Harkin hopes to bring drought bill forward

Iowa Senator Tom Harkin says he hopes to bring a drought assistance bill out of the Senate sometime in the next couple of weeks. Harkin, a democrat, is the chair of the Senate Ag Committee, and the second-ranking senator on the Ag Appropriations Committee.He says tacking the disaster bill onto the appropriations bill may be one way to move the drought aid forward. But Harkin says he wants to be sure both the appropriations bill and the disaster bill get done. Harkin says he doesn’t want to bring down the appropriations bill by attaching the disaster bill to it. He says there are other ways to move the disaster bill forward without stalling the appropriations bill. Harkin envisions an aid package that would cover drought losses both this season and last.