By Martin J. Kidston
Democratic candidate for Montanas seat in the U.S. Senate, Brian Schweitzer, spoke Saturday night at the Democratic Womans Club in Havre and said its time voters sent the incumbent Republican Conrad Burns home where he belongs.
Im the next U.S. Senator from the State of Montana, Schweitzer said, raising his voice and hand to the sky, Im going to be your next U.S. Senator.
Schweitzer, born in Havre, now lives in whitefish and said, if elected to office, he would be the only earth scientist in the U.S. Senate. With a degree in agronomy from C.S.U., and a masters in soil science from M.S.U., Schweitzer hopes to take the wedge out of Montana when it comes to deciding between the environment and jobs.
Burns has driven a wedge into the state of Montana, telling you to chose between jobs and environment, Schweitzer said. Well guess what, the two are mutually dependent, one upon the other, and when Burns starts telling you to chose, he is dead wrong, and its time we send him home.
He has put Montana 30 years back in race relations, its time we send him home.
We can create a Montana with a strong economic base. We need to do better and Im sure we can.
With his ranching and farming experience, coupled with his business skills and world view, Schweitzer spoke of imports and exports, and said Conrad Burns has cost Montana big.
Next to wheat and lumber, the number one thing we export are our college graduates, he said. And when Burns had the chance to raise the loan caps on wheat, he voted against it five different times. It came up again in legislation two weeks ago, and once again he voted against it.
Schweitzer said Burns has cost Montana $150 million dollars by not voting to raise the wheat and barley loan caps to equity with soybeans and corn. Whats more, under the Freedom to Farm Act, Schweitzer said the price of wheat per bushel has fallen from $5 to $2. While Soy stays at 82 percent of the cap and corn stays at 78 percent, Schweitzer said wheat is a meager 52 percent of the cap. A number, he says, Burns has refused to raise by voting it down six times.
Burns has swallowed the Freedom to Farm Act hook, line and sinker, Schweitzer said. Its time we send him home.
He has promised that he will only serve two terms. It was a promise, Schweitzer said. Help me, and together we will make an honest man out of him.
