Byron Dorgan: “it is an unaccustomed role for me to come to the floor and speak in opposition to an amendment offered by the Senator…”

“it is an unaccustomed role for me to come to the floor and speak in opposition to an amendment offered by the Senator from Arkansas. I find so often I come to the floor to support a number of his amendments, but I oppose this amendment. I think it is not only bad timing but an inappropriate remedy to what the Senator describes as a problem. I would like to give some context for my feeling about this. I grew up in southwestern North Dakota out near the Badlands in ranching country. My father raised some livestock. We had some cattle. We did not ever run cattle on public lands. We have never been a family that had access to public lands and therefore the grazing fees that exist on public lands. I know something about the cattle business but not nearly as much as those who are ranching full time in parts of North Dakota today. I know a little about calving, about what ranchers go through. I understand what the ranch families go through in the spring; 4 o'clock in the morning, with it snowing and cold and running across muddy fields trying to deal with a difficult calving situation to save some calves and save some cows. It is not an easy life. A lot of these ranchers have discovered, with the bottom falling out of cattle prices in recent months, it is pretty hard to make a living doing something they love to do.”