[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 127 (Friday, August 3, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1719]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   U.S. TROOP READINESS, VETERANS' CARE, KATRINA RECOVERY, AND IRAQ 
                ACCOUNTABILITY APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2007

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. JERRY MORAN

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 30, 2007

  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the 
legislation before the House that fixes a drafting error that has kept 
ranchers in Kansas from receiving important disaster assistance. My top 
priority this year has been to see that the agricultural producers in 
my district who have been devastated by extreme weather are given the 
support needed to stay on their feet and continue feeding our nation.
  I was glad to see Congress recognize the importance of delivering 
disaster assistance to our country's hardest hit producers. I was not 
glad to see an error in the bill effectively prohibit ranchers from 
receiving this aid. A provision required ranchers to have participated 
in a particular insurance pilot program. The problem is that this pilot 
program does not exist.
  Absent the fix we are making here today, some producers in Kansas, at 
no fault of their own, will not be in business come winter. In Kansas, 
we have struggled through 5 and 6 years of drought followed by last 
year's strong winter storms in December that caused 44 of Kansas' 105 
counties to be declared natural disasters. And as you have all seen, 
tornadoes, hail and floods have now affected the rest of the State of 
Kansas. In total, 65 of the 69 counties I represent have been declared 
federal disaster areas this year.
  I am grateful we are taking action to allow the intended disaster 
assistance to reach ranchers across the plains. The bill before us, the 
Senate version of a bill I introduced here in the House, will simply 
strike the one sentence in the disaster bill that is causing the 
problem.
  So, Mr. Speaker, this is an important piece of legislation, and I ask 
my colleagues, both Republicans and Democrats, to support this bill.

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