Political Quotes

“I come to the floor this evening to talk about winter storms that hit Kansas and surrounding States over the weekend, destroying crops and killing livestock. We face many challenges, and the Senator from Utah just described a serious circumstance for many people in this country. I applaud his efforts to try to find the solution. The challenges that we face in Kansas after this weekend are another vivid reminder of the difficulties that each day our farm families and ranchers face trying to produce a crop or raise cattle. A farm family's economic situation can change in a moment's notice. What happened over the weekend was 17, 18, 20 inches of snow and high winds with a devastating blizzard, and it was preceded by temperatures into the twenties. The consequence to the wheat crop is dramatic. A weekend weather event like this is often just an inconvenience for most people. However, it is the difference between having a crop to harvest or having nothing to sell. It is the difference between earning a living and not earning a living. It is the difference between staying on the farm or ranch and not being able to. While the extent of the damage is being assessed--and we don't know exactly what that will be--it is clear that many wheat producers will likely have lost their entire crop. We have about 7.5 million acres of wheat planted in Kansas, and many of those acres--perhaps up to about half--were harshly impacted by this snowstorm and winter conditions.…”