[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 7341]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       INTRODUCTION OF THE CROP INSURANCE IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 1999

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                           HON. EARL POMEROY

                            of north dakota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 22, 1999

  Mr. POMEROY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Crop 
Insurance Improvement Act of 1999. I am honored to have Representative 
Thune, Representative Minge, and Representative Boswell joining me as 
original cosponsors of this comprehensive crop insurance reform 
proposal.
  The basis for this legislation is quite simple. Frankly, the current 
federal crop insurance program is broken and needs serious repair. Too 
many of our nation's farmers--especially in North Dakota--have suffered 
from severe weather disasters in recent years only to fall victim to a 
federal crop insurance program that does not protect them adequately. 
With so many producers being driven off the land because of 
uncontrolled circumstances caused by Mother Nature, the federal 
government must act quickly and thoroughly in enacting comprehensive 
crop insurance to allow our nation's farmers the opportunity to manage 
their risk. However, I caution that even though crop insurance reform 
is deperately needed, it is only the first step in reforming a safety 
net in American agriculture.
  The Crop Insurance Improvement Act of 1999 reforms the current 
program by encouraging the broadest possible participation of producers 
in the program and to ensure greater affordability of the program for 
producers. It reforms the current program by increasing the subsidy 
levels to encourage higher participation at the buy-up coverage levels, 
alleviating the impact of natural disasters on producers' actual 
production history (APH), assigning 100 percent transitional yields (T-
yield) for the newly acquired acreage and new crops, creates cost of 
production, rating methodologies, and livestock revenue insurance pilot 
projects, and restructuring the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation 
(FCIC) Board of Directors to better represent producers' interests.
  During the 106th Congress, I am hopeful that the crop insurance 
reform will occur. Both Congress and the Administration, have made crop 
insurance their number one priority in agriculture. In fact, Secretary 
Glickman coined 1999 as the ``year of the safety net.'' I look forward 
to working in a bipartisan manner with my colleagues in Congress to 
pass a comprehensive crop insurance reform bill. The Crop Insurance 
Improvement Act of 1999 is a step in that direction.

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