[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 165 (Wednesday, September 23, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5799-S5803]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Agriculture
Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, we are here to talk about agriculture. We
are here to talk about those great farmers and ranchers who feed this
country and feed the world.
You know, when we talk about good farm policy, we are talking about
something that benefits every single American every single day because
our farmers and ranchers produce the highest quality, lowest cost food
supply in the history of the world that benefits every single American
every single day. That is just how important it is. How could we be
reminded even more so right now than during this COVID pandemic of that
abundant, safe, wonderful food supply that we have every day thanks to
our farmers and ranchers, and there is so much that goes into it.
As the Presiding Officer well knows, with Nebraska as his State and
its being a big part of the incredible ag production in this country--
as a matter of fact, there could be a little rivalry here with his
contiguous State to the north in terms of cattle production or
something like that--this is something that touches everybody every day
and is so important.
It is not just those farmers and ranchers who produce that food every
day; it is the whole supply chain that has to work. Remember, that food
supply has to be safe every day, not only tasty and affordable and
abundant, and that is what we are talking about. This has become a big,
big issue in the continuing resolution that we are working on right now
in that the way we are funding the coronavirus food assistance
programs, in part, is with the direct funding that we secured in the
CARES Act and also from what they call the CCC, the Commodity Credit
Corporation. With regard to the farm bill--the bipartisan farm bill
that has incredibly strong support on both sides of the aisle in this
body and the House--many of its very key programs are funded by the
Commodity Credit Corporation. We put about $30 billion a year into that
fund every year to make sure that those programs are funded to support
our farmers and ranchers.
That was not in the original House version that was going to be
filed, so a group of Senators from ag States came together last week
and had a colloquy in this body. They immediately went to work with our
friends in the House who are also strong supporters of agriculture and
now the continuing resolution that has passed the House overwhelmingly,
which we will be taking up, has that key funding in it.
So we are really here to, once again, emphasize the importance of
making sure we fund these farm programs, to make sure that we fund them
in a timely way, and, again, to point out very clearly that this is
funding that is being used expressly the way it was authorized to be
used both in the overwhelmingly bipartisan farm bill we passed--the 5-
year farm bill--but also in the CARES Act, in which we secured
additional funding. Now the funding that is included in the continuing
resolution is exactly that funding that we put out there every year to
make sure this farm bill is provided on time.
It could not be more important than this year, when not only are our
farmers and ranchers fighting COVID but
[[Page S5800]]
when they are fighting low commodity prices, challenges in the world of
trade in their being targeted by China, fighting challenges of tough
weather, and on top of that, COVID. So, again, we have to be there for
them.
I thank the Members of the Senate and the House who worked very hard
on this and the farm group, and I am going to kind of run through this
whole roster here in a minute.
Before I do that, I turn to the senior Senator from South Dakota--our
whip here in the Senate and somebody who has worked on behalf of
agriculture his whole life--and ask him for a few of his comments.
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I say to my colleague from North Dakota how
much we appreciate his leadership. He is a relentless advocate for the
farmers and ranchers of North Dakota and across this country. We share
a border, but we also have a lot of commonality in the people whom we
represent. They are hard-working people who work from dawn to dusk to
feed not only this country but the world.
It has been no easy task being in agriculture during these last few
years for lots of reasons, as my colleague from North Dakota has
pointed out, whether it be from, of course, most recently, COVID, but
also from chronically low and depressed commodity prices, coupled with
bad weather, coupled with trade disputes, and difficulties with markets
here and around the world. Farmers and ranchers have had a tough and
difficult road these past few years, so it is critically important that
we continue to be there for them.
As my colleague from North Dakota pointed out, there was a concern
because what we had heard initially would be in the continuing
resolution that was coming over from the House--that will fund the
government and that we will pass, hopefully, later this week in the
Senate--was not going to include funding for agriculture and for all of
those programs that keep ag running that we authorized in the farm
bill.
