[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 28, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H175-H176]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 AGRICULTURE DISASTER IN NORTH CAROLINA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform my colleagues of 
the sad state of agriculture in my home State of North Carolina. And, 
indeed, farmers across the Nation took a big hit in their wallets 
thanks to Mother Nature last year.
  As Congress prepares to receive the President's State of the Union 
address, we must pay special attention to those folks who are hurting 
down on the farm. At one time last summer, according to the National 
Drought Mitigation Center, nearly one-third of the United States 
experienced moderate to extreme drought conditions. The prolonged 
period of dry weather severely aggravated North Carolina's long-term 
drought problems.
  Consequently, my State experienced the worst drought we have seen in 
100 years. This drought impacted every region of North Carolina and 
nearly every community where commodities are grown. Many farmers had to 
watch crops wither on the vine and die despite their best efforts. And 
when rain finally came, it came too late to save what was already lost 
and impaired their ability to harvest what little they had.
  In North Carolina, farmers have experienced $400 million in crop 
losses. While crop insurance has paid out $90 million in indemnities, 
which helped, it comes at a cost of $63 million in premiums. So crop 
insurance has not been a viable solution to losses of this magnitude.
  The Secretary of Agriculture designated nearly the entire State of

[[Page H176]]

North Carolina as a disaster area, making low-interest loans available 
to our farmers. USDA also provided for emergency haying and grazing on 
Conservation Reserve Program lands, something our livestock producers 
appreciated. While this assistance is welcome, it does not come even 
close to meeting the losses that our farmers have suffered.
  In addition, many farmers cannot afford to increase their debt burden 
with new loans. Farmers need more help than just new credit and 
comforting words; they need direct disaster payments, and they need 
them now so they can start a new crop year.
  For several months we have been pushing for more agriculture disaster 
relief, along with a bipartisan group of lawmakers representing States 
that were affected by the drought last summer. We were extremely 
hopeful last year when the United States Senate voted in favor of a 
disaster package as part of the 2003 interior appropriations bill. 
Their plan would provide almost $6 billion in assistance for our 
farmers.
  In fact, I cosponsored a bill here in the House introduced by the 
gentlewoman from Wyoming (Mrs. Cubin) which matched the Senate's 
disaster bill. Unfortunately, the administration opposed these 
agriculture disaster plans. Instead, the President demanded that any 
disaster assistance be paid for by cutting the farm bill that we passed 
last year.
  Mr. Speaker, Congress has a proud bipartisan tradition of coming to 
the aid of States when they have been struck by natural calamities. 
When tragedy strikes, we do not let States fend for themselves; we 
instead respond as one Nation. Whether it is an earthquake in 
California, wildfires in the Rockies, floods in the Midwest, or 
hurricanes in Florida, Congress worries more about how best to help 
these people who have suffered and less about how we pay for it at the 
moment. The drought which affected my State and much of the West and 
East Coast deserves the same level of treatment by Congress as these 
other disasters.
  In fact, historically, drought is one of the most costly natural 
disasters that have struck any region of this country. I call upon this 
House to show this administration that we understand what is really 
going on in the farm country and that we are prepared to come to their 
assistance in their time of need.
  As my colleagues know, the Senate included in the 2003 omnibus 
appropriations bill $3.1 billion for disaster assistance. Consequently, 
at the administration's insistence, the Senate was forced to cut 
education, veterans benefits, and a number of FBI agents. Now, I do not 
understand this. The President is proposing deficit funding for his 
massive $674 billion tax plan, which will do nothing to help the 
economy and middle-class Americans. However, when we ask for his 
support for emergency spending for just 1 percent, $6 billion, to help 
farmers who suffered from an act of God and who could lose their entire 
livelihood, the President says no.
  I urge the conference committee to reject these cuts, continue our 
bipartisan tradition and fully fund agriculture disaster relief as we 
have done in the past. The Nation's farmers are waiting and watching. 
Let us not disappoint them.

                          ____________________