[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 19691]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                AGRICULTURE NATURAL DISASTER ASSISTANCE

  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I rise today to speak to an issue that is 
vital to agricultural producers in my State as well as across our 
Nation. That issue is agriculture natural disaster assistance. The 
relentless drought has brought economic hardship to both our 
agriculture producers and our rural communities. Farmers and ranchers 
in many different parts of the United States are suffering the effects 
of natural disasters.
  We must not and cannot continue to ignore the impacts of drought and 
the effect it has on our agricultural producers and our rural 
communities. Agricultural producers are every bit as deserving of 
assistance for their suffering from the drought as the small businesses 
suffering from the hurricanes.
  We as a nation have a responsibility to provide emergency assistance 
to those who have had losses due to natural disasters. I look forward 
to working with my colleagues to fulfill that responsibility, working 
to support a bill that provides critical emergency relief to our 
Nation's agricultural producers. After what I hope will be a healthy 
debate on this important issue, I ask that a vote be taken on the bill.
  Too often, the argument is made that farmers and ranchers should be 
satisfied with the funding they will receive from the farm bill. The 
truth is that only 18 percent of the total funding in the farm bill 
goes directly to producers. The rest goes to very important programs, 
such as Food Stamps and the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program. 
Nothing in the farm bill was ever intended to cover losses due to 
natural disasters. It is only intended to cover economic losses.
  The same way we use emergency funds to help individuals and rebuild 
communities hurt by hurricanes and tornadoes, we should use emergency 
funds to help individuals and rebuild our communities hurt by drought.

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