Associated Press | July 10, 2001 | By FREDERIC J. FROMMER, Associated Press Writer
Sen. Paul Wellstone has joined fellow Minnesota Democrat Mark Dayton on the Senate Agriculture Committee just as Congress begins the process of writing a new farm bill.
"In the words of Rabbi Hillel, 'If not now, when?' " Wellstone said, citing the ancient Jewish scholar.
Wellstone picked up the assignment because Democrats gained a seat after taking over the Senate last month. It's an extra seat so no Republican will be displaced.
The timing is good for Wellstone on another level as well: it gives him a high-profile perch as he prepares for an expected tough re-election campaign next year.
"His approach between now and the election will be to fight for the overthrow of 'Freedom to Farm' and for direct federal subsidies for farmers," said Steve Schier, a political science professor at Carleton College.
"That can be a very effective line to take in an election campaign when crop prices are low."
Wellstone and the new chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa., have both strongly criticized the 1996 "Freedom to Farm" law.
The law was designed to wean farmers from government subsidies, but commodity prices collapsed after it passed and Congress has approved a series of multibillion-dollar relief packages to shore up the farm economy. It expires next year.
"I have hated this bill from the moment it passed," said Wellstone. "It's been a colossal failure."
Wellstone said he would work to increase the government-guaranteed minimum prices for crop prices.
"I'll just dig in with Dayton," Wellstone said. Arkansas is the only other state with two senators on the committee.
The last time Minnesota had two senators on the committee was in 1966 - Democrats Eugene McCarthy and Walter Mondale.
Although Minnesota's current senators share a similar outlook on agriculture policy, Dayton has said he opposes one of Wellstone's main agricultural crusades: a moratorium on large agriculture mergers.
Wellstone said he would push for such a moratorium as the committee writes a new farm bill. His moratorium proposal was defeated in the last Congress.
He said he would also push for a section in the farm bill that promotes alternative fuels, such as ethanol and wind power.
Wellstone requested the seat when it became available, and Democrats announced the assignment at their weekly caucus Tuesday.
Schier, the political science professor, said election concerns were behind the committee assignment.
"When it's a one-seat margin, every senator's golden," he said. Democrats hold a 50-49 edge in the Senate.
Wellstone said he didn't expect to gain any political gain from the assignment.
He will not be giving up any of his other committees: Foreign Relations; Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; Small Business; Veterans' Affairs; and Indian Affairs.
"I can do it," Wellstone said. "I've got great people working with me. I wouldn't miss this opportunity."
Also Tuesday, Dayton picked up a new assignment: the Governmental Affairs Committee, which investigates government fraud and abuse. It also oversees the U.S. Postal Service and the District of Columbia.Associated Press:
