Washington, D.C. – The House today reauthorized critical livestock disaster assistance programs for drought-stricken producers in South Dakota and across the nation. Rep. Kristi Noem joined a bipartisan majority of her colleagues in voting to reauthorize these programs by a vote of 223-197.

“This vote made right what the 2008 Farm Bill got wrong, and I’m proud that the House took a stand to provide our ranchers the disaster assistance they need in the face of the worst drought in decades,” said Rep. Noem. “While this is an good first step to providing certainty to our producers, the most important step remains to be done, and that’s getting a Farm Bill done. The single best way to get a long-term safety net for our livestock producers is to pass a Farm Bill, and I will continue working through August to gather more support to bring it to the floor.”

H.R. 6233 would reauthorize the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), Livestock Forage Disaster Programs (LFP), Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-raised Fish (ELAP), and the Tree Assistance Program (TAP) for the current year. The 2008 Farm Bill failed to fund these programs for five years, leaving South Dakota livestock producers uncovered during this drought year. Rep. Noem introduced legislation in April to reauthorize these programs and today spoke on the House floor on the importance of getting them authorized now and getting a new Farm Bill done this year.

188 Republicans and 35 Democrats voted to give livestock producers certainty during this drought year.