[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10980]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    DISASTER ASSISTANCE FOR FARMERS

  (Mr. POMEROY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POMEROY. Mr. Speaker, a preceding speaker noted the supplemental 
bill just passed. I want to speak about an aspect left out of this 
supplemental bill because of the actions of the majority.
  Any assistance for farmers outside of the gulf region who suffered 
disaster losses in the 2005 production year were left out of the 
disaster bill. Supported by a bipartisan majority in the Senate, left 
out on a party-line vote in the House.
  Our Nation's farmers have provided this majority and this President 
with plenty of help over the years, and they certainly deserve better 
than to have the President of the United States issue his first veto 
threat on a disaster bill that helped farmers when natural disasters 
took their crops.
  They, instead, provided just for hurricane, farmers who lost during 
the hurricane. Well, look, maybe a drought does not have a name, maybe 
a flood does not have a name, but when you have a natural disaster and 
it wipes out our farmers, they deserve help from our government. That 
is how you keep family farmers in business, and it is a darn shame the 
Republicans stopped it in this bill.

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