[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 82 (Thursday, June 10, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6882-S6883]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                BOYCOTT THE ALTERNATIVE ICE CREAM PARTY

 Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, I rise today to request a boycott by 
all Senators to the ``Alternative Ice Cream Party'' being sponsored by 
Senators from the Northeastern United States. The ``Party'' is designed 
to rally support for the Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact. The dairy 
compact that was eliminated by the recently revised milk marketing 
orders has cost consumers in the Northeast over $60 million and cost 
child and nutrition programs an additional $9 million. If proposals to 
expand dairy compacts to 27 states this year are adopted, it will force 
60% of the consumers in the nation to pay an additional $2 billion, 
that's correct, $2 billion a year in higher milk prices. And while the 
Northeast's consumers are purchasing overpriced milk, Wisconsin is 
losing dairy farmers by the day--over 7,000 in the past few years.
  Mr. President, rather than ice cream, the Northeast Senators should 
give away cow manure instead: At least

[[Page S6883]]

then the freebies would have some relation to the legislation they are 
pushing. There are many other areas of concern I have in regard to this 
issue, particularly why the hard-working cows in the Northeast are not 
seeing the money from the extra profits that the large processors are 
making. I am surprised that animal rights and labor activists have not 
raised issue with the long hours worked and extra milk that cows in the 
Northeast are forced to produce. I am doubly surprised that my good 
friends from the Northeast can sit in Washington eating free ice cream 
while poor children in New England end up paying more for their school 
lunch milk because of the dairy compact.
  If we as the United States can no longer expect to give a fair (milk) 
shake to dairy farmers and consumers across the country, then maybe it 
is time for the Northeast to secede from the Union. Maybe Canada would 
be willing to accept them. But then, of course, the North American Free 
Trade Agreement would require them to practice free trade and eliminate 
the dairy compact.

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