[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 86 (Wednesday, June 12, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H6190-H6191]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE DISPOSE OF REMAINING
COMMODITIES IN DISASTER RESERVE
Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that
the Committee on Agriculture be discharged from further consideration
of the Senate concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 63) to express the
sense of Congress that the Secretary of Agriculture should dispose of
all remaining commodities in the disaster reserve maintained under the
Agricultural Act of 1970 to relieve the distress of livestock producers
whose ability to maintain livestock is adversely affected by disaster
conditions existing in certain areas of the United States, such as
prolonged drought or flooding, and for other purposes, and ask for its
immediate consideration in the House.
The Clerk read the title of the Senate concurrent resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Lazio of New York). Is there objection
to the request of the gentleman from Nebraska?
{time} 1100
Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, I will not
object, and I yield to the gentleman from Nebraska [Mr. Barrett] for an
explanation of the Senate concurrent resolution.
Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska. Mr. Speaker, this is more or less a
housekeeping chore, albeit a very important one. Senate Concurrent
Resolution 63 is the Senate version of House Concurrent Resolution 181,
which passed the
[[Page H6191]]
House by voice vote on June 4. The Senate unanimously passed Senate
Concurrent Resolution 63 on June 5. The Senate resolution is identical
to the House resolution, as amended.
With this action today, we will officially send to Agriculture
Secretary Dan Glickman our desire for him to immediately release the 45
million bushels of feed grains held in reserve. The release of this
grain will not solve the current crisis for cattlefeeders, but it will
help and possibly be enough to get some through an extremely severe
drought and save their operations.
Farmers who own livestock are being severely hard hit with the
drought conditions, when coupled with a low point in the cattle cycle,
and record high grain prices.
The grain in this disaster reserve, nearly 45 million bushels, is
worth an estimated $200 million and would provide for all the cattle on
feed in the affected States enough feed grain for over 2 weeks.
Passage of the resolution not only makes sense, it saves money. The
Federal Government is currently spending $10 million a year to store
this grain.
The Government should not be paying huge storage fees and holding
grain from the marketplace when the United States is experiencing
record low grain supplies.
This is an important concurrent resolution and I thank the leadership
for providing for its swift consideration.
Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his explanation.
(Mr. STENHOLM asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of Senate Concurrent
Resolution 63, which is nearly identical to the legislation passed by
this body last week, House Concurrent Resolution 181, introduced by my
colleagues on the Agriculture Committee, Mr. Barrett and Mr. Emerson,
and cosponsored by a number of other Members.
As was noted last week, the Clinton administration has been working
on a similar effort to make Government-owned feed grain stocks
available to hard-pressed livestock producers. Secretary Glickman
transmitted to the President a request last week for the declaration of
a state of emergency to allow the Department of Agriculture to dispose
of the feed grain stocks under USDA's control.
There is no doubt that there is a need to alleviate the stress facing
producers in many parts of this country due to the severe drought in
the Southern Plains and flooding and excessive rainfall in the Northern
Plains and eastern Corn Belt. These natural disasters come at a time
when grain stocks are at their lowest levels in decades causing record
market prices and cattle producers are receiving even less for their
animals than during the Great Depression based on inflation-adjusted
dollars.
The release of this grain would be in addition to the actions already
taken by the Clinton administration to help alleviate the stress in the
livestock sector. These actions include: Release of Conservation
Reserve Program acres for haying and grazing, extension of noninsured
crop disaster assistance program coverage, extension of the Livestock
Feed Program, the release of additional funds for emergency loans,
advance purchases of beef for the school lunch program, and export
credit guarantees for meat.
In my own State of Texas we are facing losses in the livestock and
crop sectors in the billions of dollars. Sixty-two percent of our
rangeland is rated as being in poor to very poor condition and dairy
producers in Texas are facing a possible doubling of their normal feed
costs due to the increases in the cost of feed and hay they must
utilize to produce milk each day.
I would encourage my colleagues to support this resolution. The
livestock sector in our country contributes billions of dollars to our
economy and if we do not take actions to help stem the liquidation of
herds now, we will pay the price later for rebuilding that
infrastructure.
Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Lazio of New York). Is there objection
to the request of the gentleman from Nebraska?
There was no objection.
The Clerk read the Senate concurrent resolution, as follows:
S. Con. Res. 63
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives
concurring),
SECTION 1. USE OF DISASTER RESERVE FOR ASSISTANCE TO
LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS.
In light of the prolonged drought and other adverse weather
conditions existing in certain areas of the United States,
the Secretary of Agriculture should promptly dispose of all
commodities in the disaster reserve maintained under section
813 of the Agricultural Act of 1970 (7 U.S.C. 1427a) to
relieve the distress of livestock producers whose ability to
maintain livestock is adversely affected by disaster
conditions, such as prolonged drought of flooding.
The Senate concurrent resolution was concurred in.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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