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“SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT THE PRESIDENT SHOULD RECOMMEND ACTIONS FOR RELIEVING VICTIMS OF HURRICANE FLOYD” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H11330-H11338 on Nov. 2, 1999.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT THE PRESIDENT SHOULD RECOMMEND ACTIONS FOR
RELIEVING VICTIMS OF HURRICANE FLOYD
Mrs. FOWLER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 349) expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should immediately transmit to Congress the President's recommendations for emergency response actions, including appropriate offsets, to provide relief and assistance to the victims of Hurricane Floyd.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Res. 349
Resolved,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
The House of Representatives finds the following:
(1) Hurricane Floyd made landfall on the coast of North Carolina on September 15, 1999, as a category two hurricane.
(2) In the State of North Carolina alone, the hurricane caused the deaths of at least 50 individuals, damage to more than 40,000 homes, and billions of dollars in infrastructure damage and agricultural losses.
(3) Citizens of the States of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut have registered for Federal disaster relief aid as a result of Hurricane Floyd.
(4) More than 6 weeks after this disaster, the citizens of these States continue to await critical assistance from the Federal government to rebuild their homes, businesses, and lives.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
It is the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should immediately transmit to Congress the President's recommendations for emergency response actions, including appropriate offsets, to provide relief and assistance to the victims of Hurricane Floyd.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Fowler) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Traficant) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Fowler).
Mrs. FOWLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, this bill notes that the President should immediately transmit to Congress the President's recommendations for emergency response actions, including appropriate offsets, to provide relief and assistance to the victims of Hurricane Floyd.
On September the 14th, 1999, the State of Florida was staring Hurricane Floyd right in the face. Floyd was at that time packing winds of over 140 miles an hour. It was almost three times the size of Hurricane Andrew, which devastated southern Florida in 1992.
We should be thankful that Hurricane Floyd weakened and caused much less damage than initially seemed likely. But that is of little solace, however, to the victims of the heavy rains that Floyd delivered all along the East Coast.
In Florida alone, thousands of residents have registered for disaster assistance. They are among the tens of thousands of flood victims from Florida to Connecticut who need our assistance and need it quickly. However, before Congress can make certain that enough assistance is available, we need the President's estimate of how much additional money is required to meet the needs of these suffering individuals.
Unfortunately, the administration does not seem to think that this is an urgent matter. This resolution should change his mind. Now, if the President does not intend to propose any additional assistance because he believes no further aid is necessary, then we need to hear that. But I can tell my colleagues, based on what I know, we will need additional aid; and I would hope the executive branch, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, can help us figure out an appropriate amount of assistance so that we can get the ball rolling.
The flooding caused by Floyd has victimized too many people. Let us not victimize them again. I urge support for this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble); and pending that, I ask unanimous consent that the gentleman from North Carolina be permitted to control this time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentlewoman from Florida?
There was no objection.
Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton).
Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, Hurricane Floyd was the worst natural disaster in the history of our State, North Carolina. Six weeks after the flood waters reached the roof tops of almost 50,000 homes, destroying more than 6,500 homes, an excess of 72,000 North Carolina citizens have now applied to FEMA for help.
{time} 1715
That is why I am a cosponsor of this resolution. We need the President to step up to the plate, and he has. We need the Congress to step up to the plate, and we have. But existing FEMA and Department of Agriculture resources are not enough. More is needed if North Carolina is to recover and then rebuild.
While I support this resolution and commend the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Taylor) for introducing it, I want to disassociate myself with some parts of it.
The resolution calls for the findings of offsets to fund the immediate need of hurricane victims. Such a requirement is inconsistent with the focus of current discussion about providing help. Both Congress and the President must work together, cooperate and pass emergency supplemental legislation. Mr. Speaker, we all know that emergency legislation does not require offsets. Moreover, emergency legislation does not require the President to act, but the Congress can act.
The people of North Carolina face major modifications in life as they have known it. Families have been uprooted. Farmers have been disrupted. Homeowners and business owners have been displaced. They need our help now, not in January. So we need the President and the Congress to work together to make sure that we pass emergency legislation for the people of North Carolina and other States affected by the recent disasters.
Let us take that step together with the administration. Let us do it without offsets. We do not need offsets. So let us pass this resolution to remind us that this is emergency funding that we need. And this really is not a matter of politics. This really is a matter of responding to an emergency.
Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise today, Mr. Speaker, in support of this resolution. Between September 14 and 17 of this year, Hurricane Floyd ravaged the East Coast, depositing 18 inches of rain on sections of North Carolina, which had not yet begun to recover from the damages brought by Hurricane Dennis only 2 weeks earlier.
It is my understanding, Mr. Speaker, that over 72,000 North Carolinians have registered for Federal disaster assistance. Yet 6 weeks after the disaster, the 11 States that were declared disaster areas continue to await Federal aid.
The Congress is not equipped nor tasked with the responsibility of assessing and estimating natural disasters. This is the job of the executive branch in conjunction with the States. As such, we depend on its expertise when trying to respond to tragedies of this nature, and that is what has brought us here today. President Clinton visited North Carolina almost 5 weeks ago and promised our folks there that, We would help them every step of the way. Well, Mr. Speaker, our folks are still waiting for this help.
The resolution before us today requests that the President immediately transmit to Congress the President's recommendations for emergency response actions, including appropriate offsets, to provide relief and assistance to the victims of Hurricane Floyd. I certainly hope this request does not fall upon deaf ears, because the individuals victimized by this disaster are desperately waiting for our help.
Now, on the issue of offsets, some folks up here, Mr. Speaker, call me a Johnny-One-Note when it comes to the subject of imprudent spending. But when I look at the natural disasters that have plagued our Nation in the last few years, I become frustrated that we have such a difficult time helping our own folks but can find billions of dollars to send overseas for matters such as Kosovo.
Now, I think Kosovo spending is appropriate to mention regarding this resolution, because funds which have already been spent for the Kosovo effort would likely address the needs of the thousands of suffering eastern North Carolinians. But, unfortunately, that fiscal horse is out of the barn. In the future, I hope that we in the Congress, and President Clinton, will carefully and deliberately approach involvement in foreign conflicts prior to spending American taxpayer monies imprudently and recklessly.
As many people know, I was an ardent opponent of our involvement in Kosovo from the very beginning. And this operation, which has cost $6.5 billion, not including what we spent for operations in Bosnia and Haiti, would have adequately addressed the needs of the people of North Carolina, and most of those in other disaster-designated areas along the Eastern Seaboard.
If our government, Mr. Speaker, and I hate to be this critical, but if our government would behave like most American families and save for a rainy day, we would not be standing here 6 weeks after the disasters have wiped out eastern North Carolina begging the President to send us his request. But here we are. And I hope and pray, Mr. Speaker, that before the next 6 weeks pass, the Clinton administration will send us a package so that we can evaluate it and assist our citizens who so desperately need our help.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, I do not want to let this opportunity pass without expressing thanks to the United States Coast Guard for the outstanding job they did. Right now these men and women are working day and night on search and recovery operations resulting from the downing of Egypt Air Flight 990. During Hurricane Floyd, Mr. Speaker, Coast Guard men and women risked their lives to rescue people across eastern North Carolina. And not unlike other Members in this body, I believe this great service that they provide to our country is often overlooked, and I want to recognize that to that end.
I hope, Mr. Speaker, that this Hurricane Floyd problem can be resolved quickly and appropriately.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price).
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, let me first express gratitude to the administration and to the Congress for the actions already taken to relieve the suffering of the victims of Hurricane Floyd and to help rebuild North Carolina and other affected States.
Our people are getting help, and I want to specifically thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh) and the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Mollohan) for their work to replenish FEMA's disaster account in the VA-HUD appropriations bill to make sure emergency aid will not be delayed. I want to thank the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Skeen), the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur), and Secretary Glickman for their work to ensure that our farm families get a fair share of the limited disaster assistance in the agriculture appropriations bill. And we are deeply grateful for the dedication FEMA administrator James Lee Witt has demonstrated in service to our people.
The problem is that the Agriculture Department's and FEMA's existing programs are not sufficient to the present need. Not everyone is being helped, and not everyone is getting the level of help that they need.
This Congress has no business adjourning without finishing the job of addressing the immediate needs created by this disaster, and I want to do all I can to make sure the Federal Government does its part, as we have with other disasters in the past.
