[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 86 (Friday, June 30, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1161-E1162]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE VICE PRESIDENT REGARDING PLUM POX VIRUS FUNDING IN 
           PENNSYLVANIA BY THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. WILLIAM F. GOODLING

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 29, 2000

  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, I was pleased today when the 
administration announced that $13.2 million would be made available to 
compensate fruit growers in my district affected by plum pox. I am very 
pleased that my constituents who have seen their livelihoods put under 
the bulldozer and set afire in the last 3 months will finally receive 
just compensation. However Mr. Speaker, I am enraged that this 
announcement came from the Office of the Vice President and that the 
administration would play election year politics with a stone fruit 
industry that its own press release values at $1.8 billion.
  Mr. Speaker I became aware of the plum pox outbreak in my district in 
early October. Since that time, I and Pennsylvania's Members of the 
other body have met with the growers affected by this crisis and worked 
on legislative remedies to address the growers' loss. I first wrote 
Secretary Glickman about plum pox in early November, a letter signed by 
18 other Members of the House. In the intervening 8 months I have 
pursued every legislative option available and worked with Secretary 
Glickman and officials from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to 
indemnify the affected growers.
  I ask the Vice President, where have you been for the nearly 6 months 
while the Office of Management and Budget acted as a roadblock to 
allowing these funds to be released. Secretary Glickman is to be 
commended for his actions in this crisis. As soon as the Secretary had 
the relevant information it was presented to the OMB along with his 
recommendation to declare this crisis an ``Extraordinary Emergency,'' 
thereby making plum pox one of the Department's highest priorities.
  Where was the Vice President on March 2, 2000, when the Secretary 
declared an Extraordinary Emergency and the OMB refused to release the 
funding for the Emergency. Where was the Vice President?
  If the Vice President was as concerned about this crisis as he seems 
to be today, why didn't he request OMB Director Lew release these funds 
in March, before the growers had to be put through the worries they 
faced this spring.
  Where was the Vice President when those growers, my constituents, 
came to Washington and met with an OMB official and were insulted and 
belittled as if they were beggars asking for a hand out. Mr. Speaker, I 
understand the Vice President is well versed on tobacco growing, but I 
wonder if he understands the workday of a fruit grower?
  The fruit growers in my district do not sit on their porches and 
rock, as they were told in a insulting response by Director Lew's 
subordinate in April. Fruit growers work from sun up to sundown and 
spend their lives praying that the weather and insects do not make them 
bankrupt. I wonder where the Vice President was Mr. Speaker.
  Mr. Speaker as I said, I am pleased that those growers in my district 
who accepted the

[[Page E1162]]

risk and obeyed the destruction orders they received from the USDA will 
be finally compensated, I might add one month after the Congress voted 
to do the same, but I find it very sad that this Administration chooses 
to release this compensation only after the Vice President finds 
himself sagging in the polls and needing help in a swing State.

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