[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 56 (Monday, April 1, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S2161]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                                H.R. 268

  Mr. PERDUE. Mr. President, as an outsider to this political process, 
it is easy to be frustrated with how slowly the Senate moves. It is 
easy to find fault with colleagues. As an outsider here, it is very 
easy to think we are not focused on getting results. I usually try to 
temper that with some rational thought about, well, this is the way 
things work, et cetera, et cetera, but I didn't see that tonight, and I 
am very frustrated with the vote. What we just witnessed on the floor 
of the U.S. Senate was nothing but pure partisan politics.
  Our colleagues across the aisle blocked our disaster relief bill 
because they said it didn't include enough for Puerto Rico. That was 
one of several reasons. To date, $40 billion in Federal disaster relief 
aid has already been allocated for Puerto Rico, and it is eligible for 
another $50 billion-plus, potentially, which has already been 
allocated.
  How much aid did the farmers in the Southeast receive after Hurricane 
Michael just 6 months ago? Not one dime. Now, why is that critical? You 
say: Well, OK. It takes time. Yes, it takes time. These farmers lost 
their livelihoods, and it hit them at the very time when their harvests 
were coming due last fall, October 10. It has been 6 months now. They 
have not received a dime from the Federal Government. The State has 
moved in with minor help, but these bridge loans these farmers have 
been using are running out; therefore, we were hoping this bill tonight 
would have given them some direct relief.
  Let's put this in perspective.
  Congress appropriated $136 billion for 2017's natural disasters 
across our country. That was for Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Maria, 
Hurricane Harvey, and the California wildfires--in 2017, $136 billion. 
Before then, in 2013, $50.5 billion was appropriated for Hurricane 
Sandy, mostly for New Jersey.
  In this bill from tonight, we were only talking about $13.45 billion 
for unprecedented hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and wildfires 
over the last year. Listen to the number of States we were talking 
about: Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, 
Alaska, Hawaii, California, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, and Kansas. That 
is right. This $13.45 billion included only $3 billion for farmers 
across five States in the Southeast.
  President Trump visited that damage, and Vice President Pence visited 
that damage. I was personally privileged, as was Johnny Isakson, to 
travel with him that day to see this damage. You only have to see it to 
understand how ravaging this was to the businesses that have been built 
up over generations with regard to these family farmers.
  President Trump has done his part. He has been very reasonable in 
this negotiation. He stepped up and did the right thing with regard to 
Puerto Rico. He agreed that because the nutrition benefits were running 
out under the prior allocations that we just mentioned, he stepped up 
and said, yes, he would support $600 million in further assistance for 
Puerto Rico nutrition so that those benefits would not run out and so 
that it would, hopefully, in the negotiations, break the logjam.
  It did no such thing. This $600 million was exactly what Puerto Rico 
needed, and President Trump saw that. I give him high marks for 
stepping up and taking the political risk to go ahead and do that in 
addition to what had already been done for Puerto Rico over the last 2 
years. In fact, Puerto Rico's own Representative in Congress, Jenniffer 
Gonzalez-Colon, supports this disaster relief bill that Senator Isakson 
and I and others sponsored.
  She said:

       I urge for the swift Senate passage of $600 million for 
     nutrition assistance. Over 1.3 million of my constituents are 
     already experiencing cuts in their food benefits. Puerto Rico 
     needs this funding and needs it now.

  When you listen to pleas like that, I can only think of one word for 
our colleagues across the aisle in this episode, and that is that it is 
very similar to what has happened on the border. It is hypocritical to 
me to think that they asked for that and then voted no against it. What 
we see here is pure partisan politics.
  The American people are not stupid. It is clear that this had nothing 
to do with Puerto Rico and that it really hadn't had much to do with 
disaster relief. This vote was really pure partisan politics. It had 
everything to do with obstructing this President and preventing him 
from keeping his promise of helping the American people recover from 
the tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, and floods that have ravaged our 
communities.
  The Democrats ought to be ashamed. They are holding our farmers 
hostage right now for the political gain they foresee in their having 
taken this position. It is unacceptable. They are gambling with 
people's lives, and I don't overstate that. Some people will not 
recover from this. They will get out of farming. For those who stay in, 
it will take a decade to recover even with this government assistance, 
and many will have to get out of the crops they were growing to just 
survive in the next year.
  We have farmers in Georgia whom I know personally who are on their 
second bridge loan. As an individual businessperson, I have done those 
in my career. I know how hard it is to go back after one bridge loan 
and ask for an extension or for another bridge loan to get to the point 
at which, hopefully, the Federal Government will step in and provide 
much needed assistance to back up these bank loans. These farmers are 
coming to the end of their ability to do that. I empathize with the 
bankers as well. They have a very difficult time giving bridge loans in 
addition to what they have already done until they get some degree of 
certainty about what it is we in Congress are going to do.
  It is unacceptable that this intransigence in Washington continues to 
threaten the livelihoods the very people who sent us here to represent 
them. Because the Democrats chose to play politics today, farmers 
across the Southeast may, indeed, lose their businesses. Puerto Rican 
families will not have access to the food benefits they desperately 
need. California wildfire victims will not get any Federal assistance 
to help rebuild until we get this done. The list goes on.
  I challenge each of the Senators in this body who voted against this 
disaster relief bill tonight to go down to Georgia, to Florida, or to 
South Carolina and look the farmers in the eye and tell them that, 
tonight, we chose politics over helping Americans in need. It is a 
shameful night in the American Senate.
  I thank Senator Shelby, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, 
and its ranking member, Senator Leahy. They have worked diligently to 
try to find a compromise in here, but it is hard to compromise when 
there is only one party playing.
  In conclusion, I want farmers across the Southeast to understand that 
I, Senator Isakson, Senator Rubio, Senator Scott, and many others--
Senator Tillis, Senator Burr, Senator Lindsey Graham, Senator Tim Scott 
from South Carolina, and even one of the Democrats, Senator Doug 
Jones--are all committed, along with Senator Marco Rubio and Senator 
Rick Scott of Florida, and are not giving up. This is not the end of 
this tale. I want the farmers and the bankers in these five States to 
understand we are going to continue this fight.
  I thank Leader McConnell for continuing to give us this opportunity. 
It took a lot of time to get to this vote on the Senate floor tonight, 
and I thank him for that.
  For the people of these States who were affected, don't lose heart. 
We will get this done eventually.
  I yield the floor.

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