The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the Senate section on pages S9997 on July 14, 1995.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS
The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:
POM-220. A resolution adopted by the Society For Conservation Biology relative to late successional forests; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
POM-221. A joint resolution adopted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
``House Joint Resolution 95-1012
``Whereas, the United States Congress is considering measures to reauthorize the federal 1990 Farm Bill, which includes the `Conservation Program Improvements Act' (`Act'), a voluntary, incentive-based, nonregulatory land retirement program through which farmers and ranchers have enrolled up to 45 million acres of highly erodible land nationally and just under 2 million acres in Colorado; and
``Whereas, the Act empowers farmers and ranchers to protect the long-term food producing capability of the United States by reducing land and water erosion of crop land; and
``Whereas, the Act enables farmers and ranchers to provide excellent wildlife habitat for game and nongame species and to improve badly silted fisheries habitat; and
``Whereas, the Act has protected and improved water quality by reducing sedimentation and nonpoint source pollution; and
``Whereas, the Act has reduced federal farm program expenditures for deficiency payments, diversion payments, and commodity loan and storage payments; and
``Whereas, the Act has supplemented the incomes of over 6,376 farmers and ranchers in Colorado in return for setting aside highly erodible lands; and
``Whereas, the United States currently has record surplus crop production and will continue to have such in the foreseeable future; now, therefore,
``Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Sixtieth General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the Senate concurring herein: That the Colorado General Assembly hereby requests the United States Congress to fully reauthorize the federal `Conservation Program Improvements Act', Public Law 101-624.
``Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this resolution be sent to the President of the United States, the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and the members of Colorado's Congressional delegation.''
____
POM-222. A resolution adopted by the House of the General Assembly of the State of Indiana; to the Committee on Armed Services.
``House Resolution No. 75
``Whereas, over 27,619 Hoosiers have given their lives for their country in World War I, World War II, the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam War, and the Persian Gulf Conflict, and over 37,510 Hoosiers remain living with service-connected disabilities from injuries inflicted on them while they were serving their country;
``Whereas, those servicemen and servicewomen who have chosen to make a career of defending their country are integral to the success of our military forces throughout the world;
``Whereas, currently disabled veterans receive compensation proportionate to severity of their injuries; and, military retirees, who have served at least 20 years, accrue retirement pay based on longevity;
``Whereas, federal legislation has been introduced to amend Title 38 of the U.S. Code to eliminate and antiquated inequity which still exists in the federal law applicable to retired career service personnel who also receive service-related disability benefits;
``Whereas, under the 19th century law, these disabled career service personnel are denied concurrent receipt of full retirement pay and disability compensation benefits. They must choose receipt of one or the other or waive an amount of retirement pay equal to the amount of disability compensation benefits;
``Whereas, this discrimination unfairly denies disabled military retirees the longevity pay they have earned by their years of devoted patriotism and loyalty to their country. It, in effect, requires them to pay for their own disability compensation benefits;
``Whereas, many retirees actually returned to active duty to service in Operation Desert Storm and returned home disabled; but, when these loyal Guardsmen and Reservists arrive back home, they were not eligible to receive both VA disability and retirement pay;
``Whereas, no such inequity applies to retired Congress-persons, Federal civil service job-holders, or other retirees who are receiving service-related disability benefits;
``Whereas, America's career service-personnel's commitment to their country-in pursuit of national and international goals--must be matched by their own county's allegiance to them for those sacrifices; and
``Whereas, a statutory change is required to correct this injustice. Now therefore, be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
``Section 1. That the General Assembly of the State of Indiana urges the United States Congress to amend the United States Code relating to the computation of retired pay to permit full concurrent receipt of military longevity retired pay and service-connected disability compensation benefits.
``Section 2. That the Principal Clerk of the House of Representatives shall send certified copies of this resolution to the presiding officers and the majority and minority leaders of both houses of the Congress of the United States, to the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States, to the President of the United States, to the Secretary of Defense, and to each member of the Indiana Congressional delegation.''
____________________
