Democrat Iowa Senator Tom Harkin attended the Farm Bill signing at the White House this morning.It was Harkin’s first-ever bill-signing under republican President Bush and the chairman of the Senate Ag Committee said it’s a thrill. Many republicans say too much money will be spent under the new Farm Bill, but Harkin disagrees. Harkin says it’s less than one-percent of all federal spending in the next decade, making it a “real bargain.” Annual farm subsidy spending under the new bill will rise 42-percent for Iowa, from one-point-two to one-point-seven billion dollars. Harkin says the bill is a product of much bipartisan work, he says he learned a long time ago, “If you want to get anything done, you have to work across the aisle.”Some republicans fear the new Farm Bill will break the federal budget by raising farm spending nearly 80-percent. Iowa’s other U-S Senator, Chuck Grassley, a republican, voted against it. Harkin says many other republicans favored the new Farm Bill though. He says he hopes the farm bill means good times ahead for farmers and a better and brighter future for Iowa.Harkin talked to Radio Iowa on his cell phone en route to the White House this morning.
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