Don Nickles: “I will make a few comments concerning the Baucus amendment requesting $2.65 billion of drought assistance. I have two or…”

“I will make a few comments concerning the Baucus amendment requesting $2.65 billion of drought assistance. I have two or three comments. One, it doesn't belong on this bill. This is the Homeland Security bill. This is not an agriculture bill, not even an urgent supplemental bill. Senator Reid, the assistant minority leader, has stated repeatedly let's do the supplemental separately from Homeland Security. I happen to think he is right. One could debate it, but he stated repeatedly and recommended strongly to the Senate to have a separate bill on the President's request. The President requested yesterday $3.1 billion for hurricane relief. He requested it yesterday. That doesn't mean it has to be done on the Homeland Security bill. Senator Reid thought it should not be on this bill. We don't even have that amendment. The President didn't request drought assistance. I looked back over the history of drought assistance and I see a lot of requests. In 2002, we had $600 million, I guess, in drought assistance. In 2003, it was $3.6 billion. But I might say it was offset by reductions in other programs in the Agriculture Committee. How can we pay for this request, because we don't have the Agriculture bill up to have offsets? This bill is not offset. This is just to add $2 billion or $3 billion of additional money. I would like to have it be paid for. I might support it if it is paid for. I might not. I want to see how it is paid for.”