[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 104 (Wednesday, July 21, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8921-S8922]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   ONLY A DRIZZLE IN AN EMPTY BUCKET

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, farmers across America are experiencing hard 
times. This year, the difficulties of farmers in the northeast and 
central-Atlantic regions of America have been made worse by a serious 
lack of rainfall for many, many weeks.
  West Virginia's farmers have been especially hard hit by the drought 
of 1999. No significant rainfall has drenched the scorched earth in my 
State since May 15. On May 28 the Governor of West Virginia declared an 
Agricultural State of Emergency for West Virginia. At that time, the 
U.S. Department of Agriculture's State Emergency Board for West 
Virginia concurred with that decision. Now farmers await a decision by 
the U.S. Department of Agriculture that would permit much needed 
federal emergency assistance funds to be dispensed.
  We know that here in Washington, in northern Virginia, in the 
Maryland suburbs, and on the farms nearby, the ground is dry. We can 
look out our windows and see that where there was once soft green grass 
growing, there is now a crispy, lifeless carpet of beige. Where there 
is no grass, cracked, dusty earth remains. I know that my tomato plants 
have needed extra watering to keep them growing up their stakes, but 
these are merely part of my backyard small garden that I sow for 
pleasure. My life will not drastically change if I fail to bring in a 
tomato crop. That is not true for those whose livelihood depends upon 
it.
  Close your eyes and take a moment to imagine this: you have been 
looking to the sky for two months praying that the clouds will release 
a downpour, but no drops fall. Your corn plants that should be up to 
your shoulder by the fourth of July in a normal season, remain below 
your knees. They are short stems shriveling slowly on acres and acres 
of parched land. You have moved your herd to your last pasture. In a 
short period of time the animals have grazed it over so thoroughly that 
nothing remains but unpalatable dried-out grass stubble. Your pastures 
have been grazed over so thoroughly that you are now, during the middle 
of the summer, when lengthy pasture grasses should blow in the gentle 
summer breeze, and naturally produced resources should be plentiful, 
feeding your animals with purchased hay and grain as though it were the 
desolate season of winter. Even though they are being fed enough to 
gain weight, the extreme heat is causing them so much stress that they 
are losing weight. It is impossible to keep them cool and comfortable. 
The pond on your farm that you use as a source of water for your 
animals is slowly, slowly becoming a puddle. The stream that runs 
through the far end of your property first became a muddy trickle, but 
now is becoming dusty and cracked. When you turn on the tap, try to 
flush your commode, or bathe, no water flows. You instead must travel 
every day to a truck parked in the middle of your town to get a couple 
of gallons of water for you and your family to drink. Even if it rains 
today or tomorrow, you begin to wonder if it will make any difference 
to you. You have fallen on hard times before as an Appalachian farmer. 
Times are often lean in that region. Now, in desperation, you begin to 
think about what you could do if you were not a family farmer.
  This is a very real situation for the farmers in West Virginia and in 
many areas of the country. The most serious impact of the drought on 
farmers is having to purchase feed for their animals. Under normal 
conditions, there are regions in West Virginia where farmers can grow 
two or three cuttings of hay in a year. They use this hay to feed their 
animals.
  Last year's cuttings were thin, and this year's have been even 
thinner, with farmers barely being able to make one cutting! So, as I 
mentioned earlier, the farmers have begun to purchase feed. This does 
not bode well for the winter, either, as farmers will have to rely on 
purchasing expensive hay and grain brought in from outside the drought 
areas, or face the prospect of selling off their underweight stock for 
little or no profit or at a loss. Farmers will not be able to afford to 
keep feeding their animals in this way. West Virginia's farmers fear 
that they may lose their farms--not just lose their crop, lose their 
farms--if they must wait until next spring to receive U.S. Department 
of Agriculture assistance, which is how long it would take for the 
funds we appropriate to reach them if appropriations are completed on 
time, as I hope they will be. West Virginia farmers need Federal 
assistance now.
  And the same can be said for Maryland farmers and Virginia farmers 
and others. Nearly $2.9 million in Federal emergency aid for energy 
assistance was released through the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program on Monday, July 
12. Hopefully our farmers who have been having a difficult time keeping 
their animals cool will be allowed a portion of these funds. However, 
this is a tiny drop of water in a very empty State bucket where it is 
estimated that the drought has caused $50 million in damages.
  Regulations allow farmers to become eligible for emergency assistance 
when they have suffered at least a 30-percent loss of normal production 
in a single enterprise. In West Virginia, which is not a large State 
and certainly not a large farming State, according to the most recent 
statistics available, which were calculated in the middle of June, in 
all but 3 counties 40 to 50 percent of grass hay production has been 
lost for this year. It has been lost. In 17 West Virginia counties, 35 
percent of corn production has already been lost--already been lost; 40 
percent of tobacco has been lost; 50 percent of pasture--50 percent of 
pasture has been lost. A dozen other counties have experienced at least 
a 10- to 20-percent loss of corn, tobacco, and tobacco crops; a 30- to 
50-percent loss of pasture; and a 20- to 40-percent loss of their truck 
crops, such as apples and peaches, grown for table consumption. Twenty-
three other counties have lost 10- to 30-percent of their alfalfa hay, 
40- to 50-percent of their pasture, 10- to 30-percent of their corn, 
and 25- to 30-percent of other grains.
  So I remind those listening and those who are watching through the 
electronic cameras that these statistics are

[[Page S8922]]

from the middle of June. Now, weeks later, after a continued period of 
scorching temperatures, and arid conditions, it is expected that a 
statistical report that will be generated later this week will show 
significant losses occurring in every one of the 55 counties of the 
great State of West Virginia.
  The Federal Government has established mechanisms that are intended 
to aid Americans in times of crisis. However, when these mechanisms are 
slow to work, difficulties have a tendency to grow, and greater 
assistance becomes necessary. As we have often heard, ``One stitch, in 
time, saves nine.'' In the case of farmers, if nothing is done, and the 
farmer is forced to abandon the land that he has worked, it is likely 
that this land will not be reclaimed next year or the year after as a 
family farm. A farm is not a machine that can be shut down temporarily 
until someone is ready to work on it again or conditions make it 
profitable. Farming is, by its very nature, a cyclical industry that 
every now and then needs the support of the Federal Government.
  America can never afford to not help its farmers. Now is the time to 
help farmers and I speak particularly of West Virginia farmers, of 
course. If we fail to help them now, they will not be able to survive. 
Farmers are losing out on every side of their industry. Prices have 
been, and continue to be, low, the weather is slowing or eliminating 
crop production, crop insurance payback is so low that it may not even 
cover costs, and springs and farm ponds are drying up. There are no 
resources left from which to draw.
  Farmers have always been an essential part of the fabric that makes 
America great. ``God made the country but man made the town.'' And from 
the country is where America gets much or most of its sustenance--not 
just America but also the world, many nations in the world.
  We cannot forget these farmers. We cannot forget them now like a 
child forgets a once-treasured security blanket that has become worn 
and he has now outgrown. Therefore, I am urging that West Virginia be 
granted Federal disaster area status so that farmers will receive 
immediate Federal assistance that will enable them to continue to work 
their land and raise their animals.
  I have talked with the Secretary of Agriculture, Mr. Glickman, and he 
has indicated that as soon as he is supplied with the sufficient data 
from the State, adequate and careful and prompt consideration will be 
given. But I have to say that time waits for no one and the clock waits 
for no one and the farmers' problems cannot wait. We must have help. We 
need it and the sooner the better.
  Mr. President, I thank the Senate and I yield the floor.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Crapo). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be 
permitted to speak for up to 6 minutes as in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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