C. W. Bill Young: “I had not intended to get into this give and take on the political argument, but I listened to this rhetoric about the…”

“I had not intended to get into this give and take on the political argument, but I listened to this rhetoric about the farm emergencies, and let me tell you what the truth is, and here is the paperwork, the documentation that proves it. Last year this Congress added as an emergency amount of money for the farm emergencies $6 billion, $5.916 billion, to be exact. Then, when the next supplemental request came from the administration, we added to that request for the Hurricane Mitch supplemental $700 million. Most of it was not requested, we added it. Then in the regular fiscal year 2000 agriculture bill, which we passed and the President has signed, we added $8.7 billion to deal with farm emergencies. The President did not request any of this $8.7 billion. We still do not have a request from the President for agricultural losses this hurricane season. Now, for someone over there to stand and say this Congress has neglected the farmer and the emergencies in the agriculture community is just not right. It is not accurate. It is not truthful. It is purely political rhetoric. The facts are here, and you are welcome to look at them.”