-- Randy's Roundup --

A Weekly Newsletter from Congressman Randy Neugebauer

Drought Relief for Farmers and Ranchers
Last week, I helped pass H.R. 6233, the Agricultural Disaster Assistance Act, which provides critical relief for producers struggling with dry weather.  Right now, 70% of the country is classified as abnormally dry or worse according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.  And for the farmers and ranchers in Texas, this is the second year in a row of a brutal drought.

This bill reauthorizes a number of disaster assistance programs, including the Livestock Indemnity Program, the Livestock Forage Program, and the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Bees, and Fish program.  It pays for this assistance by offsetting spending in conservation programs.  All told, this bill will actually reduce our spending by $256 million over ten years.  

The Agricultural Disaster Assistance Act is good policy given our current situation, but it is not a five-year farm bill, which remains critical for our farmers and ranchers.  This drought underscores the risk and uncertainty inherent in farming, and demonstrates why a safety net is critical to maintaining our country’s food security.  

Our producers need the certainty of a long-term farm bill so they can plan for upcoming plantings and harvests.  Farmers may be forced to deal with unpredictable weather, but Congress can at least give them predictable policy.   I’ll continue working to pass a five-year farm bill that gets signed in to law.  

Reforming the Renewable Fuel Standard
This drought is not just hurting livestock producers—corn producers in the Midwest are struggling through some of the worst conditions in 50 years.  Less than a third of the U.S. corn crop is listed as being in good or excellent condition, so we are expecting very low yields for the fall harvest this year. 

What this means to you is that consumers are likely to feel the effect of our shrinking corn supplies at the grocery checkout. 

Yet despite the low supply of corn, the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) mandates that 36 billion gallons of our nation’s fuel supply come from renewable fuels.  This is primarily comprised of corn-based ethanol.  In fact, about 40 percent of our corn crop was used for ethanol production this year.  

To address the pending crop year’s low corn supplies and the resulting higher prices at the grocery store, I’ve joined a number of my colleagues in Congress to request that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) adjust the RFS.  If the 36 billion gallon mandate is adjusted to fit market conditions, we will hopefully be able to ease the effect of the short supply of corn and limit increases in food costs.   

You Did Build That: The President’s Growing Debt
During a speech in Virginia on July 13, President Obama made the now infamous remark that, “If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that.”  The hard work, sacrifices, and entrepreneurial spirit of America’s small business owners hardly needs to be defended.  In Texas alone, almost 98 percent of all employers are small businesses.  Between 2005 and 2008, they represented about 70 percent of new private sector jobs.  And each and every one of those businesses was built by a hardworking man or woman.

Instead of downplaying the work of others, maybe it’s time for the president to review his own record.  According to the Department of the Treasury, the national debt has increased from $10.6 trillion on the day President Obama took office to $15.9 trillion today.  That is a $5.3 trillion increase, and it means that each day the president has been in office, our debt has grown by $4.1 billion.  Unfortunately, unemployment remains stagnant above eight percent.  

I believe the facts are clear—we can’t spend our country into a recovery.  It’s time to stop spending and give our businesses the certainty and tools they need to start a real economic recovery that isn’t based on government debt.

Action Item
On Friday, I’ll be honoring 2012 state champions at Sudan High School and meeting with business and community leaders in Lamb and Cochran counties. 

Did You Know?
August 7 marks the 230th anniversary of the Purple Heart, which is awarded to veterans that have been wounded or killed in combat.  Learn more at http://www.purpleheart.org/.