Farm Bill

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, I am very glad my Senate colleagues joined me in supporting the Senate farm bill, in fact, with a very strong vote of 86 to 11.

This farm bill is good news for Montana farmers and for Montana ranchers, and it is going to help to provide certainty for Montana agriculture in these most difficult times because agriculture is Montana's No. 1 industry, and it supports tens of thousands of jobs in our State. Yet, with more than 25,000 family farms and ranches in Montana alone, it is clear that ag is more than just an economic driver in our State; it is very much a way of life.

That is why, as Montana's Representative on the U.S. Senate Ag Committee, I fought to ensure that this farm bill reflects the priorities that Montana farmers and Montana ranchers have shared directly with me. Some of these priorities are the crop insurance and the sugar program; ag research funding at Montana State University, as well as ag research stations all across Montana; and prioritizing rural broadband for Montana's underserved communities, as well as supporting and maintaining conservation programs that are important to our farmers, to our ranchers, and to our sportsmen.

This farm bill is also critically important to the health of our national forests. Last year in Montana, catastrophic wildfires harmed numerous communities, and it cost our State millions of dollars. I am glad to have secured important forest reforms that are critical to healthy forests, to Montana timber jobs, and to wildlife habitat, such as encouraging the coordination among the Forest Service and State forestry agencies to restore our forests to reduce the risk of wildfire and allowing the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to enter into agreements with counties, as well as with States and Tribes, to implement forest management projects on national forests and public lands. Additionally, there is a provision that will support more innovation, as well as to develop new markets for Montana's timber industry.

These are important wins, but I want to make something very clear that there is still so much more we can do to help improve the health of our forests and support Montana's farmers and ranchers. In fact, in Montana, as well as across the West, we are seeing extensive collaboration. Groups are collaborating--conservation groups, wildlife groups, wood products stakeholders, along with our counties--and they are working together to determine responsible forest management practices.

These partners know very well that active management is critical to restoring a healthy forest and that it helps to reduce wildfire risks. It is important that we don't allow extremists to hinder this most important work because, today, it takes 18 to 24 months to do many of these environmental reviews. After that is done, many projects in Montana are litigated, and this can add years of delay.

In fact, listen to this: There are 29 timber sales in Montana that are currently impacted by fringe litigation. Just today, we were informed that another timber project in Montana has been delayed by a restraining order because of litigation. That makes 30. This project was scheduled to start this coming Monday, July 2, and now those folks will be out of work. Reducing redtape and combating chronic litigation doesn't erode public trust. In fact, it safeguards it. It does so by ensuring that the public feedback of the majority isn't obstructed by a few extreme dissenters.

This disastrous Ninth Circuit Cottonwood ruling must also be addressed because it imposed unnecessary paperwork that even the Obama administration has said had the ``potential to cripple'' Federal land management without conservation benefit.

My amendments would address this excessive redtape while continuing to ensure that robust, science-driven environmental review and public engagement would remain. Many similar provisions are found in the House bill as well.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the inclusion of these amendments as we work together now, with the House, in a conference of the final farm bill.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source