going to have a very significant effect on our economy and the economies of most other countries. Again I quote Fred Bergsten, a very respected expert in international…

tomorrow I will be laying down a Sense of the Congress amendment calling on the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates as a preemptive strike against a recession in 1999. This is a very crucial issue coming at this point in time. I am…

One argument against lowering interest rates is that our unemployment levels are already low. Some say that our current rate of unemployment at 4.5 percent is too low, companies cannot find workers and will be forced to pay more, hurting…

there is a lot of talk in this town these days about morality and immorality. This has to do with morality. This has to do with what is moral in this society and to stick up for people who are low-income and are going hungry.

I heard some talk around here that some on the other side of the aisle are talking about coming up with a new program called lost market compensation payments, or something like that. So, as I understand it, it would just be a set rate of…

I thank the President. A poll came out today of 1,000 farmers taken nationwide by a polling firm. It was done for the Nebraska Wheat Growers, American Corn Growers and the Nebraska Farmers Union--1,000 farmers. Two questions I will point…

Secondly, Madam President, I learned this morning of a poll that had been taken, and the poll has just been released. I believe it was released at 2:30 this afternoon, so the paper is still hot, just off the press. It is quite a startling…

I agree with him absolutely, there is a convulsion going on in agriculture today. We are spiraling into a deepening crisis in agriculture all over America, especially in the Midwest. Yes, this issue is of vital importance to farm families…

Mr. President, I am sorry I could not have been here earlier to speak against this onerous piece of legislation. The so-called ``truth'' in employment act? It ought to be called the ``fear'' in employment act. Of all the requirements that…

It is a bad piece of legislation, and not just for working people, but for every American, for the Bill of Rights, and for our constitutional rights to be free to think and have our own consciences, this bill ought to be stopped in its…

If the loan rates go up, the loan rates increase, it goes to producers; it gives them a marketing tool whereby they can take the grain and market when they want and not just dump it all out there this fall. That is why we have to remove…