We in Congress need to work in cooperation with the administration to help the victims of Hurricane Floyd get back on their feet, rebuild, and recover from their losses. In doing so, we can restore their faith in the future.
The administration and Governor Jim Hunt have been working together to meet North Carolina's needs within existing programs to the maximum extent possible. In the process, they are reaching hard conclusions about what additional funding and authority will be necessary to meet the challenge in North Carolina and other States. I have strongly encouraged the President to expedite this process, for North Carolina and the other States, and to recommend to Congress the legislation necessary to respond. I am an optimist. I believe the administration and Congress will in fact cooperate and will in fact finish this job.
I must say, though, that I have reservations that this resolution seems to create a new orthodoxy in the House that no supplemental or emergency appropriation is in order unless requested by the President. That simply is not so.
In May, in fact, the House passed a supplemental appropriations bill that included $4.75 billion for the Department of Defense that the President did not request. We approved $332 million in agricultural funds that included livestock disaster assistance, housing repair, and flood operations, all items similar to what we are seeking for Floyd victims, and not one dime of that was asked for by the President. We included $1.3 billion in FEMA aid, including funds for the unmet need accounts, although the President requested no unmet needs program. The FEMA disaster relief item included $528 million more than the President had asked for. In total, the Congress approved more than $5 billion in excess of the administration's request. And by the same token, the Congress declined to appropriate many items that the President did recommend.
My point, Mr. Speaker, is simple. Congress is not bound by the President's recommendations; neither is Congress prohibited from acting on a need prior to a presidential request. The House Committee on Appropriations did act in late September, at my request, to approve
$508 million that the administration had not yet requested for Hurricane Floyd relief for farmers in the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill, and OMB subsequently endorsed that proposal. It is still unclear to me why the congressional leadership chose to strip those funds from that bill, which was cleared for the President this morning by the other body.
So I hope this resolution is not intended to create a new requirement of a presidential request for disaster funding. This is a straitjacket the House has appropriately avoided in the past. It is one we should avoid with the Hurricane Floyd disaster and disasters in the future.
Mr. Speaker, I choose to interpret this resolution as simply affirming that Congress and the President need to work together to respond to the suffering of the victims of Hurricane Floyd and to help rebuild the States that suffered Floyd's wrath. I hope that by passing this resolution we can get past any differences and move forward together to finish the job of assisting the victims of this terrible disaster.
Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, may I ask of the Chair the amount of time I have remaining.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaHood). Both sides have 13\1/2\ minutes remaining.
Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from New Jersey (Mrs. Roukema).
Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time; and, Mr. Speaker, I want to point out that, as has already been indicated, there has been a terrible toll from Florida to North Carolina to New Jersey and beyond. Families have suffered dreadfully, even those beyond the television camera lenses.
Mr. Speaker, I want to say in strong support of this resolution that Hurricane Floyd wreaked havoc upon the Atlantic Seaboard with a path of destruction that included 11 States, yet 6 weeks since the disaster we are still awaiting Federal aid. That has already been outlined.
I want to stress here and bring to the attention not only of the House but to the President that I have introduced, along with the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton) and many other Members, legislation to provide FEMA grants to small businesses and farms that have been affected by this disaster. It would be a one-time grant, but one that is absolutely essential now for those poor farmers and those poor small businessmen who have exceeded any loan possibilities.
I hope that this will be taken into consideration and it will be recognized that the President can come forward as soon as possible with a range of pieces of help that would include this one-time grant relief that the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton) and I have proposed.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 349, expressing the sense of the House that the President immediately inform Congress of his plans to respond, with appropriate offsets, to the emergency created by Hurricane Floyd.
My Colleagues, as I rise in this House this afternoon, it is raining--and raining hard--once again in North Carolina. I want my colleagues to know how deeply we feel for the flood-ravaged people in eastern and central North Carolina. We must not diminish their suffering, nor the attention they so richly deserve.
But, Mr. Speaker, not all of Floyd's damage shared the spotlight of national attention. This storm took a terrible, hidden, toll in communities far from the television camera lens. From Florida to North Carolina to New Jersey and beyond!
All four of my counties in northern New Jersey suffered some damage as a result of Floyd. The worst damage was in Bergen County--in northeastern New Jersey. Rivers and streams overflowed their banks and submerged whole neighborhoods and business districts. Dams burst. Bridges washed out. Roads were damaged. Municipal buildings and police stations were inundated. The drinking water system was compromised. And the telephone infrastructure was paralyzed for several days due to flooding at a key switching facility in Rochelle Park.
Newspaper reports just this morning pin the public and private damage from Floyd at around $400 million in Bergen County alone.
Mr. Speaker, Hurricane Floyd wreaked havoc up and down the Atlantic seaboard leaving a path of destruction, death and despair. Eleven states have registered for federal disaster aid. But in the six weeks since the disaster, many still await federal aid.
It is obvious from damage assessments that much more aid than currently exists will be needed. The President must come together with Congress and respond to this unprecedented disaster in a fiscally responsible manner.
Mr. Speaker, small businesses and farms are the backbone of the economic life of many of our communities. Federal assistance only in the form of loans is available for these hard working families and many can not afford to take on the extra financial burden.
I also want to bring to attention of this House and the President that I have introduced legislation, along with Congresswoman Clayton and many other Members, to provide FEMA grants to small businesses and farms that have been affected by this disaster. It is our intent that this is a one-time grant for a one-time disaster. Our bill would:
Make FEMA grants available up to $20,000 to replace non-insured contents and inventory or repairs as a result of a disaster.
Grants would only be available to small business owners and farmers for emergency needs for a period of 90 days after the Presidents declares a natural disaster.
Small businesses and agricultural enterprises would only be allowed one grant and would not be eligible for grants for any subsequent disaster.
Any business accepting a grant must purchase and maintain flood insurance.
Any business accepting a grant can not use the grant to relocate outside of the community except for federally approved mitigation purposes.
Our bill will be an important component of the relief package for victims of Hurricane Floyd and I strongly urge the President to come forward as soon as possible with a responsible and broad-based response to the disaster that includes this grant relief caused by Hurricane Floyd.
Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge).
(Mr. ETHERIDGE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)
{time} 1730
Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of thousands of North Carolinians that were devastated by Hurricane Floyd and the floodwaters that followed. It is simply wrong that the lives of these victims have been caught up in this year-end game being played out over the budget.
The lesson here is clear: If they are going to have a disaster, have it early in the appropriations process or risk being thrown around like a hot potato.
I am going to support this resolution today because I believe the administration has a responsibility to come forward with recommendations for a relief package, and I have personally written the President and asked him to do so. But I cannot help but wonder if this resolution is just another rhetorical shot in the Republican leadership's war with the White House over the budget.
We all know we do not have to wait on the President to begin the process. The governor of North Carolina, working closely with FEMA Director James Lee Witt and other Federal agencies, has provided Congress a strong and critical disaster package. We ought to be using that package to move the process forward.
We do not have to wait for the President. We do not work for the President. We work for the people. I have looked into the eyes of people who have lost everything, Mr. Speaker. The wife who lost her husband, the farmer who lost his crop, the thousands of men, women and children who have lost every possession that they own simply do not have the time for the petty politics being played out here in Washington. They do not care whether it is the President, the Congress, or Santa Claus who brings them relief. They just know they need it and they need it now.
People who are wearing borrowed clothes, who are living in temporary trailers, who are out of work, who have lost their businesses, their possessions, and in some cases at least 50 of their loved ones, these people do not care who proposes, they do not care who disposes. All they care about is getting help that they need to get back on their feet.
I am going to support this resolution. This symbolic gesture is fine and good, but the victims of these disasters need more than symbols. They need money, and they need it now. We need to do more than talk about passing resolutions. We need to act. We need to work together, the President and Congress, to make the future a little brighter for the people of North Carolina and the other States who have lost so much.
I, for one, am committed to working with all of my colleagues, Democrats, Republicans and the administration, to craft and pass a disaster relief package that we can all be proud of.
Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Myrick).
Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution and requesting the President to get his request down here to Congress so we can act.
