Kent Conrad: “Mr. President, in my home State of North Dakota, we are facing a disaster of stunning proportion. We are losing…”

“Mr. President, in my home State of North Dakota, we are facing a disaster of stunning proportion. We are losing literally thousands of farm families as a result of what I call a ``triple whammy'' of bad prices, bad weather and bad policy. One part of the bad policy is the sanctions that we place on foreign countries that locks us out of their markets. Mr. President, I have just spent 9 days in my State going from town to town. Everywhere I have gone, farmers have taken me aside, bankers have taken me aside, Main Street business people have taken me aside and they have told me that something is radically wrong. Farmers are not cash-flowing. We have the lowest prices in history, coupled with a dramatic reduction in production because of the outbreak of massive disease--scab and other disease--that is reducing yields dramatically. That combination is absolutely devastating to farmers. In the midst of this, our Asian markets, which are critical to us, are weakening because of a financial collapse there. And on top of it, our own Government is imposing sanctions on countries like Pakistan, which is the third largest buyer of wheat, and we are locking ourselves out of those markets, further weakening prices, creating what is, in effect, a death spiral. Mr. President, what are the consequences? In my State, there are now 30,000 farm families. We are anticipating losing as many as 10 percent--3,000 farm families--this year.”