"This is why I love Iowa. There are so many people from so many communities with so many reasons to defeat George Bush. Some are saying that those of us running for president should stop talking so much about George Bush, that we're not being presidential. Well, I think running for president requires pointing out differences. Especially when this president says he's pro-farm and pro-Freedom to Farm, and he doesn't even know the difference.

"For far too many people in this administration, America's heartland is a foreign land. They look down from 35,000 feet and see a checkerboard of crops and they really couldn't care less how many of those squares represent family farms. They just see shades of green, which to them means nothing more than money. There's no thought or concern for such things as family heritage, generations on the land, or the life of a community. And that's something we have to change in 2004.

"With each passing year, we lose more and more family farms to corporate agriculture, which means a declining population base to support local schools, which leads to school closures and consolidation, which leads to busing children farther and farther from home, which leads to professionals with families, like doctors, deciding to move to more urban areas, which drives up the cost of rural health care, which can bankrupt a family at a time of devastating illness, which can force yet another family farm to sell to the corporate interests. It's an endless cycle. And, when you add the fact that we've been in a six-year economic downturn in agriculture well, the problems just accelerate.

"I know this from my home state of Missouri just as you've seen it here. While most people in rural America may not be farmers, all of us should be in spirit. The economic fortunes of America are intertwined with the health of family farms and the strength of American agriculture. And we can never forget that.

"And, whether you live on a family farm or not, we all share the same ideals: high-quality public schools, access to affordable health care, and vibrant communities where children return after college and start families of their own.

"As a lifelong neighbor of Iowa, I know all too well the sense of resignation many feel in this state regarding the future of the rural economy. For generations, the Democratic Party has been at the forefront of revitalization efforts - championing rural electrification, aid for family farms, and rural development. I've been proud to fight alongside Tom Harkin. We co-authored the Harkin-Gephardt bill to replace the disastrous 1985 farm bill, fought together in opposition to the Freedom to Farm Act and worked together to pass the 2002 farm bill.

"I'm also proud of my efforts to fight unfair foreign trade in not just textiles and steel … but also agriculture. Your fight has been my fight. And we've won more than we've lost. But, the hard truth is, in the face of unrelenting domination by corporate agriculture interests, an unfair trade environment and an openly hostile White House, it's no wonder so many rural families see dark horizons no matter where they look.

"Anyone running for president can land in Iowa and give voice to your discontent. But I think you deserve much more than that. I'm running for president because I believe it's time to turn the page and look beyond short-term relief. We must, instead, focus on long-term solutions that right corporate wrongs and restore fairness to the execution of governmental power.

"Republican farm policies haven't just tilted the playing field toward the corporate elite; they've thrown the game.

"I'm running for president to provide opportunity to everyone in rural America and not just those farmers whose last name is spelled i-n-c period. I intend to fight for farmers with names like Smith and Davidson, not Smithfield and DeCoster. They have enough allies in the White House already.

"The obstacles we face are embodied in one man; George Bush. This is a president who opposed nearly every version of the 2002 farm bill. He thought the Freedom to Farm Act was more than good enough. This is a president who has opposed funding for land conservation and mandatory country of origin labeling and has done nothing to ban packer ownership of livestock. And this is a president who opposed emergency disaster relief for farmers last year, even though after last year's drought, flooding, and frosts, his own Agriculture Department declared 81 percent of American counties disaster areas.

"Last year was one of the worst agricultural disasters in modern American history - some say even worse than the dust bowl years - and this president couldn't have cared less. Maybe they don't need rain on weekend ranches in Crawford, Texas. But farmers and ranchers who actually work for a living depend on it.

"When I speak of long-term solutions, here's how I'd measure success. We must strive, not just for export tonnage or crop yields, but also for keeping young farmers on the land and young families in our communities. My measure of success will be the number of towns that improve their hospitals and renovate their schools, rather than closing them. And I'll judge success or failure by the optimism of our people, rather than the pessimism of loan officers. We have to set our expectations high again and then we have to meet them.

"Thirty-one years ago, watching my son fight for his life in a battle with cancer forever altered my life's view and with it came a certain resolve and a certain freedom.

"I believe in reaching high. Not for big government, but for big ideas. And I believe in doing what's right for this country and for rural America, no matter what the political consequences. It's time America believed in its leaders again.

"It's why I'm proud of the health care plan I've put on the table. It works within the existing system, creates no new bureaucracy or nationalized plan, and is the only plan that guarantees every American will have health insurance. We pay for it by repealing the Bush tax cuts.

"My plan leaves no one on their own, including family farmers. Anyone who's self-employed would receive a tax credit to help pay for most of their health insurance. As all of you know, most farm families have at least one spouse holding a job in town to get health coverage. My plan will help bring the entire farm family back to work on the farm again.

