On the recordAugust 2, 2012
I thank the chairman for allowing me the time here to speak, and I rise in support today of H.R. 6233, the Agricultural Disaster Assistance Act. As we all know, farmers and ranchers are really suffering from one of the worst and most widespread droughts to have occurred in decades. {time} 1220 While over half of Iowa has been designated as a disaster area because of the drought, farmers at home are really hurting and really feeling the pain of the drought. While the forecasts are not good for the future as far as rain and the conditions appear to be worsening every day out there--the temperatures near 100 degrees--we're at a critical point. Congress can't legislate rain like we'd like to, but we can certainly provide farmers the certainty that they need to address the disaster, which is the worst in decades. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, the livestock producers have no safety net to fall back on because the disaster programs expired last year. Extending these programs to the end of fiscal year 2012 will give farmers the confidence and the certainty to prepare for what's going to be a very difficult year. We're all pushing as hard as we can, doing everything possible to get a new farm bill done, and I would encourage everyone to work to that end. In the meantime, this is what we have to do. We need to do this immediately to give certainty to those livestock producers all over the country that are facing a very, very difficult situation with the drought.…
