[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

[[Page S11540]]

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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