A key Member of the House Agriculture Committee, Senator Boozman, of
Arkansas, who is also a key member of that committee--in fact, he is
somebody we hope to be the next chairman of that committee--and the
current chairman of our authorizing committee, Senator Roberts, of
Kansas, who, I think, will be down here in just a few minutes, all
played an important role, along with the ag community. All of the
organizations that Senator Hoeven is going to talk about engaged right
away when they realized what was happening, and we were able to work
together to solve that.
Now we will consider on the floor of the Senate the continuing
resolution to fund the government that does include funding for the
Commodity Credit Corporation, which provides the funds that keep all of
those agricultural programs that we authorize when we do a farm bill.
The last farm bill was in 2018, and we were all involved with that. It
would keep all of those programs funded, and that is critically
important. It has never been more important than it is right now in our
coming out of the pandemic. Food security is an absolutely essential
priority. It should be for our country, and it certainly should be for
the Members of Congress in both the House and the Senate.
I thank my colleague Senator Hoeven. As I said, he is a strong,
strong voice for our agricultural producers. When he and I and those
from Arkansas and Kansas and Nebraska--those of us from farm country--
work together and put together coalitions at times like this, it is
only due to that advocacy we have heard from Senator Hoeven and others
that has enabled us to be successful.
I am glad that we have gotten the right outcome here, and it is
something to celebrate. Obviously, our farmers and ranchers across the
country are going to be, I think, enormously grateful that we have been
able to get this problem resolved.
I thank the Senator for his leadership, and I look forward to
continuing to work with my colleagues on those issues that are
important in farm country that will help our farmers and ranchers not
only survive but, hopefully, prosper into the future.
Mr. HOEVEN. I thank the Senate's majority whip for all of the work he
has done.
Again, he works for farmers day in and day out. He comes from South
Dakota, which is a strong farming and big ranching State. He was
instrumental in this effort, not only by his joining us last week in
the colloquy but then by engaging in the negotiations as part of our
leadership time, along with our majority leader, who held fast on this.
I have to tell you that, as we negotiated back and forth with the
House, our leadership--Senator McConnell, Senator Thune, and others--
held strong in saying: No, this is something that must be in the
continuing resolution. Also, the administration--the President and the
White House--was involved in this negotiation and held fast on this as
well.
This is one of the last pieces of the puzzle to come into place, but
it is so very important that we have gotten it. As I say, we had seven
Senators down on the floor last week who were talking about it, and
those seven Senators were led by our Ag chairman, and I will I ask him
to make a few comments as well.
Again, let me thank those other Senators who have joined and will
join us--Senator Thune, from whom you just heard; Senator Boozman, from
whom you will hear in just a minute; Senator Ernst, of Iowa; Senator
Fischer, of Nebraska; and Senator Hyde-Smith, of Mississippi. All have
strong ag backgrounds. I mean, they are people who not only work on
behalf of agriculture but who are involved in agriculture. They are not
just here, advocating for it--they live it. It is a great group.
They have also reached out to so many in the House, to the farm
groups, to the commodity groups, and to the ag groups, which I will
talk a little bit more about later.
Let me turn to our Ag chairman, who, though still a relatively young
man, has been in the House and the Senate for many years and has always
been a tireless advocate for agriculture. He is a marine--once a marine
always a marine. Semper Fi. He brings that attitude--that marine, you
know, ``never turn back and never let up'' attitude--and makes sure
that he does everything he can on behalf of our farmers and ranchers.
I yield to the chairman.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.
Mr. ROBERTS. I thank the distinguished Senator for his comments. I
appreciate the shout-out for the U.S. Marine Corps and to all of us who
are marines.
The Marine Corps taught me one thing, and that was that I could
always do more than I thought I could. This is a good example of what
happens when we work together as a team--when we work with our
colleagues across the aisle--when we see a real problem that has come
up.
