[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 128 (Tuesday, September 28, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11539-S11541]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DROUGHT EMERGENCY IN WEST VIRGINIA
Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I will be very brief. I should be in a
markup of the Appropriations Committee on the Labor-HHS appropriations
bill right at this moment.
Mr. President, as we quickly approach the end of Fiscal Year 1999,
there is a portion of the American population that is not faring very
well. The small family farmers of the North-Eastern and Mid-Atlantic
States have been struggling to survive a fifteen-month-long drought.
With all fifty-five of our counties receiving an emergency drought
declaration on August 2 from the Secretary of Agriculture, farmers in
West Virginia are no exception. These farmers have been waiting for a
significant and timely response to their emergency, a feeling I imagine
would be similar to dialing nine-one-one and getting a busy signal.
Yet, over the years, this Congress has responded quickly to provide
the necessary resources to help the victims of national disasters, not
only in this country, but around the world. From the $1 billion for the
victims of Mount Saint Helens in 1980; to the $2.7 billion for the
victims of Hurricane Hugo in 1989; to the nearly $3 billion for the
Loma Prieta earthquake victims, also in 1989; to the more than $10
billion for Hurricanes Andrew and Iniki in 1992; to the $6.8 billion in
disaster funds for victims of the Mississippi floods in the Summer of
1993; to the North Ridge earthquake victims in 1994, for which almost
$12 billion was appropriated. Throughout the 1990's, emergency disaster
assistance has also been provided to the victims of tornadoes, tropical
storms, droughts, floods, wildfires, blizzards, and so on.
In 1999, emergency aid has gone to Central American and the Caribbean
nations needing assistance with reconstruction after hurricane damage,
to Kosovo military and humanitarian operations, and to American farmers
suffering from low commodity prices. I voted for all of these. I have
been willing to support emergency aid in these instances--all of them.
However, I cannot understand why the drought emergency goes ignored. I
cannot understand why we are not answering the emergency calls of long-
suffering Northeast and Mid-Atlantic farmers.
The drought has devastated--devastated--the lives of thousands of
family farmers in this region. I know that the word devastated is used
so often that one expects it to be pure hyperbole, but West Virginia
farmers work hard on land most often held in the same family for
generations. They farm an average of 194 acres in the rough mountain
terrain, and they earn an average of just $25,000 annually. That is
$25,000 annually for 365 days of never-ending labor. Farming is an
every-day, every-week, every-month, 365-day operation every year with
no time off. West Virginia farmers average $68.50 a day for days that
begin at dawn and run past sunset. These small family farmers are the
last to ask for assistance. They are hard-working, they are self-
reliant individuals. They
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have a sense of pride that prevents them from requesting federal aid
unless they are in a desperate situation. These farmers are now in a
desperate situation, and they are asking us to respond to them in their
time of need. Now is the time that we must assist them and assist them
by not by burdening them with more debt--they are over their heads in
debt all right, many of them, so they are not asking for more loan
programs. They need help. By providing grants, we can give them help
that will help them to recover from the drought.
For many farmers it is already too late. They are disposing of their
herds. They have sold off their livestock from land that has been
farmed by their family for generations. Their pastures are grazed to
stubble and will need fertilizer, lime, and reseeding if they are to
support cattle again in the Spring. In the meantime, cattle must still
be fed, and what little hay could be cut locally has already been
eaten. The West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture informs me that of
the 21,000 surviving small family farms in West Virginia--and there
were 90,000 back when I was in the State legislature in 1947. There
were 90,000 farmers in West Virginia. Now there are 21,000 surviving,
and over half of these are at risk as a result of drought. America
cannot afford to let the small family farm die. A small family farming
operation is the foundation on which America is based. We cannot afford
not to help drought-stricken farmers.
Granted, in this area the drought seems to be a thing of the past.
The water restrictions to conserve water in the Washington, D.C.
metropolitan area have recently been lifted. Lawns have greened up
again, and the drone of lawn mowers again dominates the weekend.
Schools canceled classes in this area two weeks ago because hurricane
Floyd threatened to deluge the city with too much rain too quickly.
However, I assure you that the drought in West Virginia continues.
Hurricane Floyd's rains did not scale West Virginia's mountains. The
drought is so far-reaching that schoolchildren in Fayetteville, WV, had
their classes canceled last week and the Fayette County Courthouse has
postponed arraignments until October 1 because the city's reservoir has
gone dry. The grass in West Virginia is not getting greener, as it is
here in the Washington area. It is simply not growing.
Seventeen North-Eastern and Mid-Atlantic States have received a
Secretarial drought emergency declaration this year and five more are
awaiting a decision. Yet, the emergency aid package that the
Agriculture Conference Committee is still negotiating includes a mere
$500 million in general aid for all disasters declared by the Secretary
of Agriculture throughout 1999. The Secretary of Agriculture estimates
that losses due to the drought of 1999 may total $2 billion. Losses in
West Virginia alone are estimated at $200 million--and we are not a big
farming State, not a big farming State. Most of ours are small farms,
but these are people who have been on the land for generations. These
farms have been handed down through the line of several generations.
