[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 151 (Thursday, September 19, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5586-S5587]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Continuing Resolution

  Mr. President, let's talk about the short-term CR, which was released 
last night. The continuing resolution is an important measure to keep 
the government open until late November and

[[Page S5587]]

allow appropriators to get a bipartisan agreement for fiscal year 2020.
  One program that has not received enough attention is the 
agricultural relief program known commonly as the Commodity Credit 
Corporation. This is an important program that should help all farmers 
suffering from certain exigencies of the market, like price declines 
and natural disasters.
  Unfortunately, over the past year, the President turned this 
important agricultural relief program that we all support into a giant 
slush fund. The relief payments have gotten political. Crops in red 
States have received outsized subsidies, while crops in blue States 
were shortchanged. Cotton, for example, has gotten a huge subsidy, 
compared to dairy and specialty crops, fruits and vegetables. The 
payments were not matched to the damage caused to each crop. Even 
soybeans, the supposed reason for this at the beginning, were greatly 
shortchanged for cotton, and even now cotton is being treated better.
  In addition--and just as bad, if not worse--there have been huge 
amounts of waste and abuse in the program. Large agribusinesses, 
including some foreign agribusinesses, like a Brazilian beef 
corporation, are receiving funding through this program while American 
dairy farmers are passed over.
  There are limits on the CCC program. If you make over $900,000, you 
shouldn't get any money. The most any farm can get is $250,000 if there 
are two farmers in the family, a husband and a wife. Those don't seem 
to abate either.
  We are very pleased that Republicans acceded to our wish. Democrats 
were able to inject some transparency into the agricultural relief 
program.
  In this short-term CR, we require reporting on whether the funding is 
going to foreign sources and justification for why money went where it 
did. We are going to look at this report before we move to the full 
appropriations bill in a month or two to make sure the money is going 
to our American farmers who need it--not foreigners, not wealthy 
agribusiness, not all slanted to one product like cotton when there are 
so many other needs.
  This is a good victory for Democrats in a day of some victories for 
Democrats.