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U.S.
Senator Member: Agriculture, Energy, Veterans' Affairs, Ethics and Aging Committees |
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For Immediate
Release November 14, 2006 |
CONTACT: Cody Wertz – Comm. Director 303-455-7600 Andrew Nannis – Press Secretary 202-224-5852 |
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – United States Senator Ken Salazar, Senator Kent Conrad and a bipartisan group of Senators today introduced a bill to provide critical aid to America’s farmers and ranchers impacted by ongoing droughts and other natural disasters. “It is beyond time to provide disaster relief to farmers and ranchers,” said Senator Salazar. “Drought has decimated Colorado and the West for more than seven years. In Colorado, losses on the winter wheat crop alone were estimated at approximately $95 million, and fuel costs are up 100 percent in the last year.” Several times over the last year, a bipartisan group of Senators including Democratic Senators Salazar (CO), Conrad (ND), and Baucus (MT), and Republican Senators Coleman (MN), Hagel (NE) and Thune (SD), introduced S. 3855, the “Emergency Farm Relief Act of 2006.” That bill was offered as an amendment today to the Military Construction Appropriations Act being debated in Congress. Senate leaders have refused to allow that amendment to come up for a vote; however, because of its bipartisan support it would most likely pass. Covering losses incurred in both 2005 and 2006, the Act would provide billions in direct emergency disaster relief for losses due to ongoing disasters. The legislation is comprehensive and national in scope, covering losses from hurricanes, drought, flood, disease and other weather related causes. The bill also provides for a Livestock Compensation program for producers in designated disaster counties to help cover their added costs of procuring livestock feed, supplemental nutrition and economic disaster assistance in the form of a supplemental direct payment as well as funding for a small business grant program for businesses that have suffered financial losses due to drought conditions in their communities. “This is not an election-year issue, this is an every-year issue,” added Salazar. “The elections are over, but our farmers and ranchers are still suffering. We will not stop bringing this issue up until America’s farmers and ranchers receive the aid they deserve.” In March, Senator Salazar joined with a bipartisan group of 26 Senate colleagues, led by Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, to introduce S.2438, the Emergency Agricultural Disaster Assistance Act of 2006. In April 2006, S.2438 was unanimously included into the $96B Iraq/ Afghanistan/ hurricane relief emergency supplemental appropriations bill, H.R. 4939, which passed the Senate by a vote of 77 to 21 in early May of this year with Senator Salazar’s support. Unfortunately, this important rural relief provision failed to survive the House-Senate conference. Senator Salazar was the only member of Colorado’s Senate delegation not a member of the conference committee, and was the only member of Colorado’s Senate delegation to consistently back this critical legislation to preserve the livelihoods of Colorado’s farmers, ranchers and rural communities. # # #
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