Disaster Assistance Gets Second Wind

Today my rural colleagues from both the House and Senate came together to renew the call for agriculture disaster assistance. We hope to convince the Republican Leadership to pass relief before Congress adjourns at the end of the month for October recess.

Here are some highlights on the latest push for disaster assistance:

Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) filed an amendment today to H.R. 4954, the port security bill, which the Senate is expected to debate this week. The amendment calls for $6.5 billion in disaster assistance.

House Democratic Leaders sent a letter today to House Republican Leaders encouraging them to pass comprehensive agriculture disaster relief before Congress leaves for the scheduled October recess. Congressman Berry is leading this effort in the House, with legislation that would give farmers either an additional half Farm Bill payment for the 2005 crop year or payment based on yield loss.

Over thirty major agriculture groups sent a letter today to House and Senate leaders requesting immediate action on disaster assistance.