The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“SUPPORT FOR FARMERS AND RANCHERS” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E537 on March 14, 2007.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
SUPPORT FOR FARMERS AND RANCHERS
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HON. NANCY E. BOYDA
of kansas
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Mrs. BOYDA of Kansas. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the upcoming 2007 fiscal year supplemental appropriations bill.
Much of the debate on this bill has focused, quite rightly, on the provisions that codify President Bush's benchmarks for Iraq into law. That is an important subject that I plan to discuss in depth later this week.
But today I wish to focus on another element of this bill, one that is of vital importance to the farmers and ranchers of the Second District of Kansas.
America's agricultural industry is in the midst of a calamity. Fully 70 percent of U.S. counties were declared disaster areas by the Department of Agriculture in 2006. Believe it or not, this was an improvement from 2005, when 80 percent of all counties were declared disasters. In my home state of Kansas, every single county is suffering from disaster conditions.
It is hard to express the frustration of the farmers I speak to in my district. Many have worked the same acreage for decades, and they feel a profound connection to their land: They trust that, if they treat their land right, if they plow its soil and plant it carefully and tend it for the many months before harvest, it will reward them with enough crops to earn a living.
But lately, as disaster conditions have stretched out into every corner of Kansas, the land has betrayed our farmers and ranchers. William Norman, Jr., a farmer from Leavenworth County, is fighting to make ends meet now that his corn production has plummeted by two-
thirds. Frances Ford, a rancher in Coffey County, is struggling to feed her cattle off of only half of her ordinary hay yield.
These are good, hardworking people who put food on America's plates every single day. But their land has betrayed them--and sadly, Congress has betrayed them, too.
Despite the magnitude of the current agricultural catastrophe, Congress has failed to provide sufficient agricultural assistance. We have abandoned our farmers and ranchers to a massive and ongoing natural disaster.
The 2007 supplemental bill rights this wrong. It provides $3.7 billion in agriculture disaster relief, which will help Kansans continue to farm and ranch in spite of the ever-present threats of drought, fire, and other catastrophes.
Our farming and ranching communities needs a government that supports them during their most difficult hours. Now Congress has an opportunity to meet their needs, to serve as a steward of the agricultural industry.
A vote for the supplemental bill is a vote for our farmers and ranchers.
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