[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 182 (Thursday, November 14, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S6579]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           GOVERNMENT FUNDING

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, a 5-year decline in farm income, 
retaliatory tariffs on U.S. ag commodities, disrupted renewable biofuel 
policies, devastating natural disasters, and now shortages of LP gas 
needed to dry harvested grain add to the growing burdens weighing 
heavily on the minds of Iowans and American farmers.
  Mounting pressure to pay the bills, to get the crops out, and to make 
ends meet can be overwhelming. We have lately expressed lots of worries 
and pressures that come from the increase in farm bankruptcies and the 
increase in rural and farm suicides.
  There are many uncertainties in farming that are beyond human 
control, but there are other areas where Congress can help. As a farmer 
and as a Senator representing the No. 1 agricultural State, I am 
fighting to build mental health resources--as an example, there is the 
Grassley-Tester bill to help preempt suicides--to uphold the RFS by 
fighting with the EPA, and to pass the United States-Mexico-Canada 
Agreement.
  These are issues that are tops on the minds of Iowans and not just 
the farmers.
  I yield the floor.

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