This was a situation for which I wanted to express my gratitude to
all of the Members who joined together to provide certainty and
predictability. This is what we sold the farm bill on--certainty and
predictability. We had a situation that we faced, and it was really
difficult to understand how this came about, but that is not the news
today. The news today is good news in that we reached a compromise and
found agreement to replenish the CCC, the Commodity Credit Corporation,
in the continuing resolution, absent some of the barbed wire that was
in there.
I especially want to thank more than 40 agriculture organizations,
and I have the letter right here. I know both Senators who are in
attendance here, as well as Senator Thune and everybody concerned, are
aware of it. It is to Majority Leader McConnell, Speaker Pelosi, Leader
Schumer, and Leader McCarthy. It is from 47 different farm
organizations and commodity groups that speak for, I think, virtually
every farmer, rancher, and grower in the country. So I give thanks to
the 47.
I ask unanimous consent to have printed at this point in the Record
this letter, dated September 15, 2020, from 47 farm organizations and
commodity groups
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[[Page S5801]]
September 15, 2020.
Hon. Mitch McConnell,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Nancy Pelosi,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Charles Schumer,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Kevin McCarthy,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Majority Leader McConnell, Speaker Pelosi, Leader
Schumer and Leader McCarthy: As Congress assembles a
continuing resolution to extend government funding, we
respectfully ask that you provide the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) with the resources necessary to continue
assisting American farmers and ranchers. To that end,
reimbursement for the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) must
be included in any measure to keep government operating past
the current fiscal year.
For decades, CCC has been regularly replenished to fund
programs integral to the farm safety net that Congress has
worked tirelessly to craft. Producers count on programs like
Agriculture Risk Coverage, Price Loss Coverage, Dairy Margin
Coverage, Marketing Assistance Loans, conservation programs,
and many others as they provide food, fuel and fiber for our
nation. Without immediate CCC reimbursement, payments and
programs would be significantly delayed, jeopardizing
operations across the country.
More than ever, farmers and ranchers need the certainty and
support provided by farm programs. Low commodity prices,
unjustified retaliatory tariffs, natural disasters, and a
global pandemic have placed a tremendous burden on farm
country. USDA's most recent farm income projections forecast
that cash receipts will be at their lowest level in more than
a decade. Coupled with rising farm debt and a decrease in
working capital, producers face challenges not experienced in
decades.
As the industry continues to endure hardships during this
unprecedented time, we urge you to include CCC reimbursement
in a continuing resolution. Thank you for your consideration
and continued efforts on behalf of American agriculture.
Sincerely,
Agricultural Retailers Association, Amcot, American Agri-
Women, American Cotton Producers, American Cotton Shippers
Association, American Dairy Coalition, American Farm Bureau
Federation, American Pulse Association, American Sheep
Industry Association, American Soybean Association.
American Sugar Alliance, Association of Equipment
Manufacturers, Cotton Growers Warehouse Association, Cotton
Warehouse Association of America, Crop Insurance
Professionals Association, National Association of Wheat
Growers, National Barley Growers Association, National
Cattlemen's Beef Association, National Corn Growers
Association, National Cotton Council.
National Cotton Ginners Association, National Council of
Farmer Cooperatives, National Farmers Union, National Milk
Producers Federation, National Sorghum Producers, National
Sunflower Association, Panhandle Peanut Growers Association,
Plains Cotton Growers, Inc., Produce Marketing Association,
Rural & Agriculture Council of America.
Society of American Florists, Southeastern Cotton Ginners
Association, Southern Cotton Growers, Southwest Council of
Agribusiness, U.S. Canola Association, U.S. Cattlemen's
Association, United Egg Producers, United States Peanut
Federation, US Rice Producers Association, USA Dry Pea &
Lentil Council, USA Rice, Western Peanut Growers Association.
Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. President, if we had not done this, it would have
resulted in delays in the 2018 farm bill programs--the one that we
passed here with 87 votes--and the ability farmers would have with the
risk management tools.
I would just simply point out that no matter what they grow or where
they live, farmers, ranchers, and growers have done their part to
ensure that our Nation's food, fiber, and fuel supplies continue
without disruption during these unprecedented times. They are counting
on the Department of Agriculture--and, for that matter, the Congress--
to deliver a range of agriculture, nutrition, conservation, and
forestry programs.
More than 50 of these programs--here is the list--were in danger
because of the uncertainty in replenishing the CCC funding and then due
to some of the add-ons with regard to policy being difficult to
understand. Well, they are easy to understand, but it is bad policy,
bad precedent.
We have put the Secretary of Agriculture in a very bad position in
that he has announced the specifics of this program. I would urge all
of my colleagues--more especially my colleagues across the aisle who
have expressed great concern as to what is in this latest program and
what isn't--to get on the phone, and I will get on the phone with the
Secretary. I know that Senator Boozman and Senator Hoeven will do the
same. We all have concerns as to how this is going to work, and that
has been true with all of the programs prior to this one. That is the
way to express our concern with regard to getting something done.
I do want to point out that my colleagues across the aisle, under the
banner of nutrition programs--the SNAP program in particular, school
lunches, et cetera--did point out that we had some real deficiencies
with regard to keeping our commitment to these programs, more
especially with COVID-19. I understand that, so that was included. That
is really what we are all about here--working in a bipartisan fashion
on behalf of farmers, ranchers, and growers in agriculture. That is
what we have always done on the committee.
I thank my distinguished ranking member, and I thank everybody who
brought this thing together.
As the chairman of this committee, we were successful. As I
indicated, in a bipartisan manner, we--87 Members of this Chamber--
voted in favor of this legislation. These were some of the programs
that were threatened: price loss coverage, agriculture risk coverage,
and marketing assistance loans. If you just go down the list of
everything farmers were depending on, all of a sudden, it was up in the
air. Why that was true I am not quite sure, but this shows the extent
of the damage that could have been done with the original request in
the CR without the CCC funding.
I ask unanimous consent to have printed at this point in the Record a
list of these programs that were in danger.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Programs Funded Through CCC
Price Loss Coverage; Agriculture Risk Coverage-County;
Agriculture Risk Coverage-Individual; Marketing Assistance
Loans; Economic Adjustment Assistance for Upland Cotton; ELS
Cotton; Payment Limitations and Actively Engaged (commodity
certs, separate peanut payment limit, marketing loan; Sugar
Loans; Electronic Warehouse Receipts; Dairy Margin Coverage.
Dairy Indemnity Payment Programs; Milk Donation Program;
Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program; Feedstock
Flexibililty Program; Biofuels Infrastructure Program;
Biobased Market Program; Biorefinery Assistance Program;
Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels; Rural Energy for
America Program; Export Credit Guarantee Program.
Agriculture Trade Promotion Program (Market Access;
Program, Foreign Market Development Program, Emerging Markets
Program, Technical Assistance for Conservation Reserve
Program; Agricultural Conservation Easement Program;
Conservation Stewardship Program; Voluntary Public Access and
Habitat Incentive Program; Environmental Quality Incentives
Program; Regional Conservation Partnership Program; Emergency
Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Livestock Forage
Disaster Program; Livestock Indemnity Program; Tree
Assistance Program.
Facility Guarantee Program; Food for Progress Program;
Quality Samples Program; The Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust;
Wool Apparel Manufacturers Trust Fund; Pima Cotton Trust
Fund; Citrus Trust Fund; APHIS efforts for emergency plant
and animal disease; Local Agriculture Market Program; Organic
Production and Market Data Initiatives.