Mr. President, what happened to the small family farmers in ancient
Rome is happening in this country. They are leaving the land, and with
them will go our family values.
The Secretary of Agriculture estimates, as I say, that the losses due
to the drought of 1999 may total $2 billion, and in West Virginia alone
they are estimated at $200 million. So the emergency aid package now
attached to the Agriculture appropriations bill falls short by some
$1.5 billion.
I want colleagues to understand that although a drought is a slow-
paced disaster, it nevertheless deserves much-needed attention as an
emergency and merits a response much greater and faster than the one we
have so far given. A drought can, and this one has, caused farmers to
go out of business.
My farmers know that farming is inherently a risky business. It does
depend on the weather. I urge this body to help with this natural
disaster. American farmers merit federal assistance to ensure their
future productivity, and, more importantly, to preserve a heritage that
I believe essential to this nation's history, to its moral fiber and to
its character. We regularly hear talk of the small family farmer. Now
is the time to help small family farmers. Congress must act on this
opportunity to direct emergency funds toward a real emergency with
wide-reaching effects, that impacts our most treasured Americans, our
farmers. The devastation of the drought will only be compounded if we
do not offer assistance now. If fields are not treated now, they will
not be productive come spring. Farmers normally finance this activity
with profits from fall sales, or secure loans based on such sales. But
this time they have nothing to sell.
We need to increase appropriations that will be directed to farmers
suffering from the drought of 1999. I urge my fellow conferees on the
Agriculture Appropriations Conference Committee and I urge the
leadership in both Houses, to answer the call of the small family
farmer and support increasing emergency assistance directed toward
farmers suffering as a result of the drought of 1999. Do not let their
911 call for help be answered by a busy signal. Instead, let us answer
the call of farmers by sending the signal that we are busy working for
farmers.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Crapo). The Senator from Iowa is to go
first. Is there an agreement as to the order?
Mr. GRASSLEY. There is not. I ask that Senator Torricelli go ahead of
me on the issue of bankruptcy so he and I can speak together.
Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, will the Senator from Iowa yield for a
question?
Mr. GRASSLEY. Yes.
Mr. BAUCUS. I wonder if the Senators will yield to me. I will be
brief. I have 5 or 6 minutes. I know the Senators from Iowa and New
Jersey are together on the same subject, and this Senator has been
standing here for some time.
Mr. GRASSLEY. If Senator Torricelli has time, I have time.
Mr. TORRICELLI. Mr. President, if the Senator will yield, I think it
is best we go next to each other.
Mr. TORRICELLI. Mr. President, I want to say, before Senator Byrd
leaves the floor, however, how much I identify with his remarks. Like
the Senator from West Virginia, year after year, with natural disasters
around this country, in the House of Representatives and now in the
Senate, I have come to the floor as an American, as part of a national
union to respond to their emergencies.
Like the Senator from West Virginia in advocacy of his small farmers,
I will not allow, as long as I serve in the Senate, the State of New
Jersey to be a caboose on the train of the national union. We have a
farming crisis. The Appropriations Committee not only reducing but
eliminating any assistance for farmers who are being bankrupt and
forced from the land is inexcusable. Like the Senator from West
Virginia, at the appropriate time, I will come to the floor and if it
requires standing here day after day, night after night, I will not see
them abandoned.
I apologize for taking the time. I wanted to comment on the Senator's
comments.
Mr. BYRD. I thank the distinguished Senator.
Mr. BAUCUS. I think the Senator from Iowa still has the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. It is my understanding the Senators from Iowa
and New Jersey have no objection to the Senator from Montana being
recognized at this time. The Senator from Montana is recognized for up
to 10 minutes.
Mr. BAUCUS. I very much appreciate the Senator from Iowa and the
Senator from New Jersey for letting me go ahead of them.
I agree with the statement of the Senator from New Jersey
complimenting the Senator from West Virginia, and, in the same vein,
the earlier remarks of the Senator from Minnesota, Mr. Wellstone. The
fact is, our farmers are in desperate straits, and this Congress is
doing very little about it. It is that simple. No one can dispute that,
and many of us are, quite frankly, concerned because the Senate is not
doing enough. Because it looks as if the Senate might not do enough, we
will be constrained to take extraordinary measures in the Senate to
stand up for our constituents, the people who sent us here; namely, the
farmers, in this instance, to pass as best we can appropriate and
remedial legislation to help our farmers. It is that simple.
I compliment the Senator from West Virginia, the Senator from New
Jersey, and others.
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In fact, that is very relevant to the statement I am going to make
concerning the introduction of a bill.
(The remarks of Mr. Baucus pertaining to the introduction of S. 1648
are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills
and Joint Resolutions.'')
Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I very much thank my colleagues and good
friends, the Senator from Iowa and the Senator from New Jersey, for
their courtesy.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.
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