Bill Clinton: “Today, as provided for in the agriculture appropriations bill I signed last week, I am designating $8.8 billion in…”

“Today, as provided for in the agriculture appropriations bill I signed last week, I am designating $8.8 billion in emergency assistance to our Nation's farmers and ranchers. This assistance will hasten payments to farmers who are recovering from the second year in a row of low commodity prices and crop and livestock losses from severe drought and flooding. This is only a one-year temporary fix for the overall problems facing our farmers. They are the lifeblood of our land. Again I call on the Congress to enact a permanent fix to the severe shortcomings in the 1996 farm bill.”