Sens. Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., effectively shut down the Senate on Wednesday as they argued for billions of dollars in agricultural disaster aid.
Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., promised the North Dakota senators a floor debate on an agriculture spending bill after Conrad threatened to hold up another piece of legislation Tuesday night. But the agriculture bill never made it to the floor. Lawmakers negotiated behind the scenes.
Conrad and Dorgan spoke about weather-related crop loss in North Dakota and other states for hours Wednesday, stalling action on other bills.
"It's not fair," Conrad said. "It's not right. We have tried repeatedly to get this bill up so we can have a vote ... what we are asking for here is not unreasonable."
Conrad threatened to hold up other pieces of legislation if the disaster money is not brought up.
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