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“SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE DISPOSE OF REMAINING COMMODITIES IN DISASTER RESERVE” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H6190-H6191 on June 12, 1996.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE DISPOSE OF REMAINING
COMMODITIES IN DISASTER RESERVE
Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Agriculture be discharged from further consideration of the Senate concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 63) to express the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Agriculture should dispose of all remaining commodities in the disaster reserve maintained under the Agricultural Act of 1970 to relieve the distress of livestock producers whose ability to maintain livestock is adversely affected by disaster conditions existing in certain areas of the United States, such as prolonged drought or flooding, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.
The Clerk read the title of the Senate concurrent resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Lazio of New York). Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Nebraska?
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Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, I will not object, and I yield to the gentleman from Nebraska [Mr. Barrett] for an explanation of the Senate concurrent resolution.
Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska. Mr. Speaker, this is more or less a housekeeping chore, albeit a very important one. Senate Concurrent Resolution 63 is the Senate version of House Concurrent Resolution 181, which passed the House by voice vote on June 4. The Senate unanimously passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 63 on June 5. The Senate resolution is identical to the House resolution, as amended.
With this action today, we will officially send to Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman our desire for him to immediately release the 45 million bushels of feed grains held in reserve. The release of this grain will not solve the current crisis for cattlefeeders, but it will help and possibly be enough to get some through an extremely severe drought and save their operations.
Farmers who own livestock are being severely hard hit with the drought conditions, when coupled with a low point in the cattle cycle, and record high grain prices.
The grain in this disaster reserve, nearly 45 million bushels, is worth an estimated $200 million and would provide for all the cattle on feed in the affected States enough feed grain for over 2 weeks.
Passage of the resolution not only makes sense, it saves money. The Federal Government is currently spending $10 million a year to store this grain.
The Government should not be paying huge storage fees and holding grain from the marketplace when the United States is experiencing record low grain supplies.
This is an important concurrent resolution and I thank the leadership for providing for its swift consideration.
Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his explanation.
(Mr. STENHOLM asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of Senate Concurrent Resolution 63, which is nearly identical to the legislation passed by this body last week, House Concurrent Resolution 181, introduced by my colleagues on the Agriculture Committee, Mr. Barrett and Mr. Emerson, and cosponsored by a number of other Members.
As was noted last week, the Clinton administration has been working on a similar effort to make Government-owned feed grain stocks available to hard-pressed livestock producers. Secretary Glickman transmitted to the President a request last week for the declaration of a state of emergency to allow the Department of Agriculture to dispose of the feed grain stocks under USDA's control.
There is no doubt that there is a need to alleviate the stress facing producers in many parts of this country due to the severe drought in the Southern Plains and flooding and excessive rainfall in the Northern Plains and eastern Corn Belt. These natural disasters come at a time when grain stocks are at their lowest levels in decades causing record market prices and cattle producers are receiving even less for their animals than during the Great Depression based on inflation-adjusted dollars.
The release of this grain would be in addition to the actions already taken by the Clinton administration to help alleviate the stress in the livestock sector. These actions include: Release of Conservation Reserve Program acres for haying and grazing, extension of noninsured crop disaster assistance program coverage, extension of the Livestock Feed Program, the release of additional funds for emergency loans, advance purchases of beef for the school lunch program, and export credit guarantees for meat.
In my own State of Texas we are facing losses in the livestock and crop sectors in the billions of dollars. Sixty-two percent of our rangeland is rated as being in poor to very poor condition and dairy producers in Texas are facing a possible doubling of their normal feed costs due to the increases in the cost of feed and hay they must utilize to produce milk each day.
I would encourage my colleagues to support this resolution. The livestock sector in our country contributes billions of dollars to our economy and if we do not take actions to help stem the liquidation of herds now, we will pay the price later for rebuilding that infrastructure.
Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Lazio of New York). Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Nebraska?
There was no objection.
The Clerk read the Senate concurrent resolution, as follows:
S. Con. Res. 63
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring),
SECTION 1. USE OF DISASTER RESERVE FOR ASSISTANCE TO
LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS.
In light of the prolonged drought and other adverse weather conditions existing in certain areas of the United States, the Secretary of Agriculture should promptly dispose of all commodities in the disaster reserve maintained under section 813 of the Agricultural Act of 1970 (7 U.S.C. 1427a) to relieve the distress of livestock producers whose ability to maintain livestock is adversely affected by disaster conditions, such as prolonged drought of flooding.
The Senate concurrent resolution was concurred in.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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