"As president, I'll also introduce the most sweeping antitrust initiative our farm communities have ever seen. The centerpiece of that effort will be a ban on packer ownership of livestock. It's not supply and demand if the suppliers and demanders are one and the same. Using market power to drive down livestock prices may not be illegal, but it should be. And the packers may say it's just part of doing business, but when I'm president, it won't be.

"I've been fighting for a ban on packer ownership from the very beginning. I've worked with the Missouri Rural Crisis Center on just such a ban, and when the issue came to Congress in 1995, I was one of the first to stand up with Tom Harkin and say, ‘its time has come.'

"George Bush has taken sides with the meat packers and turned his back on any effort to ban packer ownership. We need the meat packers buying your livestock, not writing agriculture policy in the oval office.

"As president, I would also instruct the Department of Justice to focus as bright a light on agriculture monopolies as they do on those in high-tech and other high profile industries. And I would also require the Departments of Justice and Agriculture, and the FTC to open up their reviews of all potential mergers.

"I know John Ashcroft from his years as a Missouri Governor and Senator and I know how little concern he has for the plight of the American family farmer. It's time we had a Justice Department committed to fair and equal treatment of every American. Family farmers are only seeking fair play in the marketplace. It's time we had a president and an attorney general who answer that call.

"I would also establish a Special Counsel on Competition within the USDA and require the USDA, the Department of Justice, and the FTC to collect and publicly disclose any information they have on joint ventures, alliances, and concentration within agriculture.

"The greatest threat to the farm family is not drought, famine, or plague. It's monopolies born of governmental indifference. When I'm president, this government will be indifferent no more.

"Our efforts will extend to a complete overhaul of agricultural subsidies. The ability of large producers to use high payment limits to acquire more land is making a mockery of agricultural laws. It's simply wrong that the vast majority of farm payments have been going to a small number of huge producers. They're driving up the cost of land and driving out family farmers. And of course George Bush has done nothing to lower payment limits. When it comes to children and seniors, he believes in survival of the fittest. When it comes to corporate agribusiness, it's domination of the politically connected. We have to change that in 2004.

"Agricultural subsidies should be targeted at family farmers who are struggling to compete while complying with environmental standards. This would include firm eligibility rules and far lower limits on subsidy payments.

"I fought alongside Tom Harkin to bring down payment limits in the 2002 farm bill. As president, I'll work with him to bring them down even more. I'm also proud to have stood with Tom Harkin in his battle against corporate hog lots and to include funding for conservation programs in the 2002 farm bill.

"I don't need to tell you the value of targeting giant hog lot owners who are thumbing their noses at environmental standards while neighbors are holding their noses and cleaning up the mess. If corporate hog lot executives were forced to get out there and clean up their own flooded manure lagoons, maybe then we'd see some change. Wingtips and manure don't exactly mix.

"I believe large corporate hog lots should be solving their environmental problems without taxpayer subsidies or exemptions from clean air and clean water laws. It's why I voted to stop large corporate hog farms from receiving EQIP grant money to build manure lagoons and why, as president, I'll direct my Environmental Protection Agency to enforce the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts as they apply to large corporate hog farms. George Bush ordered a halt to EPA inspections two years ago. When I'm president, we're going to put those inspectors back to work and enforce the law again.

"The next worst thing to monopolies is agricultural servitude. Contract farmers are often forced to sign legal agreements that offer them no rights and no recourse. I intend to change that.

"Your Attorney General Tom Miller has a good idea that I'll take to the White House and that's a Bill of Rights for Contract Farmers. Including the right to contract review by a lawyer and an accountant, the prohibition of binding arbitration clauses, a three-day review and cancel option, first priority payment when processors go bankrupt, no contract termination out of retaliation, producer collective bargaining and - the most basic thing of all - the right to a contract written in plain English. For those who've been forced into contract farming in order to survive, I don't think any of these rights are asking too much.

"A few months ago, I announced my Apollo 21 program. It would achieve energy independence from Persian Gulf oil within the next decade. A large part of that program is renewable fuels. As president, I would call upon Iowa and other midwestern states to maximize renewable energy production including ethanol, biodiesel, and wind energy. And I'll fight for a renewable fuels standard and other ethanol mandating measures to help raise demand and clean up our environment.

"Among all the candidates for president, I've set the highest goal for promoting ethanol and other renewable energy sources. By 2020, I want 10 percent of all motor fuels to come from renewables, up from 2 percent today. And on top of that, within 10 years, I want at least 10 percent of our energy to come from renewable sources and at least 20 percent in 20 years.

