[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 1744]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     FREEZING WEATHER IN CALIFORNIA

  (Mr. McCARTHY of California asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. McCARTHY of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk of the 
severe damage that the recent freezing weather in the Central Valley 
and Central Coast has had on our crops.
  Mr. Speaker, Congress must do what we can to help the hardworking 
farmers and workers who were hit this past week with freezing weather 
and are predicted to have lost almost all their crops which feed our 
Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, California's fresh citrus industry is valued at over $1 
billion and provides 95 percent of the country's fresh citrus. Kern 
County alone, which I represent, produced over $350 million worth of 
citrus in 2005. While we do not know the full extent of the damage yet, 
over 75 percent of our citrus crops may have been lost.
  Also in my district is San Luis Obispo, where over $7 million worth 
of avocados were grown last year, this freeze could have ruined the 
next year's crops as well.
  My heart goes out to all my constituents who have spent sleepless 
nights trying to save their crops. I applaud Governor Arnold 
Schwarzenegger, who has already declared a state of emergency in Kern 
and San Luis Obispo and eight other counties. My California colleagues 
and I have already sent a letter to the Agriculture Secretary.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask this Congress to speed all Federal disaster 
assistance they can to California farmers and workers.

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