Dusty Johnson: “I want to report to the body that I have just come from the Military Construction Subcommittee conference markup. Oddly…”

“I want to report to the body that I have just come from the Military Construction Subcommittee conference markup. Oddly enough, military construction--the way things work around here--is now the vehicle for bringing up disaster relief to Florida and on the Northern Plains. We were able to obtain nearly a $3 billion drought relief package on that bill, thanks to Senator Daschle in large part, and Senator Harkin, of course, with his leadership. But I don't believe it would be on the floor at all were it not for Senator Daschle's leadership. That drought relief passed with a unanimous bipartisan vote in the Senate earlier this year. Yet when it came back to the Military Construction Subcommittee as part of this disaster aid we are adding, it had this very convoluted offset that is stretched out for over 10 years. I have to ask the leader, Senator Daschle, who has been through this and has championed agriculture for so many years as an extraordinary representative and as a leader on rural and agricultural issues, if there is any logic the leader can discern why disaster relief for hurricane victims is emergency funding, and disaster relief as it turns out now for farmers and ranchers suffering from drought is cannibalized out of the agriculture budget for the rest of the decade. What logic is there to that? What fairness is there to that kind of approach to this disaster relief bill that is now likely to pass?”