"Make no mistake about it, today Senate Republicans voted against farmers, against ranchers, and against rural Americans," Daschle said. "Their vote jeopardizes billions of dollars in assistance to farmers and ranchers, which is available now and which are not likely to be available next year."

The Farm Bill that Senator Daschle supports is the economic stimulus bill for rural America, but in the last three weeks, Republicans have repeatedly blocked attempts to bring closure to debate and vote on the bill. Republicans voted for the third time against ending debate on the bill, effectively killing the bill for this session.

"They chose partisan politics over policy," Daschle said. "We have debated this bill for nearly three weeks, giving every Senator a chance to be heard and offer amendments. Some, however, have turned this debate into a political and partisan endeavor, and that is unfortunate because in so doing they have failed rural America. The real losers today are not Democrats or Republicans, the losers are hard-working family farmers and rural America."

Daschle said passing this bill was vital because while the American economy has been faltering for a number of months, the rural economy has been lagging behind the overall economy for years. Daschle said this is demonstrated by the fact that, last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the largest single-month drop in commodity prices ever in the 91 years since the department has been keeping track.

"When the people who put food on our tables can't put food on their own tables, something is wrong, and Congress has to deal with it," Daschle said. "But in the face of this crisis, we have received nothing but delay. These delays killed our chances of passing a new and improved farm bill.

Daschle said the Senate Farm Bill he backs supports producers of all commodities to a greater extent than the current farm bill, and it reforms the system by providing assistance to the producers who really need it instead of making payments regardless of what farmers do on their land. Daschle said the bill also includes an important income safety net to provide more support in tough years and less support in good years and new-and-improved conservation programs.

Daschle said he hopes to attempt to pass the bill early next session.