People in North Carolina are really hurting badly. We have heard this before, but I was down there the last couple of days going throughout the area and people are living in homes because they have nowhere else to go that are full of mold. They are starting to get bad respiratory infections. The farmers that are just totally devastated do not know which way to turn or where they are going to go to get help. This story goes on and on. It does not matter what county they are in.
I kept hearing the phrase, ``You never seem to have any trouble sending the money overseas to those foreign countries. Why in the world can't you seem to get some down here to help us?'' And that is kind of hard to explain.
So I, again, am here in support of this resolution and hope that we can move quickly on this, because people's lives are on hold. They are literally just waiting for some help.
Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, might I inquire about the balance of time?
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaHood). Each side has 11 minutes remaining.
Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur), a dynamic woman.
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the dynamic ranking member for yielding me this time.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to rise in support of this resolution, with full knowledge that the resolution itself is harmless. It basically says we hope the President will work with us on this, but the truth is that this Congress several times this year has had the opportunity to appropriate the money to help the victims in North Carolina, the farmers who have suffered drought related losses all across this country, and we have consistently failed to do that every month.
In fact, in the bill that our committee has responsibility for, the appropriations bill, our committee was dismissed and never called back as Members waited to offer amendments to deal with the serious situation in North Carolina, and the bills that passed in prior weeks here have not accommodated the full range of losses across this country.
So, in a way, I guess it is good to shift the buck up the street, but the truth is that we in the Congress have the power, we have had the power, and there was no reason for our committees to be discharged of their duties.
So those of us who have been to many of these regions recognize the huge losses that exist out there both in life, limb, and property. And it is unconscionable that this Congress would be fiddling around in the closing days of this first session of the 106th Congress in passing a resolution that has no money attached to it when in fact we have had several opportunities to do that.
I would just say to the gentleman from North Carolina, I hope that he would agree to regular order and that the committees of jurisdiction be allowed to act and to meet the needs of the Nation as this resolution is brought forward.
I would also like to enter into the Record the lopsided picture of what is wrong with the bills that have been passed prior this year that do not fully deal with the loss situation affecting regions across this country, not just those that have been affected by Hurricane Floyd, but regions that have truly suffered from drought and economic loss all across rural America. We actually let a two-legged dog get through here and passed it a few weeks ago, but it certainly does not deal with the range of losses across our country.
News From Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur
lopsided farm bill: what's wrong with this picture?
The lopsided $8.7 billion fiscal 2000 Agricultural Appropriations relief bill fails to link the major share of assistance to farmer hardship or loss. It provides only $1.2 billion for natural disaster relief across our entire nation. It does not include needed funds for hurricane losses in North Carolina. Yet it then targets $5.5 billion in Agricultural Market Transition Act (AMTA) payments to certain farmers with $1.2 billion of these payments going to just five Congressional Districts. Forty percent of all AMTA payments--$2.2 billion--will be distributed in only five states: Iowa, Texas, Illinois, Nebraska and Kansas.
Five Congressional Districts get as much money in AMTA payments as is available for the entire nation for natural disaster assistance. These AMTA payments will not go to farmers who lost their crops. They go to people who signed production contracts with USDA three years ago based on the average of acreage planted between 1991 and 1995, even though some of them are no longer even actively involved in farming. And this $5.5 billion is added on top of $3 billion in similar payments that were made last year. Taxpayers are now paying more to assist farmers with economic losses than they were before Freedom to Farm was passed in 1996.
Some of us tried to argue that money should be targeted towards those farmers who have suffered the greatest losses. That means starting with the people who have had their entire crops wiped out by drought or Hurricane Floyd, regardless of what they produce.
You may remember hearing during debate that Congress had to pass this bill because ``we can't delay payments to farmers.'' Yet the Republican-led Congress has delayed this bill all year long as rural America faces crisis. Natural disaster victims and those who suffered real losses should be the people who are first in line. This bill does them no justice.
Rather, the first to receive the largest share of taxpayer-borne benefits are individuals who planted and harvested a crop for which they are being paid under ``Freedom to Farm''. Some people who are no longer actively involved in farming at all will receive payments. These are the people who can expect their check just two weeks after this bill is signed into law, while those who may have lost everything will have to wait! Even then, producers who may have lost everything will get only cents on the dollar, while others who did not suffer natural disasters will get a doubling of payments for crops they harvested or didn't have to plant.
And because of the prejudice in the bill against livestock, dairy, specialty crop and non-feed grain production, some farmers who suffered huge economic losses will receive almost nothing.
Fatal flaws exist with our farm disaster response mechanism. Crop insurance either doesn't provide the right coverage, or in the case of many fruit, vegetable, and livestock producers it doesn't provide any coverage. And while the assistance Congress did provide will certainly be helpful to some, since there isn't enough money to go around, the first applicant doesn't get a penny until the last application is processed. Continuing federal bailouts for failed farm policy is not the solution. Farmers need help in moving value-added products to market. And antitrust laws need to be applied to agriculture to create a competitive playing field for farmers. This bill accomplishes none of these goals.
I and many of our colleagues in the Agricultural Appropriations Conference were prepared to offer amendments to try to begin to address the real dimensions of the crisis. We were never given the chance. We were sent away while a few members handpicked by the majority leaders negotiated this bogus deal without consultation with members of the conference committee or with USDA. And they produced a lopsided deal whereby some of the largest, most profitable farms will be among the bill's biggest beneficiaries. Philip Brasher, the AP Farm Writer notes, ``an individual farm could claim up to $460,000 in subsidies a year--double the current restriction,'' and the bill ``creates a new loophole for producers to get around'' any cap. The Wichita Eagle quoted one farmer who said ``I probably would have made it without the relief, but I am sure glad to get it.''
Agriculture is vital to our nation and to world trade. Farmers deserve a fair price for their production, and I certainly agree that farm prices are so low that many producers may be forced out of business without some help. That principle applies from the largest wheat producer to the smallest blueberry producer, from the grandest corn farm to the smallest livestock feed lot. Farmer should not be pitted against farmer, or commodity against commodity. That is the grossest violation of the spirit of Freedom to Farm, along with its exorbitant rising costs.
Every person should know more about what it takes to produce the food that we find in our grocery stores, our restaurants, our school cafeterias, our hospitals, and our homes. If it wasn't for the farmer, many more than just Old Mother Hubbard would find their cupboards are bare. I urge all of my colleagues to demand that equity be restored to our farm programs. Our first resolution of the new millennium should be using food policy to build a sustainable future, not a politically expedient deal.