Organic Agriculture Research and Extension; Small Watershed
Rehabilitation; Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot;
The Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program; Specialty
Crop Block Grant Program; Animal Disease Prevention and
Management Program; Wool Research and Promotion; Farming
Opportunities Training and Outreach; Beginning; Farmer and
Rancher Development Grant Program; Emergency Food Assistance
Program; Food for Peace Program.
Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. President, finding a bipartisan solution to
replenish the CCC and to provide much needed certainty and
predictability for all reasons, all crops, all farmers, and all
ranchers, I, again, appreciate the efforts of my colleagues and those
who represent them--the Nation's farmers, ranchers, growers, rural
stakeholders, everybody in rural and small-town America, and their
lenders, who could not believe what we were about to face with pulling
out the CCC funds with regards to the CR, or the continuing resolution,
to keep our government running and avoid a government shutdown.
So this agreement, the continuing resolution, represents a good step,
a good bipartisan step. I really appreciate that, although I must say
we didn't have to go down this road.
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There is a saying we have in Kansas that there are a lot cactus in
the world. We don't have to sit on every doggone one of them. And, boy,
we sat on this one, and we sat on it too long.
I want thank the staff, especially the Agriculture Committee staff,
representing all of our Members on the Ag Committee. They did
tremendous work, making sure the right policy was there, making sure
that at least the CCC was operating with the funds that they need to
operate during the middle of COVID-19, and, again, on behalf of all of
agriculture.
So I want to again thank Senator Hoeven for holding this discussion.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Hoeven). The Senator from Nebraska.
Mr. SASSE. Mr. President, before Chairman Roberts leaves, I just
wanted to come down and lend my voice to him and Senators Boozman,
Thune, and Hoeven, and to Chairman Roberts and his staff for his work,
and the Presiding Officer. Thank you for spelling me in the Chair
momentarily. Senator Hoeven and his team have done great work as well.
As Chairman Roberts just said, there was no reason to have gone down
this path and injected all of this partisan uncertainty, holding
farmers and ranchers and their communities and their lenders and their
welders and their truckers hostage over the last 48 hours. It served no
policy purpose, and it continues to diminish public trust in this
institution and our ability to serve our people.
So I just want to commend you and Senator Hoeven and your teams for
the work that you have done.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arkansas.
Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, we are here today to commend our
Republican leadership for forging a bipartisan compromise on a
continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown.
In particular, I am so pleased that we reached an agreement that
included full reimbursement to the Commodity Credit Corporation, which
we have all been talking about--not only agreement, but to take away
the potential of unnecessary delays in farm and conservation payments,
which are so important to our farmers.
For decades, the CCC has been routinely reimbursed without fanfare,
but, unfortunately, not so this year. Our farmers and ranchers have
faced more than enough challenges this year--extreme weather events,
low commodity prices, market volatility, a global pandemic, and the
list just goes on and on and on. They don't need Washington to make
things even more difficult
With passage of this bill, with the full CCC reimbursement, farm and
conservation program payments will go out as planned and will offer
farmers and ranchers a little more certainty and a little bit more
predictability to continue growing the food and fiber for this Nation--
not only for this Nation but for the world.
These important programs--like Ag Risk Coverage, Price Loss Coverage,
Market Assistance Loans, the Environmental Quality Incentive Program,
and others--were authorized in the 2018 farm bill that was supported
with an overwhelmingly bipartisan record number of votes in the Senate.
So I want to really just thank all of those involved in this effort.
They worked so, so very hard. A special thanks to Senator McConnell and
his staff and Chairman Roberts, whom we have with us now, who is
certainly the voice of ag in the Senate and in Congress. We are going
to miss him greatly, as he decides to step aside. And also to Senator
Hoeven and the great work that he did through the ag appropriations
part of this.
Then, as Senator Roberts mentioned, there are the staffs that worked
so, so very hard, and also the members of the Ag Committee who stepped
up and really shouldered the burden and just did a tremendous job in
really explaining to Congress and explaining to the public how
important this issue was and that we simply could not go forward
without getting it included.
