Political Quotes

“I want to thank Senator Grassley for his leadership on this issue. He has known for a long time, as I have known, that something is amiss in the competition in the cattle business. I rise today to speak about that. It isn't talked about enough in this body or in the United States in general, but the fact is that rural America is being cast aside, and it is falling prey to corporate interests whose only concern is about making a quick buck. The truth of the matter is that the American cattle ranchers are suffering. It is an open secret that meat packers have been taking advantage of small-scale ranchers, family ranchers, and the small and medium-sized feeders for years. While some of us have been raising the issue for some time, it is now becoming apparent and it has come into the national spotlight. Almost 1 year ago exactly, a fire at a beef packing plant in Holcomb, KS, halted 5 percent of our country's beef distribution capacity. It caused the price of meat in grocery stores to skyrocket and caused a sharp decline in cattle prices at the farm gate. It was Montana producers and producers across this country who took the hit while the meatpacking industry reported record profits. Following that fire, Senator Grassley and I demanded that the Department of Agriculture conduct an investigation looking into price manipulation by the largest packers. Although this investigation is ongoing, their findings thus far have been disturbing.…”