PRODUCTION FLEXIBILITY CONTRACT (PFC) AND MARKET LOSS ASSISTANCE PAYMENTS (MLA) AS OF OCTOBER 12, 1999
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State 1996 PFC 1997 PFC 1998 PFC 1998 MLA 1999 PFC
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Alabama.................................................. 40,467,520 38,637,285 39,652,395 19,680,513 38,391,391
Alaska................................................... 113,113 95,744 154,628 75,909 142,563
Arizona.................................................. 48,636,715 41,342,850 42,505,051 20,979,038 41,248,942
Arkansas................................................. 270,218,405 255,665,945 269,503,828 133,470,899 261,207,857
California............................................... 214,426,465 194,536,442 200,724,584 99,587,621 194,572,135
Colorado................................................. 99,060,318 101,549,848 96,113,822 47,737,482 92,403,334
Connecticut.............................................. 657,596 1,277,726 966,990 480,786 898,918
Delaware................................................. 4,078,892 5,767,472 4,656,452 2,314,615 4,531,736
Florida.................................................. 7,674,380 8,611,463 8,218,456 4,055,333 7,938,618
Georgia.................................................. 78,967,887 78,301,242 78,636,870 38,960,173 76,801,353
Idaho.................................................... 88,020,599 66,870,229 69,767,907 34,591,091 68,048,964
Illinois................................................. 336,934,970 591,872,146 468,976,183 233,055,424 453,786,170
Indiana.................................................. 167,654,680 292,306,113 231,267,914 114,828,722 223,747,809
Iowa..................................................... 350,204,031 680,482,273 535,614,804 266,154,282 519,964,728
Kansas................................................... 422,164,508 416,585,321 398,275,458 197,861,866 386,393,943
Kentucky................................................. 44,131,781 69,425,501 58,096,735 28,869,581 56,318,672
Louisiana................................................ 142,444,729 136,690,573 142,032,423 70,385,588 137,002,688
Maine.................................................... 635,174 1,095,546 881,945 436,922 841,779
Maryland................................................. 13,191,365 19,553,845 15,820,657 7,855,606 15,362,962
Massachusetts............................................ 418,824 803,624 624,087 310,149 573,344
Michigan................................................. 77,447,224 122,137,888 98,680,357 48,964,748 94,661,227
Minnesota................................................ 261,553,161 383,872,571 325,271,980 161,603,801 314,081,476
Mississippi.............................................. 141,277,996 128,368,053 134,540,137 66,671,827 130,768,145
Missouri................................................. 153,285,922 191,717,004 177,033,330 87,876,328 172,221,428
Montana.................................................. 161,753,555 120,285,965 128,284,315 63,688,586 123,519,045
Nebraska................................................. 303,285,725 490,124,795 400,684,537 199,131,540 388,298,130
Nevada................................................... 1,292,856 975,910 966,266 480,632 892,455
New Hampshire............................................ 298,590 579,581 443,156 220,246 416,553
New Jersey............................................... 2,282,197 3,506,792 2,799,291 1,392,834 2,614,370
New Mexico............................................... 20,730,461 22,034,510 20,138,880 9,985,810 19,262,720
New York................................................. 23,103,691 38,975,280 30,722,830 15,255,562 29,335,341
North Carolina........................................... 59,249,242 70,831,744 63,870,858 31,699,576 61,452,996
North Dakota............................................. 309,725,393 245,064,378 247,571,781 123,043,118 241,086,814
Ohio..................................................... 124,604,065 193,394,113 157,377,107 78,207,627 152,049,988
Oklahoma................................................. 186,662,781 144,934,642 151,801,266 75,381,123 145,750,351
Oregon................................................... 45,904,919 34,101,905 36,906,952 18,316,880 35,452,257
Pennsylvania............................................. 17,640,039 30,342,086 23,856,680 11,844,120 22,706,512
Rhode Island............................................. 22,996 42,700 32,620 16,219 31,167
South Carolina........................................... 29,480,189 31,484,492 29,833,675 14,814,764 28,697,339
South Dakota............................................. 151,823,144 183,138,057 161,761,468 80,363,059 157,964,862
Tennessee................................................ 54,024,748 58,275,295 56,163,498 27,921,231 54,463,897
Texas.................................................... 487,910,686 499,061,577 489,390,775 242,987,274 471,675,111
Utah..................................................... 8,220,349 7,087,833 7,528,915 3,743,473 7,190,709
Vermont.................................................. 1,023,526 1,945,013 1,494,511 742,676 1,435,527
Virginia................................................. 19,540,254 25,449,752 21,871,161 10,838,183 20,927,048
Washington............................................... 116,986,240 87,803,692 93,801,146 46,568,383 89,011,067
West Virginia............................................ 1,631,977 2,813,180 2,228,698 1,107,232 2,117,358
Wisconsin................................................ 86,504,956 159,860,721 125,601,573 62,437,805 120,841,099
Wyoming.................................................. 9,062,684 8,587,674 8,607,507 4,283,253 8,187,045
==============================================================================================
Total................................................ 5,186,431,518 6,288,268,390 5,661,756,462 2,811,279,510 5,477,289,938
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This page was created by Bradley Karmen on June 24, 1999 and updated on October 13, 1999.
EXPECTED MARKET LOSS PAYMENTS FOR FY 1999
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1999
Representative, State, and District Supplemental
Payment
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ackerman, Gary L.: NY--05............................... $21,000
Aderholt, Robert B.: AL--04............................. 4,736,000
Allen, Thomas H.: ME--01................................ 165,000
Andrews, Robert E.: NJ--01.............................. 465,000
Archer, Bill: TX--07.................................... 2,454,000
Armey, Richard K.: TX--26............................... 4,318,000
Bachus, Spencer: AL--06................................. 710,000
Baird, Brian: WA--03.................................... 1,291,000
Baker, Richard H.: LA--06............................... 3,502,000
Baldacci, John Elias: ME--02............................ 771,000
Baldwin, Tammy: WI--02.................................. 40,091,000
Ballenger, Cass: NC--10................................. 1,642,000
Barcia, James A.: MI--05................................ 27,292,000
Barr, Bob: GA--07....................................... 663,000
Barrett, Bill: NE--03................................... 306,519,000
Barrett, Thomas M.: WI--05.............................. 30,000
Bartlett, Roscoe G.: MD--06............................. 2,927,000
Barton, Joe: TX--06..................................... 4,188,000
Bass, Charles F.: NH--02................................ 450,000
Bateman, Herbert H.: VA--01............................. 4,412,000
Becerra, Xavier: CA--30................................. 46,000
Bentsen, Ken: TX--25.................................... 2,454,000
Bereuter, Doug: NE--01.................................. 122,501,000
Berkley, Shelley: NV--01................................ 12,000
Berman, Howard L.: CA--26............................... 46,000
Berry, Marion: AR--01................................... 173,946,000
Biggert, Judy: IL--13................................... 6,111,000
Bilbray, Brian P.: CA--49............................... 19,000
Bilirakis, Michael: FL--09.............................. 10,000
Bishop, Sanford D., Jr.: GA--02......................... 37,418,000
Blagojevich, Rod R.: IL--05............................. 322,000
Bliley, Thomas J., Jr.: VA--07.......................... 2,066,000
Blumenauer, Earl: OR--03................................ 186,000
Blunt, Roy: MO--07...................................... 5,260,000
Boehlert, Sherwood, L.: NY--23.......................... 3,882,000
Boehner, John A.: OH--08................................ 24,549,000
Bonilla, Henry: TX--23.................................. 11,776,000
Bonior, David E.: MI--10................................ 2,072,000
Bono, Mary: CA--44...................................... 2,039,000
Boswell, Leonard L.: IA--03............................. 99,245,000
Boucher, Rick: VA--09................................... 1,004,000
Boyd, Allen: FL--02..................................... 3,681,000
Brady, Kevin: TX--08.................................... 6,740,000
Brady, Robert A.: PA--01................................ 43,000
Brown, Corrine: FL--03.................................. 66,000
Brown, George E., Jr.: CA--42........................... 2,000
Brown, Sherrod: OH--13.................................. 3,970,000
Bryant, Ed: TN--07...................................... 10,386,000
Burr, Richard M.: NC--05................................ 1,646,000
Burton, Dan: IN--06..................................... 27,257,000
Buyer, Stephen E.: IN--05............................... 75,152,000
Callahan, Sonny: AL--01................................. 4,750,000
Calvert, Ken: CA--43.................................... 2,039,000
Camp, Dave: MI--04...................................... 20,415,000
Campbell, Tom: CA--15................................... 45,000
Canady, Charles T.: FL--12.............................. 107,000
Cannon, Chris: UT--03................................... 1,607,000
Capps, Lois: CA--22..................................... 653,000
Capuano, Michael: MA--08................................ 31,000
Cardin, Benjamin L.: MD--03............................. 950,000