Then we are here, and we fight. We are kind of the tip of the stick
and the spear in the ag community and worked really hard in that
regard. We simply couldn't get it done without the agriculture groups
that worked so, so very hard, again, in educating the farmers. They
understand how important this is, but, again, mobilizing them,
mobilizing the public so that we could have the great result that we
did.
I yield the floor.
Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I would like to thank the Senator from
Arkansas again for his diligence and hard work, and our Ag chairman.
I just want to wrap up with some thank-yous, as well, and it starts
with our Ag chairman, not only for his leadership on the farm bill but
then on making sure we fund these farm programs.
I tell you, it has been something that I know Senator Boozman agrees
with me on. We have learned a lot from him, and we appreciate it. It
has made a real difference for farmers and ranchers across this
country.
I want to thank, of course, all of the Senators that worked with us
on this project--I named them earlier--but our House Members too. We
reached out to Members of the House, whether it was the ranking member
on the Ag Committee, Representative Conaway, or whether it was
Representative Fortenberry. There are many others that reached out and
helped as well.
I agree. I want to thank our staff, led by Tony Eberhard, my chief,
and on the Agriculture side, by Morgan Ulmer and her whole crew,
Shannon Hines, and, of course, Richard Shelby, our leader on the
Approps side, and somebody whom you worked with for many, many years,
Mr. Chairman.
It takes all of these people working together. This was really
important, not just for the farm bill but for that disaster assistance,
the coronavirus food assistance funding that we are providing, as well,
which our farmers and ranchers need so very much as we go through this
COVID fight.
So let me just wrap up. This is something that the Ag chairman
brought up. I thought, as usual, right on. He said we wouldn't have
been able to get this done without the farm groups and the ranch groups
stepping up and calling their Member, whether it was their Senator or
their House Member.
Our chairman also already introduced this into the Record--the
letter--which was so important. But I am going to take just a minute
and read through those ag groups, if I could, as our way of finishing
up with a thank you.
I am just going to read through those 47 groups: Agriculture
Retailers Association, Amcot, American Agri-Women, American Cotton
Producers, American Cotton Shippers Association, the American Dairy
Coalition, American Farm Bureau Federation.
I have got to say that the American Farm Bureau Federation took a
real leadership role, so a special thanks there.
But thanks to all of these groups: American Pulse Association,
American Sheep Industry Association, American Soybean Association,
American Sugar Alliance, Association of Equipment Manufacturers, Cotton
Growers Warehouse Association; Cotton Warehouse Association of America,
Crop Insurance Professionals Association, National Association of Wheat
Growers, National Barley Growers Association, National Cattlemen's Beef
Association, National Corn Growers Association, National Cotton
Council, National Cotton Ginners Association, National Council of
Farmer Cooperatives, National Farmers Union, National Milk Producers
Federation, National Sorghum Producers, National Sunflower Association,
Panhandle Peanut Growers Association, Plains Cotton Growers, Produce
Marketing Association, Rural & Agriculture Council of America, Society
of American Florists, Southeast Cotton Ginners Association, Southern
Cotton Growers, Southwest Council of Agribusiness, U.S. Canola
Association, U.S. Cattlemen's Association, United Egg Producers, United
States Peanut Federation, US Rice Producers Association, USA Dry Pea &
Lentil Council, USA Rice, and Western Peanut Growers Association--all
representing farmers and ranchers.
They produce the highest quality, lowest cost food supply in the
world that benefits every single American, every single day.
With pleasure I yield, for the final words, to our esteemed chairman.
Mr. ROBERTS. I am not sure this is the final word. In the Senate of
the United States there is no final word, I would assume.
But this points out something that is just absolutely
understandable--common sense. When people ask me how on
[[Page S5803]]
Earth we got 87 votes together for a farm bill, with the tremendous
help of the ranking member, Senator Stabenow, it was pretty easy.
