[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 26 (Monday, July 5, 1993)]
[Pages 1212-1213]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Exchange With Reporters Prior to a Meeting With Secretary of Agriculture 
Mike Espy

 July 1, 1993

Flooding in the Midwest

    Q. What are you going to do to help the people on the river, sir?
    The President. That's what Secretary Espy and I were just talking 
about. We don't have enough money in the discretionary emergency fund to 
meet the rather massive losses that a lot of these farmers are facing. 
And so I expect he will come to me with some legislation in the fairly 
near future when we have a sense of what the total dimension of the loss 
was in the corn crop, the soybean crop, and what the other problems are. 
And he is just briefing me now on what he's seen and where we are. It's 
a very, very serious thing for the farmers, though. It's the most rain 
they've had in over 100 years. Right?
    Q. Have any idea what the loss would be, I mean, in money?
    The President. Well, he's going to brief me as soon as he knows. I 
think we'll have to watch it. The corn crop is very stunted because of 
the rain, and this is soybean planting time and coming to the end of it. 
So there's not a dramatic turnaround in conditions. You saw them drain 
off the water during--[inaudible]--the soybean crop on a lot of that 
land.
    Q. So would there be a disaster declaration, sir, at some point?
    The President. We're going to work out exactly what we have to do. 
It appears that in order to deal with the losses, we'll have to go back 
to the Congress. I do not believe there are sufficient funds in the 
discretionary emergency accounts that I have to deal with it. So I think 
that we'll be going back. And as the Secretary puts together the 
package, then obviously he'll share it with you as soon as we know.

[[Page 1213]]

Note: The exchange began at approximately 11 a.m. in the Oval Office at 
the White House. A tape was not available for verification of the 
content of this exchange.