"Let me tell you this. Any presidential candidate can come to Iowa and tell you they'll fight for renewable fuels. My energy plan is actually counting on them. I know, as you do, that Iowa is number one in soy fuel production, number two in ethanol production, and number three in wind energy production. You are the world's leader in renewable energy. But I'm fighting for these renewable fuels, not just because it's in Iowa's interest, but also because it's in America's interest. We need to unshackle this country from Persian Gulf oil, and you can help me do it.

"In the marketplace of products and ideas, sometimes the simplest things can have the greatest consequences. It's why I was such a strong supporter of country of origin labeling.

"Four simple words, ‘Made in the USA,' will make a profound difference for American farmers. This is common information provided to consumers on virtually every other product they can buy. But for some reason, this president has fought it every step of the way when it comes to farm products, including holding up the funding for its implementation. George Bush claims he's as pro-American as they come and more American than you if you dare to question him. Well, we have the right to know who made our socks. It's time he let us know where our food came from.

"All of these ideas can make a real difference for America's family farms. But the truth is, unless we fundamentally change the way we do business with the world, these reforms will mean next to nothing.

"Twenty years ago, there was a great hue and cry to reform America's trade laws. And trade agreements were passed in the name of helping the American farmer, but all they did was open our markets and hold no country accountable. Twenty years later, we're exporting roughly the same quantity of agricultural products at a far lower value, in fact, often below the cost of production. And we're importing far more products than 20 years ago, undercutting family farms.

"There is no honor in standing for free trade if it's neither free nor an honest trade. Robbery is robbery, no matter what you call it. Our farmers are willing to work within a free and fair market, but that's clearly not what we have today. Current trade agreements, and those new ones on the way, do nothing to address the primary impediments to fair trade - labor standards, environmental standards, and exchange rates. In fact, the United States is no longer the lowest cost producer of most, if not all, agricultural commodities.

"This is a ‘race to the bottom' that only adds to the wealth of large processors and retailers - most of which are multi-national companies - and makes it impossible for family farmers to compete. The ultimate goal of agriculture trade is the same as that for any other American industry; open access to markets, the ultimate elimination of export and domestic subsidies, and environmental and labor standards that all trading partners abide by. But until the rest of the world meets these standards, I'm not prepared to unilaterally disarm and sacrifice family farmers on the altar of free trade. Trade theory is one thing; reality is another.

"The starting point for any discussion with other countries has to be the pursuit of international cooperation in the distribution of food. There are 800 million people in this world who have no access to adequate nutrition and George Bush has done nothing to figure out a fair way to address this demand. In fact, his standing in the world is counter-productive to any effort at solving the world's hunger problems. Food supply is the key to any international aid effort, and it's the key to the survival of the American family farmer. It's time this president learned that lesson.

"My approach to world trade will be straightforward. A core principle of any trade agreement in my administration will be the protection of family farmers. There is no value to our government if it does not protect its citizens and it's citizen farmers who built this country in the first place. In addition to environmental and labor standards, any future trade agreement must establish limits on the concentration of market power, increase the transparency of state trading enterprises, and create an efficient dispute resolution process.

"We must also coordinate efforts to reduce dumping, share responsibility for nutrition assistance, and maintain buffer stocks for food security.

"Make no mistake about it, our food safety and security is a vital part of our national security. Terrorism is not confined to bombs and airplanes. A food scare could bring this nation to a grinding halt. We have a right and an obligation to protect our own food supply, and we do that by supporting the American farmer.

"All of these issues - monopolies, trade imbalance, farmer's rights, environmental protection, renewable fuels - these are all issues where I've been leading the fight with Tom Harkin for over two decades. I am not new to Iowa, nor to the concerns we share. I have a shared history with Iowa rooted in the shared belief that without Middle America, you have no America.

"Over the next several months, you'll be hearing from a lot of people who want your vote. I'm asking for more than that. I can't be an effective president without the long-term support of America's heartland. I can't solve this country's energy problems without your leadership on renewable fuels. I can't solve our country's trade imbalance without your enormous production abilities. And I can't solve our country's health care crisis without a thriving rural America where health care costs are in line with the rest of our country.

"To me, Iowa is more than a political way station and Iowa farmers are more than a collection of votes. I've spent decades getting to know the hidden corners of this unique and beautiful state and I've shared in the frustration of too many promises unkept.

"The world is in a state of upheaval and it's times like these that can offer either great promise or great peril. I want to help rural America be a part of a global solution to the world's food crisis. I want to help family farmers have a seat at the table of decision-making power. And I want to return the White House to a presidency filled with hope and optimism for every American.

"I believe we can do great things in this country. And when have Americans ever believed in doing anything less?

"Thank you very much, and may God bless all of you and your families."