FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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December 19, 2001

Miller: Senate Chooses Politics Over Farmers
Says Farm Bill Must Be First on Agenda in January

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Zell Miller (D-GA) today issued the following statement after the Senate defeated a motion that would have allowed a new Farm Bill to be voted on before the Senate adjourns for the holidays:

"I am very disappointed that the Senate today shot down the last chance we had to pass a Farm Bill this year. We have put politics ahead of our farmers and we have let down rural America.

"I worked hard on the Agriculture Committee to protect the interests of Georgia and the Southeast. The bill we came up with would have been good for Georgia. It would have provided more assistance for peanuts and cotton, and most Georgia agriculture groups had displayed a rare unity in rallying around it.

"Our farmers are hurting, and they are facing an uncertain future. They were counting on the stability this Farm Bill would have offered them. Now, they will have to wait anxiously until next year.

"I will fight to see that the Farm Bill is the first bill we take up after the holiday recess. We must pass this Farm Bill and get it to the President as quickly as possible. Our farmers and the rural areas they breathe life into cannot afford for us to put it off any longer."

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