[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 36 (Wednesday, February 27, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1522-S1523]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Disaster Relief

  Mr. PERDUE. Mr. President, I rise to talk about a crisis in my home 
State and indeed five other States across the Southeast. I rise to talk 
about disasters in California and to talk about our friends in Puerto 
Rico.
  On October 10, 2018, Hurricane Michael made landfall on the Florida 
Panhandle as a category 4 hurricane. It was one of the strongest storms 
to ever hit the United States. Over the next few hours, Hurricane 
Michael barreled through Florida and tore through southwest Georgia. In 
a matter of minutes, homes were flattened, tracks of timber were 
destroyed, and farmers' crops lay down in the field. People's lives 
were radically affected forever.
  This hurricane hit at exactly the time of year when most crops were 
ready for harvest. It doesn't matter if they were peanuts, cotton, or 
pecans--they were all just beautiful this year. As a matter of fact, in 
the State of Georgia, I grew up working on our family's farm there, and 
I have to say the cotton crop last year was probably the best I had 
ever seen. It was almost cruel. Today, agriculture is Georgia's top 
industry and our No. 1 economic driver. Before the hurricane, farmers 
in my State were expecting a record harvest. Instead, their crops were 
completely destroyed.
  Shortly after the hurricane hit, President Trump, Vice President 
Pence, and Secretary of Agriculture Perdue all came down to Georgia. 
Together, we toured the devastation and heard from farmers and local 
officials about the tough road of recovery ahead. Some farmers said 
they could clean up, replant, and have a crop next year as long as they 
had adequate resources. Other farmers were not so lucky.
  Georgia is the top pecan-producing State in the country. One of our 
largest pecan farms is owned by two brothers in Bainbridge, which the 
Vice President and I personally visited. We personally saw the damage 
in their fields. Some 800 acres of pecan trees were gone. I cannot 
describe to you what that looks like. On the ground was a solid 
carpet--if you can imagine this--of mature, beautiful, inch-long pecans 
that were ready to be harvested but were on the ground, ruined.
  One brother said:

       The farmer in me wants to farm this land, but there's no 
     way I can make it. Next year is the year I'll lose it, 
     because we're not like the cotton guy. Nothing against them, 
     but they get to replant a seed next year and have a crop. I 
     don't.

  The problem is that the pecan crop can be annually insured, but there 
is no insurance product for insuring pecan trees. If these two brothers 
replant, it could take 7 to 10 years for the trees to mature enough to 
even generate a minimum revenue. Most likely, full production would 
take over 12 years. For them, this is truly a generational loss.
  The other brother said:

       My brother and I built this business from nothing. We will 
     make it. We may not be in the pecan business anymore, but 
     we will be doing something else. We are fighters. [Our 
     families are committed to this land.] You just have to go 
     on.

  When they saw the devastation, President Trump and Vice President 
Pence stepped up to the plate and made a commitment to our agriculture 
community.
  President Trump said: ``Farmers really got hurt here, especially in 
Georgia, but we're going to get it taken care of.''
  Vice President Pence said:

       We will rebuild these crops and these communities. We will 
     restore southwest Georgia. We will restore the Sunbelt region 
     bigger and better than ever before.

  This afternoon, I am here to say that the Vice President and the 
President are living up to their word. After this disaster relief was 
caught up in the political nightmare of funding the last 25 percent of 
this year's budget, we now have the opportunity to put this standalone 
supplemental appropriations bill on the floor of the Senate. The 
President and Vice President have been absolutely resolute in their 
support of getting aid to the victims of these disasters. They are now 
asking Congress to pass this all-inclusive disaster relief bill right 
now.
  The State of Georgia has already stepped up and offered tax credits, 
short-term financing, and other forms of direct assistance to those who 
have been impacted, but they have only scratched the surface. The 
people of Georgia have come together and helped their neighbors, served 
meals to each other, and assisted first responders in their recovery 
efforts.
  In Florida alone, then-Governor Rick Scott, who is now our colleague 
here on the Senate floor, was in the race for this Senate seat, and he 
actually suspended his campaign to devote all of his time, in his 
responsibility as the Governor, to lead the effort of analyzing the 
damage in Florida and determining what needed to be done. He can speak 
directly to the need. He is a cosponsor of this bill, I might add.
  However, despite efforts by Senator Isakson and others and me in our 
State, this Senate body has yet to take action on disaster relief for 
the agriculture community in the Southeast. Our farmers simply cannot 
wait any longer. The situation in my State is dire. I would say it is 
the same across the South. Because revenue from the 2018 harvest was 
destroyed, bankers can't lend money to farmers who right now are asking 
to borrow money to put seed in the ground, to fertilize the ground, and 
to prepare the ground for next year's crop. It is as simple as that. 
Growers cannot replant because they can't get their financial houses in 
order because we haven't adopted a resolution for last year's harvest 
that they were not able to achieve. Rural communities are suffering, 
and in many places, economic activity is at an absolute standstill as 
it waits for the Federal Government--this body and the House of 
Representatives--to do its job.
  For some in my State, the timing of assistance is not just a matter 
of putting a crop in the ground this year; it is a matter of 
potentially never putting a crop in the ground again. If we do not help 
these people right now, they may lose their businesses and livelihoods 
through no fault of their own. That is the reality we are facing here. 
The people in my State have asked me to utilize every sphere of 
influence, turn over every stone, and exhaust all options to get 
disaster relief right now.
  We are past the time when this should have gotten done. I have spoken 
with the President many times about this. His commitment to our farmers 
is unwavering. Just last Monday night, he said: David, get it done. He 
called me again on Saturday night before he left for Vietnam. He said: 
David, what do we have to do to get this bill across the Senate floor? 
Talk to our friends in the House, and make sure that everything that is 
needed is in.
  Senator Isakson, I, and several other Senators have introduced a 
supplemental disaster relief bill on the floor of the Senate, and 
President Trump has agreed to sign it. Our bill includes disaster 
relief for agriculture. It also provides additional funds for Georgia 
and other States like Florida, Alabama, the Carolinas, Alaska, Hawaii, 
and California that have battled natural disasters over the last year 
on

[[Page S1523]]

their own. It also builds on the Trump administration's past efforts 
and includes the remaining funding for Puerto Rico.
  Both the House and Senate have previously supported similar 
proposals. They should be even more inclined to do so now that it is 
not tied up with the overall 2019 budget drama. This is a standalone 
supplemental bill that includes those things that people on both sides 
of this body agreed to and voted for just last year. This bipartisan 
package is a win for our farmers. It is a win for families and 
businesses that were devastated by historic hurricanes in the Southeast 
and wildfires in the West. It is a win for the people of Puerto Rico 
whom the President has previously helped. He was committed to including 
that in this bill.
  I sincerely hope this body will move quickly and pass this disaster 
relief bill without further delay. I humbly ask each of my colleagues 
in this body for their individual support and for their vote in this 
disaster relief package that will save hundreds, if not thousands, of 
farming families in my home State from having to give up what they 
love, and that is farming the land that in many cases they inherited 
from their families. In other cases, people who graduated from HBCUs--
some of our brightest young people--borrowed money to buy the land or 
are leasing the land, and they are in danger of losing this dream of 
making a living on the ground in Georgia.
  Our country and our people are counting on us to get this done, and 
time is of the essence.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. DUCKWORTH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.