Byron Dorgan: “I have not seen the report, nor do I know the contents of that report. However, as my colleague has stated, it is not…”

“I have not seen the report, nor do I know the contents of that report. However, as my colleague has stated, it is not appropriate, in my judgment, for Canadians to be lobbying our Congress about a domestic farm program, or for anyone from our administration to be inviting them down. My hope is that that did not happen that the press report is erroneous--and the Secretary will put out a statement saying that is not accurate. If it is accurate, it is inappropriate. Senator Conrad is certainly right about that. This raises the broader point that, for the last 6 months, trying to get a farm bill out of this Congress has been an awful process. It is as if those who knew that we needed to get a better farm bill in order to enable family farmers to survive have been on a bicycle built for two, and we have been on the front seat pedaling uphill as hard as we could pedal, and the administration has been on the back seat with their foot on the break.”