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Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I hope that many people tuned into the presentation that Senator Stabenow just made. Those of us who serve in the U.S. Senate know that as Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, she not only walks the walk, she talks the talk. She has passed a farm bill; no mean feat. She has shown her own expertise in achieving that goal and her understanding of a very complex piece of legislation.

Would the Senator from Michigan yield for a question?

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Mr. DURBIN. Could you be kind enough to say for the record when the current farm bill expires?

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Mr. DURBIN. Would you explain to those who are not familiar with it what happens if we do nothing.

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Mr. DURBIN. And when you say ``Depression-era programs,'' are you literally talking about the 1930s?

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Mr. DURBIN. And there are consequences for dairy interests, for example.

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Mr. DURBIN. So if we fail to come together on a bipartisan basis before the end of the year, that is the reality that will be faced by the new administration?

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Mr. DURBIN. Well, currently, under the Senate schedule which we have been told, we literally have until a little past the middle of next month to do our business.

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Mr. DURBIN. Yes, of course. I would add to that we have many worthy judicial nominees on this calendar to consider too. So there is work to be done.

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Mr. DURBIN. And the key to that, I think, goes back 60 years ago where we married nutrition programs and agriculture programs so that people living in the city of Chicago, for example, who hear over and over ``Illinois is an agricultural State'' but don't have any evidence of it other than what is on the table for their family to eat will have as much interest in passing the bill as my farmers down State. I am sure the same is true in the State of Michigan.

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Mr. DURBIN. So we all know that the cost of food has gone up, making it more difficult for families to keep food on the table, and we also know that low income people face that. What are the nutrition programs that are part of this farm bill that will help them?

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Mr. DURBIN. That is not a lot.

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Mr. DURBIN. I see my colleague from Minnesota is on the floor, and I just want to say that this exchange is the reason why we are going to miss Senator Stabenow of Michigan when it comes to the Agriculture Committee and many other areas. She does her homework. She understands that in the complexity of a big bill, that there are real-life human issues that face us, and there are real people who are waiting for us to get our job done.

Thank you for doing this and doing the committee. I sincerely hope we can get this done before the end of the year and the disastrous consequences that you described.

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Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I want to thank the Senator from Vermont and remind people that his comments make it clear this is not just a Midwestern issue. It affects the whole Nation, from one side to the other.

As I said, Senator Stabenow has been our leader. I hope we can get a breakthrough in the coming days and weeks.

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