[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16734-16735]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             THE FARM BILL

  Mr. MERKLEY. Madam President, I rise today to address a critical 
issue for Oregon's farmers and ranchers.
  If we turn the clock back from the most recent national disaster; 
that is, this terrible Hurricane Sandy that impacted New York and New 
Jersey and other areas, last summer we had another significant 
disaster, the worst wildfires to hit the State of Oregon since the 
1800s and the worst wildfires in over a century. These wildfires 
devastated land and livestock. Yet our communities have been left 
stranded, without the protections they normally have, because of the 
inaction of the House and the Senate.

[[Page 16735]]

  The Long Draw Fire in Malheur County burned 557,000 acres. Let's 
translate that. That is 900 square miles of land. The Miller Homestead 
Fire burned 160,000 acres or 250 square miles.
  We have had many folks coming to the floor to discuss the terrible 
consequences of natural disasters. It was not long ago that I was on 
this floor, before Hurricane Sandy, calling for urgent, immediate 
action. But the challenge is that these emergency programs designed to 
respond to the ranchers and farmers who have lost so much land, so much 
forage in Oregon, those measures are in the farm bill.
  Never before has the farm bill been unfinished, unaddressed, while 
Congress took their month-long break in August. Yet there it is. We 
came back and here we are and we still have no action from the House. 
We can't have a conference committee because the House hasn't acted. We 
can't address the changes in the House bill because the House hasn't 
acted. And who is paying the price? Farmers and ranchers, devastated by 
the worst wildfires in over 100 years.
  Now, let me be clear. I would prefer that we pass the farm bill. But 
we have not. And we cannot control what the other Chamber is doing. If 
we do not get these key disaster relief programs, ranchers and farmers 
who have lost livestock or grazing land in these wildfires will be left 
with few options. That is wrong. A rancher in southeast Oregon who has 
already been devastated by the wildfire should not pay the price 
because the U.S. House of Representatives will not bring the farm bill 
to the floor. There are farmers all across the country who have been 
hit hard by drought. They, too, are held hostage. They need disaster 
assistance.
  Well, very soon we are going to be talking about a very substantial 
disaster bill, and it is appropriate that we will be doing so. I will 
be supporting it because the devastation that has been wrought in 
States such as New Jersey and New York is exceptional, and we as a 
nation need to hold hands with the citizens of these States. We need to 
help them restore their lives and rebuild. But we need to hold hands in 
partnership with the ranchers and farmers in Oregon who have been 
devastated by these wildfires as well.
  So if the House has not acted on the farm bill when we come to this 
floor to address relief for those impacted by Hurricane Sandy, then I 
am going to ask all my colleagues to work with me in the same 
partnership in which we supported folks in the South after Katrina, the 
same partnership we will have in supporting the folks in the Northeast 
due to the consequences of Hurricane Sandy, to support the ranchers and 
farmers of Oregon who have been so devastated by these worst ever 
fires.
  I yield the floor.
  Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. ISAKSON. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. ISAKSON. I defer to the lovely lady from Maryland.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland is recognized.

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