DENNIS A. CARDOZA: “H.R. 3157 would require USDA to designate employees of the Department to serve as disaster liaisons to State and local…”

“H.R. 3157 would require USDA to designate employees of the Department to serve as disaster liaisons to State and local emergency agencies in a federally declared disaster area. These liaisons would be responsible for coordinating interagency programs and assisting agricultural producers in the area to navigate through the bureaucracy of Federal Government support. I want to thank Majority Whip Blunt for taking the initiative to introduce this legislation on behalf of farmers and growers in the United States. I was more than happy to sign on as the lead cosponsor because of a situation faced by a handful of growers in my congressional district earlier this year. During this past April, an unusual hailstorm descended upon Merced Country, ruining acres and acres of peach orchards. That event set off a chain of events involving numerous agencies within USDA, which in turn led to me and my staff to negotiate on their behalf with countless officials and administrators throughout USDA attempting to elicit some type of assistance from the Federal Government.”