David Minge: “the spring of 1998 finds tens of thousands of American family farmers facing financial crisis. Agriculture is virtually…”

“the spring of 1998 finds tens of thousands of American family farmers facing financial crisis. Agriculture is virtually the only sector of the economy to suffer a loss in 1997. The Republican farm bill has exacerbated this financial crisis. Now the House Republican transportation bill would eliminate our Nation's ethanol program. This is another devastating body blow to farmers. This will depress prices paid for corn and other feed grains and ruin the 20 plus farmer-owned ethanol producing cooperatives. It will also rob our country of the environmental and national security benefits of ethanol. Who benefits? Railroads get a tax break at the expense of farmers, the very railroads that provided atrocious service in 1997 and caused devastating losses to farmers and many other sectors of the economy. Who else? Big oil. They dispatch competition from a domestically produced renewable fuel. This is an unconscionable program.”