Making Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for the Fiscal Year Ending September 30, 2006

MAKING EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2006

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise today to speak in support of the provisions in the supplemental spending bill to assist agricultural producers suffering from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, drought, wildfires, and other natural disasters. I would like to thank Chairman Cochran and Senator Byrd for their work on this bill, as well as my colleagues who have worked with me on this matter since last summer's Midwest drought.

This has not been an easy year for our Nation's farmers and ranchers. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita wreaked havoc on producers throughout the gulf coast. Losses to livestock and crop production in the gulf coast total in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Many farmers in that part of the country will not even have the opportunity to plant their crops this season due to saltwater intrusion on their lands.

In addition, for farmers outside the gulf coast, the hurricane brought about higher fuel prices and increased the cost of shipping as the Port of New Orleans was temporarily closed. In my home State of Illinois, producers have suffered one of the worst droughts since 1895. The period from March 2005 to February 2006 was the third driest March to February period since 1895. Even with some very fortunate late rains, these drought conditions significantly lowered both yields and the value of the year's harvest.

According to the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service, NASS, the value of Illinois' corn crop decreased by more than $1.1 billion, or about 25 percent, from 2004 to 2005 even as corn acreage increased. At least 10 counties in northeast and western Illinois sustained greater than 20 percent losses in corn yields. Unfortunately, farmers and ranchers are not expecting this crop year to reverse last year's trend. USDA's Economic Research Service, ERS, expects net farm income to drop 23.2 percent this year, from $72.7 billion to $56.2 billion, due in large part to stagnant crop prices and rising energy costs.

To make matters more difficult, the price of diesel fuel has doubled since the summer of 2004. Fertilizer prices have taken off as well, increasing by more than 30 percent per acre since 2001. Even with increased efficiency, these rising prices are hurting our Nation's farming families.

Because farmers use so much energy running their tractors and combines, applying fertilizers, and hauling their products by truck to buyers and markets, these prices are squeezing the already thin profit margins of our Nation's producers. Especially when we keep in mind that commodity prices have stayed fairly level over the past 2 years we can see why these natural disasters and high energy costs may be putting our farmers at risk of losing their farms.

The provisions that some of my colleagues and the Bush administration seek to strike would provide assistance to producers who suffered crop losses due to natural disasters such as the drought in the Corn Belt and flooding in various parts of the country, and to those who lost livestock, such as Texas ranchers in this year's wildfires. The measures that are under attack here would also provide a direct payment to producers who are struggling to keep their heads above water due to the rapidly increasing cost of fuel and other inputs.

This is what surprises me most--at this trying time for our Nation's farmers and ranchers, Members of Congress are actively working to prevent this much needed assistance from reaching our farmers and ranchers. The Bush administration has even gone so far as to say that there has been no disaster at all, even though the Secretary of Agriculture designated 101 of 102 counties in Illinois as disaster areas. Well, the Bush administration budget crunchers aren't talking to their own disaster experts, let alone farmers in western Illinois or ranchers in Texas or anyone who is trying to pay rising energy costs while growing the wheat, corn, and soybeans that keep our people fed.

Now is not the time to turn away from the thousands of farmers who will depend on this assistance to purchase equipment and stay in business this season. I ask my colleagues to join me in expressing their support for these important provisions that will provide some much needed relief for our nation's agricultural producers. I hope the Senate will insist that agricultural assistance be included in the final supplemental spending bill, notwithstanding the misguided positions of the White House and House on this important matter.

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