Carson, Julia: IN--10................................... 484,000
Castle, Michael N.: DE--00.............................. 5,070,000
Chabot, Steve: OH--01................................... 196,000
Chambliss, Saxby: GA--08................................ 17,046,000
Chenoweth, Helen: ID--01................................ 19,658,000
Clay, William (Bill): MO--01............................ 331,000
Clayton, Eva M.: NC--01................................. 38,531,000
Clement, Bob: TN--05.................................... 1,543,000
Clyburn, James E.: SC--06............................... 18,359,000
Coble, Howard: NC--06................................... 1,164,000
Coburn, Tom A.: OK--02.................................. 6,003,000
Collins, Mac: GA--03.................................... 264,000
Combest, Larry: TX--19.................................. 105,448,000
Condit, Gary A.: CA--18................................. 36,180,000
Conyers, John, Jr.: MI--14.............................. 93,000
Cook, Merrill: UT--02................................... 188,000
Cooksey, John: LA--05................................... 66,373,000
Costello, Jerry F.: IL--12.............................. 18,249,000
Coyne, William J.: PA--14............................... 24,000
Cramer, Robert E. ``Bud'', Jr.: AL--05.................. 11,791,000
Crane, Philip M.: IL--08................................ 1,032,000
Cubin, Barbara: WY--00.................................. 7,583,000
Cummings, Elijah E.: ME--07............................. 627,000
Cunningham, Randy ``Duke'': CA--51...................... 19,000
Danner, Pat: MO--06..................................... 45,003,000
Davis, Danny K.: IL--07................................. 322,000
Davis, Jim: FL--11...................................... 7,000
Davis, Thomas M. III: VA--11............................ 117,000
Deal, Nathan: GA--09.................................... 527,000
DeFazio, Peter A.: OR--04............................... 1,019,000
DeGette Diana: CO--01................................... 4,092,000
Delahunt, William D.: MA--10............................ 53,000
DeLauro, Rosa L.: CT--03................................ 82,000
DeLay, Tom: TX--22...................................... 13,123,000
DeMint, Jim: SC--04..................................... 254,000
Dickey, Jay: AR--04..................................... 45,782,000
Dicks, Norman D.: WA--06................................ 30,000
Dingell, John D.: MI--16................................ 2,979,000
Dixon, Julian C.: CA--32................................ 46,000
Doggett, Lloyd: TX--10.................................. 1,161,000
Dooley, Calvin M.: CA--20............................... 60,371,000
Doolittle, John T.: CA--04.............................. 7,295,000
Doyle, Michael F.: PA--18............................... 24,000
Dreier, David: CA--28................................... 46,000
Duncan, John J., Jr.: TN--02............................ 655,000
Dunn, Jennifer: WA--08.................................. 25,000
Edwards, Chet: TX--11................................... 15,052,000
Ehlers, Vernon J.: MI--03............................... 6,444,000
Ehrlich, Robert L., Jr.: MD--02......................... 1,287,000
Emerson, Jo Ann: MO--08................................. 55,413,000
Engel, Eliot L.: NY--17................................. 2,000
English, Philip: PA--21................................. 2,557,000
Eshoo, Anna G.: CA--14.................................. 45,000
Etheridge, Bob: NC--02.................................. 9,917,000
Evans, lane: IL--17..................................... 108,911,000
Everett, Terry: AL--02.................................. 9,623,000
Ewing, Thomas W.: IL--15................................ 107,926,000
Farr, Sam: CA--17....................................... 610,000
Fattah, Chaka: PA--02................................... 43,000
Filner, Bob: CA--50..................................... 19,000
Fletcher, Ernest L.: KY--06............................. 3,394,000
Foley, Mark: FL--16..................................... 445,000
Forbes, Michael P.: NY--01.............................. 21,000
Ford, Harold E., Jr.: TN--09............................ 1,405,000
Fowler, Tillie K.: FL--04............................... 21,000
Frank, Barney: MA--04................................... 185,000
Franks, Bob: NJ--07..................................... 341,000
Frelinguysen, Rodney P.: NJ--11......................... 393,000
Frost, Martin: TX--24................................... 4,835,000
Gallegly, Elton: CA--23................................. 19,000
Ganske, Greg: IA--04.................................... 65,138,000
Gejdenson, Sam: CT--02.................................. 687,000
Gekas, George W.: PA--17................................ 3,319,000
Gephardt, Richard A.: MO--03............................ 1,267,000
Gibbons, Jim: NV--02.................................... 863,000
Gilchrest, Wayne T.: MD--01............................. 11,664,000
Gillmor, Paul E.: OH--05................................ 44,141,000
Gilman, Benjamin A.: NY--20............................. 556,000
Gonzalez, Henry B.: TX--20.............................. 770,000
Goode, Virgil H., Jr.: VA--05........................... 2,496,000
Goodlatte, Robert W. (Bob): VA--06...................... 1,249,000
Goodling, William F.: PA--19............................ 2,888,000
Gordon, Bart: TN--06.................................... 2,091,000
Graham, Lindsey O.: SC--03.............................. 1,496,000
Granger, Kay: TX--12.................................... 1,075,000
Green, Gene: TX--29..................................... 2,454,000
Green, Mark: WI--08..................................... 17,297,000
Greenwood, James C.: PA--08............................. 539,000
Gutierrez, Luis V.: IL--04.............................. 322,000
Gutknecht, Gilbert W.: MN--01........................... 97,092,000
Hall, Ralph M.: TX--04.................................. 11,117,000
Hall, Tony P.: OH--03................................... 1,579,000
Hansen, James V.: UT--01................................ 4,837,000
Hastert, J. Dennis: IL--14.............................. 45,115,000
Hastings, ``Doc'': WA--04............................... 28,952,000
Hastings, Alcee L.: FL--23.............................. 376,000
Hayes Robin: NC--08..................................... 8,925,000
Hayworth, J.D.: AZ--06.................................. 25,592,000
Hefley, Joel: CO--05.................................... 1,295,000
Herger, Wally: CA--02................................... 20,518,000
Hill, Baron: IN--09..................................... 29,108,000
Hill, Rick: MT--00...................................... 106,649,000
Hilleary, Van: TN--04................................... 4,900,000
Hilliard, Earl F.: AL--07............................... 4,488,000
Hinchey, Maurice D.: NY--26............................. 2,440,000
Hinojosa, Ruben: TX--15................................. 27,749,000
Hobson, David L.: OH--07................................ 31,685,000
Hoeffel, Joe: PA--13.................................... 231,000
Hoekstra, Peter: MI--02................................. 9,600,000
Holden, Tim: PA--06..................................... 2,779,000
Holt, Rush: NJ--12...................................... 1,219,000
Hooley, Darlene: OR--05................................. 1,973,000
Horn, Stephen: CA--38................................... 46,000
Hostettler, John N.: IN--08............................. 32,629,000
Houghton, Amo: NY--31................................... 7,728,000
Hoyer, Steny H.: MD--05................................. 690,000
Hulshof, Kenny C.: MO--09............................... 36,451,000
Hunter, Duncan: CA--52.................................. 3,957,000
Hutchinson, Asa: AR--03................................. 672,000
Hyde, Henry J.: IL--06.................................. 569,000
Inslee, Jay: WA--01..................................... 158,000
Isakson, John: GA--06................................... 5,000
Istook, Ernest J., Jr.: OK--05.......................... 14,878,000
Jackson, Jesse L., Jr.: IL--02.......................... 322,000
Jenkins, William L.: TN--01............................. 748,000
John, Christopher: LA--07............................... 51,089,000
Johnson, Eddie Bernice: TX--30.......................... 546,000
Johnson, Nancy L.: CT--06............................... 632,000
Johnson, Sam: TX--03.................................... 2,558,000
Jones, Stephanie Tubbs: OH--11.......................... 2,000
Jones, Walter B., Jr.: NC--03........................... 26,186,000
Kanjorski, Paul E.: PA--11.............................. 2,570,000
Kaptur, Marcy: OH--09................................... 11,899,000
Kasich, John R.: OH--12................................. 6,496,000
Kelly, Sue W.: NY--19................................... 683,000
Kennedy, Patrick J.: RI--01............................. 13,000
Kildee, Dale E.: MI--09................................. 4,526,000
Kilpatrick, Carolyn C.: MI--15.......................... 93,000
Kind, Ron: WI--03....................................... 38,628,000
Kingston, Jack: GA--01.................................. 6,959,000
Kleczka, Gerald D.: WI--04.............................. 1,677,000
Klink, Ron: PA--04...................................... 1,447,000
Knollenberg, Joe: MI--11................................ 355,000
Kolbe, Jim: AZ--05...................................... 15,779,000
Kucinich, Dennis J.: OH--10............................. 2,000
Kuykendall, Steven T.: CA--36........................... 46,000
LaFalce, John J.: NY--29................................ 5,126,000
LaHood, Ray: IL--18..................................... 90,297,000
Lampson, Nick: TX--09................................... 14,232,000
Largent, Steve: OK--01.................................. 844,000
Larson, John B.: CT--01................................. 342,000
Latham, Tom: IA--05..................................... 227,822,000
LaTourette, Steven C.: OH--19........................... 902,000
Lazio, Rick A.: NY--02.................................. 21,000
