Bill Clinton: “I appreciate his hard work in bringing this amendment forward. New York's farmers have suffered this year--both from…”

“I appreciate his hard work in bringing this amendment forward. New York's farmers have suffered this year--both from heavy rains in July and from damaging winter frosts. In particular, both apple trees and grape vines were destroyed in New York this past winter. And while the losses for this year's crop will be covered by the crop disaster assistance provisions of this amendment, it is the tree assistance program that assists growers in replacing their lost trees and vines. So I thank the Senator for including that provision, and I would like to clarify with the Senator that the term ``tree'' as used in his amendment is used in the same way as it is defined in the 2002 farm bill. That is, term ``tree'' in this context means trees, bushes and vines, and would therefore assist New York's apple growers and grape growers alike.”