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Corn Growers call on Senate to support disaster assistance (Monday, Sept. 9, 2002 -- CropChoice news) -- Keith Dittrich, president of the American Corn
Growers Association (ACGA) and a corn farmer from Tilden Neb., today called
upon the United States Senate to support pending emergency legislation for
farmers and ranchers hard hit by natural disaster both in the 2001 and 2002 crop
years.
"Early this week, there will be a very important vote in the Senate which
concerns many farm families across the nation," said Dittrich. "ACGA urges -
actually, we demand - an affirmative vote on cloture, a procedural vote to
end a filibuster, on an amendment to the interior appropriations bill (S. 2708)
currently before the Senate. When sixty Senators vote 'Yea' on this
measure, we can then take an important step forward in providing essential relief to
drought stricken farm families."
The bipartisan drought disaster amendment offered last week by Senate
Majority Leader Daschle, D-S.D., and Senators Johnson, D-S.D., Burns, R-Mont.,
Baucus, D-Mont. and others is nearly identical to legislation that has passed
the Senate twice, first last November in economic stimulus legislation and,
second, earlier this year in the Farm Bill, but was opposed on both occasions by
the Administration and blocked by the House Republican leadership. The
prospects for adoption of this proposal remain uncertain because President Bush
continues to insist that the drought does not warrant emergency assistance.
"I hope that Congress and the President fully recognize the scope of this
disaster for agriculture," said Dittrich. "Recalling past historic droughts,
an old timer stated that the dirty thirties wouldn't have been so bad if it
hadn't been for the twenties, which was a long period of economic hardship for
family farmers. Similarly, in these times, farmers have suffered through
some of the worst economic conditions due to low market prices. This drought
couldn't have come at a worse time."
Last month, Dittrich delivered testimony before a Senate panel on the
disaster. That testimony may be found at
http://www.acga.org/news/2002/082002_2.htm
The American Corn Growers Association represents 14,000 members in 35
states. See http://www.acga.org . | |
