And Drought Relief for Farmers & Ranchers
By Cong. Randy Neugebauer
Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. Right now 70 of the country is classified as abnormally dry or worse according to the
U.S. Drought Monitor. And for the farmers and ranchers in Texas
this is the 2nd year in a row of a brutal drought.
Last week I helped pass
H.R. 6233 the Agricultural Disaster Assistance Act which provides critical relief for producers struggling with dry weather.
This bill reauthorizes a number of disaster assistance programs including the Livestock Indemnity Program the Livestock Forage Program and the Emergency Assistance for Livestock Bees and Fish program.
It pays for this assistance by offsetting spending in conservation programs. All told this bill will actually reduce our spending by $256 million over ten years.
The Agricultural Disaster Assistance Act is good policy given our current situation but it is not a five-year farm bill which remains critical for our farmers and ranchers. This drought underscores the risk and uncertainty inherent in farming and demonstrates why a safety net is critical to maintaining our countrys food security.
Our producers need the certainty of a long-term farm bill so they can plan for upcoming
plantings and harvests. Farmers may be forced to deal with unpredictable weather but Congress can at least give them predictable policy. Ill continue working to pass a five-year farm bill that gets signed in to law.
Reforming the Renewable Fuel Standard
This drought is not just hurting livestock producerscorn producers in the Midwest are struggling through some of the worst conditions in 50 years. Less than a third of the U.S. corn crop is listed as being in good or excellent condition so we are expecting very low yields for the fall harvest this year.
What this means to you is that consumers are likely to feel the effect of our shrinking corn supplies at the grocery checkout.
Yet despite the low supply of corn the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) mandates that 36 billion gallons of our nations fuel supply come from renewable fuels. This is primarily comprised of corn-based ethanol. In fact about 40 percent of our corn crop was used for ethanol production this year.
To address the pending crop years low corn supplies and the resulting higher prices at the grocery store Ive joined a number of my colleagues in Congress to request that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) adjust the RFS. If the 36 billion gallon mandate is adjusted to fit market conditions we will hopefully be able to ease the effect of the short supply of corn and limit increases in food costs.
You Did Build That: The Presidents Growing Debt
During a speech in Virginia on July 13 President Obama made the now infamous remark that If youve got a business you didnt build that." The hard work sacrifices and entrepreneurial spirit of Americas small business owners hardly needs to be defended.
In Texas alone almost 98 percent of all employers are small businesses. Between 2005 and 2008 they represented about 70 percent of new private sector jobs. And each and every one of those businesses was built by a hardworking man or woman.
Instead of downplaying the work of others maybe its time for the president to review his own record. According to the
Department of the Treasury the national debt has increased from $10.6 trillion on the day President Obama took office to $15.9 trillion today. That is a $5.3 trillion increase and it means that each day the president has been in office our debt has grown by $4.1 billion. Unfortunately unemployment remains stagnant above eight percent.
I believe the facts are clearwe cant spend our country into a recovery. Its time to stop spending and give our businesses the certainty and tools they need to start a real economic recovery that isnt based on government debt.
Did You Know?
August 7 marks the 230th anniversary of the Purple Heart which is awarded to veterans that have been wounded or killed in combat. Learn more at
http://www.purpleheart.org/.