Leach, James A.: IA--01................................. 56,471,000
Lee, Barbara: CA--09.................................... 109,000
Lee, Sheila Jackson: TX--18............................. 2,454,000
Levin, Sander M.: MI--12................................ 839,000
Lewis, Jerry: CA--40.................................... 2,000
Lewis, John: GA--05..................................... 0
Lewis, Ron: KY--02...................................... 15,105,000
Linder, John: GA--11.................................... 872,000
Lipinski, William O.: IL--03............................ 322,000
LoBiondo, Frank A.: NJ--02.............................. 972,000
Lofgren, Zoe: CA--16.................................... 45,000
Lowey, Nita M.: NY--18.................................. 2,000
Lucas, Frank D.: OK--06................................. 88,953,000
Lucas, Kenneth: KY--04.................................. 3,007,000
Luther, William (Bill): MN--06.......................... 5,540,000
Maloney, James H.: CT--05............................... 57,000
Manzullo, Donald A.: IL--16............................. 34,750,000
Markey, Edward J.: MA--07............................... 31,000
Martinez, Matthew G.: CA--31............................ 46,000
Mascara, Frank: PA--20.................................. 1,120,000
Matsui, Robert T.: CA--05............................... 4,716,000
McCarthy, Karen: MO--05................................. 653,000
McCollum, Bill: FL--08.................................. 5,000
McCrery, Jim: LA--04.................................... 10,064,000
McDermott, Jim: WA--07.................................. 24,000
McGovern, James P.: MA--03.............................. 283,000
McHugh, John M.: NY--24................................. 3,553,000
McInnis, Scott: CO--03.................................. 4,517,000
McIntosh, David M.: IN--02.............................. 39,744,000
McIntyre, Mike: NC--07.................................. 8,277,000
McKeon, Howard P. ``Buck'': CA--25...................... 46,000
McKinney, Cynthia A.: GA--04............................ 2,000
McNulty, Michael R.: NY--21............................. 2,075,000
Meehan, Martin T.: MA--05............................... 198,000
Menendez, Robert: NJ--13................................ 164,000
Metcalf, Jack: WA--02................................... 475,000
Millender-McDonald, Juanita: CA--37..................... 46,000
Miller, Dan: FL--13..................................... 10,000
Miller, Gary G.: CA--41................................. 48,000
Miller, George: CA--07.................................. 2,802,000
Minge, David: MN--02.................................... 157,170,000
Moakley, John Joseph: MA--09............................ 155,000
Mollohan, Alan B.: WV--01............................... 311,000
Moore, Dennis: KS--03................................... 2,837,000
Moran, Jerry: KS--01.................................... 288,220,000
Morella, Constance A.: MD--08........................... 764,000
Murtha, John P.: PA--12................................. 3,058,000
Myrick, Sue: NC--09..................................... 456,000
Napolitano, Grace F.: CA--34............................ 46,000
Neal, Richard E.: MA--02................................ 310,000
Nethercutt, George R., Jr.: WA--05...................... 56,771,000
Ney, Robert W.: OH--18.................................. 8,354,000
Northup, Anne M.: KY--03................................ 85,000
Norwood, Charles: GA--10................................ 6,626,000
Nussle, Jim: IA--02..................................... 146,148,000
Oberstar, James L.: MN--08.............................. 11,425,000
Obey, David R.: WI--07.................................. 17,486,000
Olver, John W.: MA--01.................................. 527,000
Ortiz, Solomon P.: TX--27............................... 21,226,000
Ose, Doug: CA--03....................................... 83,019,000
Oxley, Michael G.: OH--04............................... 33,503,000
Packard, Ron: CA--48.................................... 2,057,000
Pallone, Frank, Jr.: NJ--06............................. 369,000
Pastor, Ed: AZ--02...................................... 29,177,000
Paul, Ron: TX--14....................................... 69,843,000
Pease, Edward A.: IN--07................................ 38,639,000
Peterson, Collin C.: MN--07............................. 88,817,000
Peterson, John E.: PA--05............................... 4,442,000
Petri, Thomas E.: WI--06................................ 28,236,000
Phelps, David D. IL--19................................. 87,637,000
Pickering, Charles W. ``Chip'': MS--03.................. 5,964,000
Pickett, Owen B.: VA--02................................ 504,000
Pitts, Joseph R.: PA--16................................ 1,223,000
Pombo, Richard W.: CA--11............................... 9,099,000
Pomeroy, Earl: ND--00................................... 215,998,000
Porter, John Edward: IL--10............................. 1,032,000
Portman, Rob: OH--02.................................... 5,381,000
Price, David E.: NC--04................................. 549,000
Pryce, Deborah: OH--15.................................. 10,123,000
Quinn, Jack: NY--30..................................... 736,000
Radanovich, George P.: CA--19........................... 36,953,000
Rahall, Nick J. II: WV--03.............................. 381,000
Ramstad, Jim: MN--03.................................... 9,556,000
Regula, Ralph: OH--16................................... 8,156,000
Reyes, Silvestre: TX--16................................ 300,000
Riley, Bob: AL--03...................................... 1,440,000
Rivers, Lynn Nancy: MI--13.............................. 2,491,000
Rodriguez, Ciro D.: TX--28.............................. 9,099,000
Roemer, Timothy J: IN--03............................... 17,020,000
Rogan, James E.: CA--27................................. 46,000
Rogers, Harold: KY--05.................................. 1,173,000
Roukema, Marge: NJ--05.................................. 813,000
Roybal-Allard, Lucille: CA--33.......................... 46,000
Royce, Edward R.: CA--39................................ 46,000
Rush, Bobby L.: IL--01.................................. 322,000
Ryun, Paul D.: WI--01................................... 24,892,000
Rynn, Jim: KS--02....................................... 42,948,000
Sabo, Martin Olav: MN--05............................... 761,000
Salmon, Matt: AZ--01.................................... 13,350,000
Sanders, Bernard: VT--00................................ 1,717,000
Sandlin, Max: TX--01.................................... 5,476,000
Sanford, Marshall ``Mark'': SC--01...................... 1,742,000
Sawyer, Thomas C.: OH--14............................... 1,888,000
Saxton, Jim: NJ--03..................................... 385,000
Scarborough, Joe: FL--01................................ 2,876,000
Schaffer, Bob: CO--04................................... 86,039,000
Schakowsky, Janice D.: IL--09........................... 322,000
Scott, Robert C. (Bobby): VA--03........................ 4,193,000
Sensenbrenner, F. James, Jr.: WI--09.................... 18,653,000
Sessions, Pete: TX--05.................................. 3,860,000
Shadegg, John B.: AZ--04................................ 13,350,000
Shaw, E. Clay, Jr.: FL--22.............................. 301,000
Shays, Christopher: CT--04.............................. 6,000
Sherman, Brad: CA--24................................... 46,000
Sherwood, Don: PA--10................................... 1,853,000
Shimkus, John: IL--20................................... 79,277,000
Shows, Ronnie: MS--04................................... 2,309,000
Shuster, Bud: PA--09.................................... 5,905,000
Simpson, Michael ID--02................................. 41,001,000
Sisisky, Norman: VA--04................................. 7,566,000
Skeen, Joe: NM--02...................................... 4,963,000
Shelton, Ike: MO--04.................................... 26,246,000
Slaughter, Louise McIntosh: NY--28...................... 1,158,000
Smith, Adam: WA--09..................................... 25,000
Smith, Christopher H.: NJ--04........................... 811,000
Smith, Lamar S.: TX--21................................. 14,064,000
Smith, Nick: MI--07..................................... 26,628,000
Snyder, Vic: AR--02..................................... 6,536,000
Souder, Mark E.: IN--04................................. 25,241,000
Spence, Floyd: SC--02................................... 9,003,000
Spratt, John M., Jr.: SC--05............................ 9,916,000
Stabenow, Debbie: MI--08................................ 11,060,000
Stark, Fortney Pete: CA--13............................. 154,000
Stearns, Cliff: FL--06.................................. 159,000
Stenholm, Charles W.: TX--17............................ 43,100,000
Strickland, Ted: OH--06................................. 14,739,000
Stump, Bob: AZ--03...................................... 16,155,000
Stupak, Bart: MI--01.................................... 2,370,000
Sununu, John E.: NH--01................................. 194,000
Sweeney, John E.: NY--22................................ 3,029,000
Talent, James M.: MO--02................................ 2,495,000
Tancredo, Tom: CO--06................................... 1,175,000
Tanner, John S.: TN--08................................. 33,250,000
Tauscher, Ellen O.: CA--10.............................. 387,000
Tauzin, W.J. (Billy): LA--03............................ 1,010,000
Taylor, Charles H.: NC--11.............................. 677,000
Taylor, Gene: MS--05.................................... 507,000
Terry, Lee: NE--02...................................... 7,830,000
Thomas, William M.: CA--21.............................. 30,032,000
Thompson, Bennie G.: MS--02............................. 96,319,000
Thompson, Mike: CA--01.................................. 2,551,000
Thornberry, William M. ``Mac'': TX--13.................. 12,273,000
Thune, John R.:......................................... 161,394,000
Thurman, Karen L: FL--05................................ 684,000
Tiahrt, Todd: KS--04.................................... 40,109,000
