Byron Dorgan: “Let me say that piece of legislation and a lot of other legislation that has been considered by the Congress, by this…”

“Let me say that piece of legislation and a lot of other legislation that has been considered by the Congress, by this 105th Congress, in my judgement pales in importance to the responsibility we have to deal with the current farm crisis that exists in this country. Last evening, I drove home from the Capitol, and I thought about the day. When I left, I left the conference committee between the House and the Senate on agriculture appropriations. It was a conference committee in a small room. There were a lot of people. It was cramped and hot. The result of that conference committee was a party-line vote to reject a proposal by President Clinton to provide nearly $8 billion of emergency aid to deal with the farm crisis. Instead, the conference committee accepted the majority party's proposal of roughly $3.9 billion which almost everyone understands comes far short of what is necessary. I also thought about the news yesterday that was described in a story in the Washington Post this morning.”