[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 102 (Wednesday, July 24, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7243-S7244]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    MINNESOTA NEEDS DISASTER RELIEF

  Mr. WELLSTONE. Madam President, I am joined by Senator Dayton from 
Minnesota and the occupant of the Chair. We come to the floor this 
morning because we want to communicate a respectful, sincere, and 
honest message to each and every one of our colleagues.
  It has been my experience in the Senate over the past 12 years that 
sometimes you just have to fight for people--not with acrimony, but you 
have to fight for people. In Minnesota, 17

[[Page S7244]]

counties have been declared Federal disaster areas due to tremendous 
floods last month. As a result, Northwest Minnesota, a rich 
agricultural region, has been devastated. According to the Minnesota 
Farm Service Agency at least $370 billion in damage to the agriculture 
sector has been caused, due to these floods. We tried to include 
disaster relief in the supplemental bill. Unfortunately we could not do 
it because the administration said don't even try, no way. While there 
is some help for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is 
important, FEMA cannot help the farmers and the Small Business 
Administration cannot help the farmers.
  This is a case of ``there but for the grace of God go I.'' I said 
this to my colleagues yesterday, and I want to say it again today. I 
have never voted against disaster relief assistance for anybody in the 
country, be it a hurricane, tornado, fire, drought, or flooding. If, 
God forbid, it happens to others, we want to help.
  This administration has said no to any emergency disaster assistance 
for agriculture. The President has said any emergency assistance for 
agriculture must come out of the farm bill. The farm bill is about loan 
rates, dairy, conservation and fair prices for farmers. The farm bill 
is about economic assistance, not natural disasters.

  So our message today is this: We are going to look at every 
appropriations bill, and if any appropriations bill comes out on the 
floor and there is assistance for fire or any other emergency that has 
happened--be it for Arizona, or for flooding in Texas, or anywhere 
else--we will slow up that bill. In fact, we will stop that bill if we 
need to until we get the commitment that there will be the funding for 
emergency disaster assistance for the farmers in Minnesota, or for the 
farmers in Nebraska, for the people we represent.
  Time is not neutral. People need help now. We intend to make the 
Senate address this issue. I yield to my colleague from Minnesota.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The junior Senator from Minnesota is 
recognized.
  Mr. DAYTON. Madam President, I thank the Senator for graciously 
taking the Chair so Senator Nelson could join with the Senator from 
Minnesota and myself. I know the Senator from Michigan, who is 
presiding, has strong support for this disaster assistance as well. I 
want to say to my colleague and friend, the senior Senator from 
Minnesota, I am proud to stand with him today, and I am proud to follow 
his leadership on this disaster assistance legislation.
  The Senator and I both serve on the Senate Agriculture Committee, 
along with our colleague from Nebraska. The Senate Agriculture bill had 
disaster assistance funding in it. The House and the administration 
would not agree to the inclusion of disaster assistance in the package, 
which came out of the conference committee and was enacted into law.
  As the Senator said, it is imperative that the Senate and the House 
and the administration join together, given what happened in Minnesota, 
with 17 counties declared a disaster area because of excessive flooding 
in June. During a recent visit, I saw whole fields of crops 
underwater--giant lakes created by torrential rains one week, and again 
the week following. It is hard to see people, many of whom lost their 
crops last year, struggling again this year.
  I asked Secretary of Agriculture Veneman last week in a committee 
hearing: Where is this money that is purportedly available in the 
legislation that was passed for disaster aid? And she could not 
identify any.
  I join with my colleague in saying we must have this assistance. The 
Senate did it right in its version of the Farm bill. Unfortunately, the 
House and the administration have blocked disaster aid. We have to try 
again because farmers are going under if we do not.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nebraska.
  Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. I thank my distinguished colleague from 
Michigan for exchanging positions for a moment so I have an opportunity 
to make a statement about the importance of having disaster relief in 
the soonest possible timeframe.
  Over the last several years in developing a farm policy, we have gone 
from virtually no help to a new farm program that is designed to help 
get agriculture on its feet, but it is designed to do that in a time 
when we would expect normal conditions. It is not designed to take care 
of disaster situations we are facing today for the livestock industry 
in particular.
  If we are not able to step forward at this time, take care of this 
situation, and provide hope for the livestock industry in our country, 
particularly those that are experiencing severe drought, as in the case 
of Nebraska and the Midwestern States, many of those farmers and 
ranchers are going to divest themselves of their herds. They are going 
to cut down the size of their herds. They are going to sell off their 
breeding stock to survive under these terrible conditions. They are not 
going to be able to rebuild those herds overnight. It will take years 
to rebuild.
  There is no coverage in the Crop Insurance Program for parched 
pastures that today will not sustain the grazing of our cattle. There 
is no support in the farm bill for those farmers and ranchers who are 
experiencing the losses on the livestock side. For those in this body 
who are looking for offsets, which is important in the Senate, they are 
looking for money. To go after the farm bill and the funding for 
building agriculture and take that money now to support the 
livestock industry is not the way to go. What we need to do is 
recognize that this is an emergency situation like other emergencies 
and it is a disaster that must, in fact, be addressed right now.

  Many of the people who voted for the last four or five disaster 
programs without requiring any kind of an offset are today saying: If 
we do it today, we have to find an offset. It is because today we have 
a farm bill, and they found the source of dollars. That is the only 
reason I think they are looking at that program.
  Robbing Peter to pay Paul at the present time will mean that both 
Peter and Paul will not make it. What we need to do is face this as a 
reality so that the farmers in Nebraska and the farmers all across our 
country, those who are selling their livestock, will know there is help 
on the way; that they can be sustained; that they are not going to have 
to sell off their herds.
  As we look at this downward spiral, the spinoff problems are 
consequential. In addition to having smaller herds, there will be less 
cattle to eat corn. In a bumper crop year, there will be more corn, and 
therefore that will depress the price of corn.
  This is not a situation without consequences to those outside 
interests. It will harm the smaller communities that depend on 
agricultural income for their very existence. We must, in fact, act now 
and not make this a partisan or political football to kick back and 
forth. We must, in fact, step forward now and recognize the urgency of 
this situation and not hold the farmers and ranchers of the livestock 
industry hostage while others are playing partisan politics.
  I thank the Senators from Minnesota and other colleagues who are 
looking forward to having an emergency aid package, recognizing this 
disaster at the soonest possible time.
  I yield the floor. I thank the Chair.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Michigan.
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, we are playing revolving chairs today. 
It is a pleasure to be in the Chamber with you. I indicate to my 
colleagues--the Senator from Nebraska and my colleagues from 
Minnesota--that I completely understand and support what they are 
fighting for and join them in that fight.
  We also have had in northern and western Michigan disasters that 
happened as late as this spring where we have seen our cherry crop 
wiped out because of extremely hot weather, in the nineties, and then 
immediately going into freezing temperatures. We have seen our orchards 
literally wiped out in terms of the ability to produce cherries and 
other crops.
  When this happens to our farmers, it is critical we step forward in a 
bipartisan way and do everything we can to support them to get through 
this year, to get through these disasters.

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