June 16, 1999

Three senators have asked President Clinton to support and advocate more assistance to farmers. However, they did not fix a price tag to the assistance they thought was needed. They simply asked Clinton to support funding to shore up farm income this year.

In effect, they are asking that Clinton come out of the chute first on new farmer assistance. "We need to approach this important issue of delivering relief to farmers in a bipartisan way that also involves the President," said Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), one of those signing the letter to Clinton. "That's why we're sending a letter asking the President to make a request to Congress for funding to help get farmers through what will be a devastating year in terms of farm income."

The senators, who included Sens. Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Conrad Burns (R-MT) in addition to Grassley, said it was important Clinton make the request for funding "because farmers need leadership that is bipartisan and includes the White House."