June 29, 1999

Senate Republicans staged a protest at the Capitol to dramatize their frustration at their inability to get Democratic cooperation in passing the $60.7 billion agricultural appropriations bill. Majority Leader Trent Lott declared that the stalemate on the agricultural appropriations bill was a "total farce" arranged by a set of "deadbeats" from across the aisle. The Majority Leader was joined by a handful of fellow Republicans who assisted him in trying to point out the need to pass farm funding legislation at a time of distress in the farm economy.