Tierney, John F.: MA--06................................ 60,000
Toomey, Pat: PA--15..................................... 1,731,000
Traficant, James A., Jr.: OH--17........................ 2,250,000
Turner, Jim: TX--02..................................... 5,693,000
Udall, Mark: CO--02..................................... 3,185,000
Udall, Tom: NM--03...................................... 14,385,000
Upton, Fred: MI--06..................................... 16,655,000
Velazquez, Nydia: NY--27................................ 14,150,000
Vento, Bruce F.: MN--04................................. 4,849,000
Visclosky, Peter J.: IN--01............................. 5,842,000
Vitter, David: LA--01................................... 120,000
Walden, Greg: OR--02.................................... 25,203,000
Walsh, James T.: NY--25................................. 4,374,000
Wamp, Zach: TN--03...................................... 778,000
Waters, Maxine: CA--35.................................. 46,000
Watkins, Wes: OK--03.................................... 4,284,000
Watt, Melvin L.: NC--12................................. 1,558,000
Watts, J.C. Jr.: OK--04................................. 20,267,000
Waxman, Henry A.: CA--29................................ 46,000
Weldon, Curt: PA--07.................................... 827,000
Weldon, Dave: FL--15.................................... 165,000
Weller, Jerry: IL--11................................... 33,362,000
Wexler, Robert: FL--19.................................. 301,000
Weygand, Robert A.: RI--02.............................. 26,000
Whitfield, Edward: KY--01............................... 38,461,000
Wicker, Roger F.: MS--01................................ 21,805,000
Wilson, Heather: MN--01................................. 377,000
Wise, Robert E., Jr.: WV--02............................ 1,777,000
Wolf, Frank R.: VA--10.................................. 2,347,000
Woolsey, Lynn C.: CA--06................................ 27,000
Wu, David: OR--01....................................... 2,502,000
Wynn, Albert Russell: MD--04............................ 828,000
Young, Don: AK--00...................................... 84,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
May be slight variations due to CRP entrance and exits and payment
limitations. Prepared by House Agriculture Committee.
So I would say that this is a good step. It is a step, however, that needs to be trumped by Congress itself taking action to deal with the losses relating to Hurricane Floyd and other farm and rural related losses across the country.
Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Burr).
Mr. BURR of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from North Carolina for yielding me the time.
Dennis, Floyd, and Irene are not the list of newborn names but they are simply a list of hurricanes that devastated eastern North Carolina over the past 2 months. The brunt of the damage was leveled by Hurricane Floyd, leaving in its wake a destructive flood that damaged our State and is the worst that we have ever seen.
I ask my colleagues to stop for a minute the blame game and to concentrate on those individuals who live in eastern North Carolina, the individuals that have lost their home, lost their job, are living with friends or relatives or in a trailer, individuals who are still making a home mortgage on a house that does not exist and are being offered, hopefully, grants to rebuild. They are the ones that our hearts should go out to today and, hopefully, that this Federal Government is responsible to help.
Mr. Speaker, to echo the words of the President on September 17 and the days following the hurricane, he said, ``We're reminded that the power of the American spirit is even stronger than the power of a hurricane.''
Nothing could be more true. As the saying goes in our State, from Murphy to Manteo, the response for assistance has been overwhelming and it has come from every sector of our State. Whether it came from the banking centers in Charlotte or the churches and the civic club in cities in my district, no stone has been left unturned in our State to make sure that these people get assistance that they need to get back on their feet and return to a normal way of life.
Quoting the President again on a September 16 speech at FEMA headquarters, he said, ``I know I speak for all when I say we do not want them to feel alone. We want to do everything we possibly can to be a good, loyal, helpful neighbor to them and get them through this.''
Mr. Speaker, the citizens of our State have been the good, loyal neighbor the President spoke of. The officials on the ground, FEMA, and the other disaster agencies have been the helpful neighbor as well. It is time for the administration to step forward and be the good, loyal, helpful neighbor we expect of our Federal Government.
Every day that passes without a recommendation for emergency assistance is another day that the loneliness the President so sought to avoid only sets in as reality to storm victims of our State.
I thank the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Taylor) for bringing this resolution to the floor and especially thank the overwhelming support of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle and our delegation for this resolution.
It has been said that in international affairs partisanship stops at the water's edge. Based on the support of this resolution, it can also be said unequivocally that when a disaster of this magnitude strikes in our State, partisanship stops at our State borders.
Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. McIntyre).
(Mr. McINTYRE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. McINTYRE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Ohio for yielding me the time, and I thank all of my fellow North Carolinians on both sides of the aisle for working together to bring this resolution to the floor today.
When we think about just 46 days ago Hurricane Floyd hit the Tarheel State with 15 inches of rain in an area already saturated by Hurricane Dennis and then later, just in the last 2 weeks, to be hit again by a third, Hurricane Irene, we realize that this is a natural disaster truly of Biblical proportions when we talk about flooding, something that has been unseen in this Nation literally since the first settlers arrived, with the 50 lives lost and over 47,000 homes damaged, a thousand roads closed, schools, waste water treatment plants, farmers, our beaches, all of these areas affected in negative ways.
Governor Hunt of North Carolina has put together a very well done package to help this devastation, and he has worked with this administration to reduce the price tag of emergency requests to $17.6 billion. For that we are thankful.
We are thankful also for the hard work of the gentleman from New York
(Mr. Walsh), the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Mollohan), the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price), the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Taylor) and others who have worked on the Committee on Appropriations to help FEMA get the funding that it has received.
But my fellow colleagues here in the House, there is more that needs to be done. Our farmers need help. Our coastal communities need relief and protection. Our small businesses need aid.
Back in September, on the 29th of the month, all 12 members of our North Carolina delegation from both sides of the aisle asked the President to forward a relief package to Congress by October 15. Obviously, that request has not yet been met. But let us keep pushing together. Let us push the administration to get some of these needs met. And let us push ourselves to do the job.
Let us indeed do not play a blame game. But let us find a way, instead of to complain, a way to help each other.
Recently chosen as the greatest inventor of this century, Henry Ford once said that coming together is a beginning. And we have begun the process. And then he said keeping together is progress. And we have made some progress. But then he said that working together is success. And that is the challenge we have now, to work together with the White House, yes, and to work together here in the Congress, yes, that we allow both tracks to be running parallel, and that indeed we find a way not to find fault but we find a way to get the job done.
This is the people's House and we are here, first and foremost, to represent the people. People that come to America or that have grown up in America realize that, when they have lost their home, there is not anywhere that they can retreat to. They are looking to us to make the advance to help those who have lost so much.
May God grant us the wisdom and the will to find a way to work together and we will succeed.
Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, how much time do I have remaining?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble) has 8 minutes remaining.
Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hayes).
(Mr. HAYES asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. HAYES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina for yielding me the time.
Hurricane Floyd swept through North Carolina on September 15, 1999, over 6 weeks ago. In September of 1989, when Hurricane Hugo batted the Carolinas, President Bush requested disaster relief, and it was provided by the Congress in less than 2 weeks. Later, Hurricane Andrew devastated Florida and the Gulf States. Within 30 days a bill had been signed into action.
My colleagues, I am here to say today that this delegation from North Carolina has worked together tirelessly to bring the results and the help that North Carolina needs. They have worked around the clock, and we appreciate that. The private sector broadcasters had a telethon and raised millions of dollars. Personal calls have been made by Senators and House Members.
The private sector, FEMA, the Department of Agriculture, VA-HUD, this Congress has worked to bring aid and relief and money to North Carolina.
The missing ingredient now, Mr. Speaker, that we need is that bill from the White House that will help put the final piece to this puzzle together.
