Max Baucus: “on March 28, 2002, Secretary Veneman declared Montana a drought disaster. This drought designation came two months…”

“on March 28, 2002, Secretary Veneman declared Montana a drought disaster. This drought designation came two months earlier than in 2001, and eight months earlier than in 2000. The unrelenting drought Montana is suffering has brought economic hardship to our agriculture producers and rural communities. In 1996, the year before the drought, Montana received $847 million in cash receipts from wheat sales. In 2001, four years into the drought, Montana received $317 million in cash receipts, a 62 percent decline. Agriculture is more than 50 percent of my State's economy, and is truly the backbone of my State. The drought not only affects our farmers and ranchers. It is felt throughout our rural communities. Small businesses are being forced to close their doors. Families are moving away to find work. It would be virtually impossible to find a single person who has not been either directly or indirectly affected by the dry conditions that we have. Without our help, without passing natural disaster assistance, it is estimated that 40 percent of Montana's farmers and ranchers will not qualify for operating loans for the 2002 crop year. A large percentage of these hardworking people will lose their land, their homes, their jobs, and their way of life. They will not be purchasing clothes, seed, feed, fertilizer, or equipment in their local stores. They will have to move, take their kids out of school. Small towns will die.…”