[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 137 (Thursday, October 17, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10620-S10621]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DROUGHT RELIEF
Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I was surprised to get up this morning and
read the Washington Post and see that the Speaker of the House, Mr.
Hastert, said the House could pass drought relief legislation after the
election, `` . . . if there is a problem.''
Where has the Speaker been? If there is a problem?
Tell that to the farmers of North Dakota. This is a photo of what it
looks like in southwestern North Dakota. That is a moonscape. Nothing
is growing. There is no question, I would say to the Speaker of the
House of Representatives, about whether or not there is a problem.
There is a deep problem. This is a disastrous year.
Let me read just one letter from a farmer in North Dakota. He says:
Dear Senator Conrad:
I am a 40 year old man with a wife and 4 children. I am a
third generation farmer. We enjoy farming very much but it's
getting very hard to keep on going.
He continues:
When we have had good crops in the past there was no price.
Now in 2002 we have no crop, no grass, no hay, and no rain,
which all leads to no money.
I know it is hard for city people to understand the
difficulties of farming, but it has become very hard to keep
a good attitude when you are always under financial pressure.
Without any disaster aid this fall, a lot of good farmers
will be forced to sell, or will simply just quit.
He went on to say:
I hope and pray that you can persuade the Members of the
House how serious it is out here in rural North Dakota.
I do not know of anything that could tell the story more clearly than
this picture. This isn't just a small part of southwestern North
Dakota. This is mile upon mile of southwestern North Dakota. This is a
drought as bad or worse than the 1930s.
This has to be responded to. For the Speaker to say yesterday that
the House could pass drought legislation ``if there's a problem''
misses the point entirely. There is a problem. It is more than a
problem. It is a crisis. And it is not just in North Dakota.
How can the Speaker of the House have missed this? In Montana, in
South
[[Page S10621]]
Dakota, in Nebraska, in Kansas, in Minnesota, in Wyoming, and other
parts of the country as well, they have suffered different kinds of
disasters. My neighboring State of Minnesota has suffered the worst
flooding in their history--and the administration has said, Well, look
to the farm bill. Yet the administration knows there are no disaster
provisions in the farm bill. They prevented it. The Speaker prevented
it. I was one of the conferees on the farm bill. When we went to
conference with the Senate bill that included disaster assistance, the
House conferees said that there were only two things they were not at
liberty to discuss in the conference. No. 1, they said we can't talk
about opening trade with Cuba; and No. 2, we cannot talk about disaster
assistance. The House conferees told us that those two issues had to go
to the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The Speaker said no. The President has said no. Always before when
any part of the country suffered a disaster, we have moved to respond--
always. Whether it was earthquakes in California, mud slides in that
same State, hurricanes in the State of the occupant of the Chair,
whether it was drought in farm country, or flooding any place in the
Nation--always before we have moved to help. This year, there is no
assistance for those suffering natural disasters. That is wrong.
In my State, there is a calamity. It is not just my State. It is
State after State.
For the Speaker to say yesterday that disaster aid may be considered
later this fall ``if there's a problem'' shows that he is terribly out
of touch with what is happening across this great Nation. These are
natural disasters that deserve a response and that require a response,
and we ought to be providing help. For those who say look to the farm
bill, there is no disaster assistance in the farm bill. In fact, there
are savings under the farm bill to pay for the disaster assistance.
Some may ask, How is that? Very simply, because of these disasters,
there is less production. That means prices are higher. That means the
farm bill will cost less. The Congressional Budget Office has told me
and has told all of our colleagues there will be about $6 billion in
savings in the farm bill this year because of these natural disasters.
That also happens to be the size of the disaster relief package. So we
have an opportunity here to be fiscally responsible. We are proposing
to spend the same amount of money on disaster assistance that is being
saved in the farm bill because of these disasters. Because there is
less production, prices are higher than anticipated. That means the
farm bill will cost less by nearly $6 billion. That is money that could
be available for disaster assistance and should be.
Let me conclude with this chart that shows what this is going to
mean.
Net farm income is going to decline this year by 21 percent across
the country largely because of these natural disasters. Yet there is no
response from Washington. We passed disaster assistance here in the
U.S. Senate. We passed it as part of the farm bill. We passed it on an
amendment on the Interior appropriations bill with 79 votes--an
overwhelming bipartisan agreement that we should provide disaster
assistance. But the House has said no. The President has said no.
To have the Speaker of the House say yesterday that they may consider
aid in a lame duck session ``if there's a problem'' is incredible.
Where has the Speaker of the House been to say ``if there's a
problem''?
This is a disaster. This is a crisis. There ought to be a response.
I thank the Chair.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
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