Patrick Leahy: “this report is a good example of how the Senate--when we sit down and work together--can craft sound legislation. New…”

“this report is a good example of how the Senate--when we sit down and work together--can craft sound legislation. New England and Mid-Atlantic farmers who do not usually participate in crop insurance will greatly benefit from this effort. There is funding to help preserve farmland, protect the environment and to give farmers better tools to manage risk. In addition, farmers who have suffered through two years of low prices will get some relief as USDA purchases $200 million worth of apples, cranberries, potatoes, melons, and the like. There will also be major purchases of specialty crops for the school lunch program--this will benefit farmers and school lunch programs. In the beginning, there were a lot of strong differences of opinion on how to reform crop insurance and provide assistance to farmers. In fact, we had a 10-8 split in the Agriculture Committee on how to structure this reform. But Republicans and Democrats worked together and got the job done. Sure, it's more work but that is why we are here. I was very upset yesterday when I learned--after we ended our conference negotiations and worked out all the final deals, and after we terminated the conference and had signed the conference report--that the unfinished bankruptcy bill was going to be thrown into the crop insurance conference report. That is an example of how the Senate should not operate. It would be hard to imagine a more serious breach of trust.”