Byron Dorgan: “Let me make two points that I think Senator Conrad and I and others would want to make. One responds a bit to some…”

“Let me make two points that I think Senator Conrad and I and others would want to make. One responds a bit to some comments made earlier. The potential benefits of this amendment would be available to people in a range of areas of the country who have suffered, in one form or another, substantial income loss and are going through an agricultural crisis. That includes Texas, South Carolina--a whole range of areas of the country. But I want to make it clear, this is not simply an amendment that would target one or two or three States. Farmers in many other parts of the country who face similar circumstances and a similar crisis would be eligible. Second, and I think most important, while there has been a lot of discussion on the floor of the Senate about agricultural policy, I think it is important to make clear, this amendment is not a substitute for or a denial of the interest many of us have in some of the arguments that have been offered and proposed in recent days by others on the floor about the increased need for additional effort in trade.”