[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 101 (Friday, July 24, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H6419]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             AMERICA NEEDS TO ADDRESS CRISIS IN AGRICULTURE

  (Mr. THUNE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. Speaker, agriculture in the northern plains is in 
great crisis. Farmers are having to sell below the cost of production. 
People across America need to understand that there is a close 
connection between a healthy agricultural economy and a strong America.
  We need to address the crisis in agriculture, but we need to do it 
without the partisan carping that is coming out of the Democrats in 
Congress. The level of the rhetoric that is coming out of the 
Democratic leadership in the Congress is shameful.
  We need to work together to solve the cash-flow problems in 
agriculture, to more aggressively open markets overseas, and to improve 
the crop insurance program. Farmers do not care whether the Democrats 
or the Republicans get the credit. They only know that they need to 
stay in business.
  I challenge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to work with 
us cooperatively to find solutions to the crisis in agriculture. Let us 
quit playing politics with agriculture's future. Let us work together.

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