[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 44 (Wednesday, March 14, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E537]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    SUPPORT FOR FARMERS AND RANCHERS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. NANCY E. BOYDA

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 14, 2007

  Mrs. BOYDA of Kansas. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the 
upcoming 2007 fiscal year supplemental appropriations bill.
  Much of the debate on this bill has focused, quite rightly, on the 
provisions that codify President Bush's benchmarks for Iraq into law. 
That is an important subject that I plan to discuss in depth later this 
week.
  But today I wish to focus on another element of this bill, one that 
is of vital importance to the farmers and ranchers of the Second 
District of Kansas.
  America's agricultural industry is in the midst of a calamity. Fully 
70 percent of U.S. counties were declared disaster areas by the 
Department of Agriculture in 2006. Believe it or not, this was an 
improvement from 2005, when 80 percent of all counties were declared 
disasters. In my home state of Kansas, every single county is suffering 
from disaster conditions.
  It is hard to express the frustration of the farmers I speak to in my 
district. Many have worked the same acreage for decades, and they feel 
a profound connection to their land: They trust that, if they treat 
their land right, if they plow its soil and plant it carefully and tend 
it for the many months before harvest, it will reward them with enough 
crops to earn a living.
  But lately, as disaster conditions have stretched out into every 
corner of Kansas, the land has betrayed our farmers and ranchers. 
William Norman, Jr., a farmer from Leavenworth County, is fighting to 
make ends meet now that his corn production has plummeted by two-
thirds. Frances Ford, a rancher in Coffey County, is struggling to feed 
her cattle off of only half of her ordinary hay yield.
  These are good, hardworking people who put food on America's plates 
every single day. But their land has betrayed them--and sadly, Congress 
has betrayed them, too.
  Despite the magnitude of the current agricultural catastrophe, 
Congress has failed to provide sufficient agricultural assistance. We 
have abandoned our farmers and ranchers to a massive and ongoing 
natural disaster.
  The 2007 supplemental bill rights this wrong. It provides $3.7 
billion in agriculture disaster relief, which will help Kansans 
continue to farm and ranch in spite of the ever-present threats of 
drought, fire, and other catastrophes.
  Our farming and ranching communities needs a government that supports 
them during their most difficult hours. Now Congress has an opportunity 
to meet their needs, to serve as a steward of the agricultural 
industry.
  A vote for the supplemental bill is a vote for our farmers and 
ranchers.

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