November 10, 2000

American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman says the close election underscores the need for a bipartisan approach to legislation in Congress. "The message of this race is that there is not a clear mandate for either party, and that makes it even more important to come together and work for all citizens of this country," he said.

AFBF will "move forward with our agenda," he added, "and hopefully with the House and Senate both having narrower margins, it will be even more important to work with members of both parties if we are going to accomplish anything in the policy arena."

Both the Senate and House Agriculture Committees should be able to operate business as usual, Stallman said, since there were no major changes in either committee.

"This election obviously has been very close, historically close. The margins in the House and Senate look like they will be decreasing and there will be more of a split in Congress than ther5e has been in the past," he said. "Obviously that points to the need for more bipartisan effort in reaching across the aisle doing the work of the people of the country by coming togetehr and addressing the issues that are important to the citizens in this country."