We were holding hearings, as both of the Senators know. And people
asked me: How do you get something like this done?
It is just a huge undertaking. You have to listen to farmers. You
have to sit on the wagon tongue and listen.
Well, this time we didn't have to sit on the wagon tongue and listen.
United, they said: What on Earth is going on? How did this proposal get
loose? In other words, keeping us out of the continuing resolution,
given the problems that we are having, what on Earth is going on?
And so it wasn't much of a surprise to any of us when farmers--every
one of them represented by the groups that the distinguished Senator
has just listed--said: Whoa. Wait a minute. We are getting left out.
I think the leader in a conference said something about, well, other
than the fact that we are treating agriculture and farmers like bums--I
mean, it was pretty clear what was going on, and it was terribly
counterproductive. I don't know how people come up with these things.
It is what it is.
But we listened to farmers. We got the job done. We cooperated. It
was bipartisan.
Some of the nutrition programs were addressed. It was a good news
story. We couldn't have done it, however, without the 47 groups that
sounded the alarm. And so we have been able to do it over a period of
about 3 or 4 or 5 days.
I thank everybody concerned. I think it is a good news story in the
end result.
Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. Chairman, I also want to add Terry Van Doren to that
list, who is here this morning on the floor. He worked tirelessly and
stood firm in the negotiations. So, Terry, thank you to you as well.
And, again, the final word, though, has to go--I think Senator
Boozman would agree with me--to our Ag chairman. Thanks so much
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sasse). The Senator from Illinois.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, let me at the outset join in with my
Republican colleagues. Coming from a farm State, I am glad that we have
a bipartisan continuing resolution until December 11.
I am saddened that we don't have the Appropriations Committee working
through its normal process, nor the Budget Committee. This is the world
we live in now--continuing resolutions. And this continuing resolution
does include money for the Commodity Credit Corporation, which is the
usual source of payments for agriculture programs agreed to in the farm
bill.
There was some question as to whether or not there was enough money
in the CCC account to take care for the months to come. Now there is no
question that it will be adequately funded. That is a positive thing.
I also am happy to report that the early press reports that we saw
suggesting CCC funds were actually going to be diverted to oil
companies--oil companies--was expressly prohibited as part of this
negotiation.
Understand what is behind this. These oil companies have benefited
from a decision by the Trump administration to give small refineries
waivers when it came to the blending of ethanol with their product. The
net result of that decision by the Trump administration was that a
large number of these small refineries were given waivers for blending,
and, as a result, the actual production of ethanol declined
dramatically. It is one of the major reasons that corn is grown and
sold. It is for that use, and it was diminished dramatically.
It was one of major reasons why, as the ethanol industry cratered,
that farm income in many States was cut in half from what it normally
has been.
In just the last few days, there has been an attempt to rectify the
situation, which should have been changed years ago, and rectifying it
to say that, once again, there will be blending of ethanol with
gasoline in the United States, which I support. And then someone
suggested, well, let's give an additional subsidy to the oil companies
from the Commodity Credit Corporation--a terrible idea from the start.
I am glad it is not included in this final product.
Let me mention one other part of this that is included that I think
bears notice, and that is the fact that there is an extension of the
school feeding program for the next school year.
We have an extraordinary situation with the COVID-19 pandemic where
many schools are not bringing kids into the classroom. Many of these
kids are being taught online across America. I know it because I know
my grandkids are going through this. For those who are in lower income-
qualifying categories, we have now extended in this continuing
resolution the accessibility of these school feeding programs for the
next school year. That is important. Kids, if they are going to learn,
have to have nutrition. We don't want them suffering from hunger in the
process in any way, shape, or form in this great Nation.
I want to salute not just the CCC, which has been lauded over and
over again in this last half hour, but this decision that my side of
the aisle was pushing for to extend school lunch and school feeding
programs into the next school year. I think it will give some peace of
mind to administrators who are trying to cope with the current
situation.