{time} 1745
As others have said, this is unprecedented. Fifty confirmed fatalities, thousands of displaced families, 30,000 flooded homes. I cannot help but remember on visits to North Carolina several weeks ago, the looks in the eyes of the people who had lost everything. The Jones family in Pitt County who had been thinking of their tobacco crop at 4 a.m. in the morning, worrying that the power would go out. They went to check, to see if the power was on and they found the water rising in their garage. From there it rose into their living room and on up it went. True, the Coast Guard ended up rescuing these people because of the water.
I have a picture here, Mr. Speaker. We have had instances in the past where crops were lost. But this flood was so bad that even the farm equipment was lost. We see a tractor underwater. The President can come to the table to meet this unprecedented need by putting forward a request for the additional emergency aid that is so essential. In Duplin County as I spoke to a farm family there, I have a sequence of pictures showing the water rising on their poultry houses. It rose, the birds got up on the edges of the house, finally they were all drowned. Unprecedented disaster.
We need the President to come forward with that piece which is an emergency supplemental bill that addresses the needs that have been so carefully and well outlined by my colleagues. I am disappointed that the lack of the initiative has been there. We need help for victims of Hurricane Floyd. President Clinton came to North Carolina, promised relief, and gave us a Federal lawsuit to finish off the tobacco farmers.
Mr. Speaker, the need is there. The people are looking to us. Sixty-
five or more State legislators along with the governor have come to help make the case that this help is needed. People in North Carolina are watching and listening. We have helped people all over the world. We are trying to meet every need with every possible source of funds. Now is the time, and I hope the President will respond immediately, if not sooner, with that additional supplemental bill that will provide the relief for North Carolina that we need.
Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Watt) who has worked hard on this issue.
Mr. WATT of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, let me say at the outset that I intend to vote for this resolution. I do not have any problem at all with encouraging the President to send legislation over here on this issue. I think it is important for us to do that. But this is the second nonbinding resolution that this House has passed on this issue. And to the extent that we are engaging in pointing the finger of blame at somebody else for not passing or moving legislation forward to address the concerns and devastation in North Carolina, I think we are playing politics with this resolution. I would be less than honest if I did not express my concern that this resolution has more to do with politics than it has to do with achieving some objective of really helping the people in North Carolina.
It must be strange to the people in eastern North Carolina to see us come to the floor with a resolution that does not have one dime in it, does not even suggest a dollar amount to help them, and then suggest to them that somehow this is the President's fault that we are not moving forward to try to address their needs.
I have no problem with encouraging the President to submit a bill, but as the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price) has indicated, there is no requirement or precedent or necessity for anybody external to this body, the President or anybody else, to come forward with a solution to the problems that face our State.
I want to encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' but I want to be honest about the practical impact of this at the same time.
Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I was not even going to get into this, but since my friend from North Carolina mentioned it, that it would be politically motivated, I think we are comparing the timeliness with which we hear from the administration.
In September of 1989 when Hurricane Hugo battered the Carolinas, President Bush requested disaster relief and it was provided by this Congress. This relief was signed into law less than 2 weeks after the hurricane struck. That was my point.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar), our distinguished ranking member.
Mr. OBERSTAR. I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time.
Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. McIntyre) said it best. This was a hurricane and a disaster of biblical proportions. It struck 11 States with enormous widespread consequences, billions of dollars in infrastructure damage, in agricultural losses, and President Clinton responded promptly. The administration did not waste time making their disaster declaration. I commend the President for the way he has responded. In fact, in the last decade, this President has declared 42 major disasters from landfall hurricanes. Cost to FEMA,
$7.7 billion. The 10 major disaster declarations for Hurricane Floyd are the most for any single hurricane in our history.
And what are the consequences in North Carolina? What has happened? Seventy-three thousand individuals have been received by FEMA, filed applications registering for assistance. Two hundred sixty-three million dollars already has been spent, and more to come. Four thousand six hundred sixty low-interest SBA loans. 20.7 million dollars reimbursed to local governments for infrastructure. Seven hundred thirty-four travel trailers now occupied. And they are still working.
But what troubles me the most is this resolution that says the President should immediately submit recommendations for emergency response actions, including appropriate offsets. This 106th Congress declared the census an emergency and provided money. We have been doing emergency census, then, for 200 some years. What nonsense. If it is that big a deal, declare it an emergency right now and provide the money. I do not like this kind of nonsense that we are engaged in right here, frankly. Why do we have to have this resolution that calls for an offset? Declare it simply an emergency. Be consistent. Do not play games with the lives, the hopes, the aspirations, the concerns of the people in North Carolina and other places who are deserving of help. Just get on with the business of this Congress. Declare it a disaster, declare it an emergency, provide the funds as we did for the census.
Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I support the resolution. I will set all the political talk aside. I want to commend FEMA. I think FEMA is doing a respectable job and they are doing everything possible to mitigate these great problems.
I would like to quote my father, now deceased, here today, and I think I will be quoting many of your parents, many not quite with us. Here is the great quote: ``If we can find money for people all over the world, we can find money for our own people, the American people.''
I think we have talked about this, and we have talked about this. We continue to talk about this. We have seen videos of hogs floating on the flooded plains and fields of North Carolina. It is time for us as a Congress to act. Whatever that mechanism is that brings that action, so be it. I do agree with the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar), if we can declare emergencies on other issues, perhaps we should have done that. But the bottom line, the intent of Congress, I believe is honorable. Let us get on with our business. If we can find money for people all over the world, we can find money for the American people in need, in this case in North Carolina.
Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton), the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. McIntyre) and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) were most obviously affected in our delegation.
I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from North Carolina
(Mr. Jones).
Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, to the gentleman my friend from Durham, NC (Mr. Price), I want to read to him that we got word just a few minutes ago from the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Taylor) that the White House, not the House or Senate leadership, demanded that the $508 million for North Carolina relief be taken out of the Labor-HHS bill. I was not there and I do not know, but I wanted to pass that on since I was asked to share that with the House body.
Mr. Speaker, I will say that we have worked very closely together. This is what I think is good about this Congress and good about America. The American people know when their brothers and sisters are in trouble that they come forward and do what they can to assist them. I think this resolution is proper. I am sorry if it has been read as politics, but I do not really think that it should be, because, right or wrong, there is a belief that we need to have the guidance and the leadership of the President to come forward to the Congress with his recommendation after consulting with OMB with recommendations as to what should be done for the people that have been devastated by Hurricane Floyd, whether it be North Carolina or other parts of the United States that have been devastated.
Some of the frustration that we hear back home, and let me first say that FEMA and these other agencies and the multitude of volunteers has been enormous. It really does the heart well to know how much people care about others that are in trouble, but some of the frustration back home as the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Traficant) just mentioned is that the citizens in eastern North Carolina who pay the taxes, we are elected in Washington to spend their tax dollars, it is the taxpayer that is in trouble now, particularly in eastern North Carolina as well as other parts, New Jersey and some in Maryland and some other parts that need the help of the Congress. Again, it is their money. It is not our money. It is the people's money, the people that pay the taxes.
One thing that comes to mind that I hear quite frequently in my district, I do not vote for foreign aid. I have been here 5 years and I have yet to vote for foreign aid and I do not intend to vote for foreign aid until I see it down in single digits, $6, $7 billion instead of $12 or $14 billion. We passed a bill that was $12.7 billion in foreign aid and the President wants $4 billion more. Again, I voted against that because I thought the $12.7 billion was too much money.
Another problem that we are having is that people read recently where the President of the United States said, well, we ought to forgive 36 countries that owe the United States of America, they do not owe the United States of America, they owe the people that make up the United States of America, $5 billion. So the people in eastern North Carolina want to know if we can forgive a debt of $5 million, why can we not get a couple of billion out of the Congress to help them as they try to recover from this devastation?
Again, I have to answer these questions back home, so I am bringing it to the floor of the House. This summer, the United States sent
$500,000 in flood relief to aid China. Every time I have been on the floor of the House and had a chance to vote, I am opposed to MFN for China. So, Mr. Speaker, it is important that we forget the politics and we talk about coming together and passing legislation that will help the people of eastern North Carolina.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaHood). The question is on the motion offered by the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Fowler) that the House suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, House Resolution 349.
The question was taken.
Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
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