[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 66 (Monday, May 13, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4972-S4973]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

       By Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself, Mr. Domenici and Mr. 
     Daschle):

  S. 1743. A bill to provide temporary emergency livestock feed 
assistance for certain producers, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.


     The Temporary Emergency Livestock Feed Assistance Act of 1996

  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, my home State of New Mexico is currently 
experiencing a very severe drought, as is much of the Southwest. As 
with any drought, many of my State's citizens are experiencing severe 
hardships.
  Saturday, 2 days ago, I saw what fire had done to the Carson National 
Forest in my State. This is one of several major fires that New Mexico 
has experienced this year. The fire in the Carson National Forest was 
designated the Hondo fire. To date, over 20,000 acres have burned in 
our State. People have been burned out of their homes, Bandelier 
National Monument, Questa, Red River, NM, have all had their existence 
threatened, and the community of La Lama in northern New Mexico has 
been utterly destroyed.
  The size of these fires can be directly attributed to the lack of 
rain in our State for a very long period of time. And if the current 
weather conditions continue and no relief is in sight, the rest of this 
year will be tense and dangerous.
  Mr. President, I am here today to talk about another danger that is 
posed by this same lack of rain, and it is a threat to the finances and 
the livelihood of those who depend on the rain to make the grass that 
feeds their herds.
  The bill that I am introducing today along with my cosponsors, 
Senator Domenici and Senator Daschle, is entitled the ``Temporary 
Emergency Livestock Feed Assistance Act of 1996.'' It is intended to 
help those ranchers who otherwise cannot afford to feed their cattle 
during this time of drought. With terrible range conditions, the 
options available to a rancher have become very limited.
  The rancher can either buy feed or he can sell the livestock that he 
owns at market prices. Neither option is very desirable at this time. 
Feed prices are extremely high, and cattle prices are the lowest that 
they have been for over a decade. The situation places the rancher in 
dire straits. In Lea County in southeastern New Mexico, ranchers 
usually budget about $125 to raise a cow. Now the cost has risen to 
about $250 to $300 per head because of the high cost of feed.
  In Curry County on the eastern side of New Mexico, the local paper 
reported that winter wheat crop faces an 80 to 90 percent loss. That 
crop is usually about 2.5 million bushels that are harvested. All parts 
of New Mexico are suffering. For the third year in a row, we have had 
less than our average rainfall in the northwest part of the State. Near 
Window Rock, AZ, we had 2.1 inches of precipitation during the period 
from October to March, the driest for that period since the year 1904. 
In the western part of our State, in Quay County, we have reported much 
less than average amounts of rainfall. In the south, Las Cruces usually 
receives about 8.5 inches a year, which I know would be a drought for 
most parts of the country even if we were to receive that, but for the 
past 3 years Las Cruces has consistently received less than that 
amount.

[[Page S4973]]

  This bill, this Temporary Emergency Livestock Feed Assistance Act of 
1996, is not meant to be a permanent solution to the current problem. 
The bill revives the livestock feed program for a 1-year period. That 
is 1996. The program was suspended in the recently enacted farm bill. 
Under the provisions of this act, those who raise cattle or sheep or 
goats would be eligible for assistance.
  Funding for the old program was through the Commodity Credit 
Corporation, and this bill changes that funding mechanism. It restricts 
the program to $18 million, specifically identifies a fund that already 
has 1996 appropriations dedicated to it.
  If market conditions remain, the funds that are targeted for use by 
this particular bill we are introducing today will otherwise remain 
unspent at the end of the fiscal year. So given the current crisis, it 
is clear to me that this money will be best utilized in helping the 
ranchers to survive the situation they face.
  Several provisions have been placed into the bill to ensure against 
abuses of the program. For example, a rancher will have to have owned 
or leased the livestock for at least 180 days. If the rancher has not 
owned or leased the livestock for the required time, there are certain 
exceptions that the Secretary of Agriculture will have to approve. This 
will ensure that additional livestock are not purchased for the sole 
purpose of benefiting from this program we are proposing to enact.
  Also, there is language that allows the Secretary to determine the 
quantities of forage sufficient to maintain livestock, based on the 
normal carrying capacity of the land. This language is intended to 
discourage a person from overstocking the land above the carrying 
capacity and receiving assistance for that effort. This will help to 
ensure that long-term damage to the land does not occur.
  Another important provision concerns the commodities reserve program. 
The bill asks the Secretary to examine using the Department's millions 
of bushels of stored grain for the emergency that we now face. The 
Secretary is asked to report back to Congress within 30 days of 
enactment of this bill. If the reserve can be used, the ranchers will 
be able to receive grain at lower than market prices.

  After examining the facts, I am confident that my colleagues here in 
Congress will agree that the current emergency situation demands 
immediate action. This legislation extends the program--for only 1 
year--that was suspended permanently by the farm bill. Consistently in 
times of need, the rancher has turned to this program. Clearly, 
ranchers are in need of this program one more time.
  The reintroduction of this program will not dramatically alter the 
budget that was agreed upon in the farm bill. Instead, this legislation 
will spend funds that have already been appropriated for fiscal year 
1996 and in all likelihood will go unspent this year if this bill is 
not enacted.
  Mr. President, a former Member of this Senate and a former President, 
Harry Truman, used to state that the facts should determine the 
conclusion that we reach. In this matter, the severe conditions of the 
drought warrant immediate action by Congress. I urge serious 
consideration of this legislation and expeditious passage of this 
legislation.
                                 ______