Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Madam Chair, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

Madam Chair, I rise to speak on behalf of the bill before us.

Madam Chair, on October 10, 2018, Hurricane Michael, one of the most powerful storms to make landfall in the U.S., slammed into the Florida Panhandle, then directly into Georgia, and drove through much of the Southeast. It left a path of destruction all the way up to Virginia. My district, which spans middle and southwest Georgia, took a direct hit.

Across the State of Georgia, small towns and rural communities were devastated, as were production agriculture and forestry. Agriculture is the largest industry in Georgia, driving one in seven jobs. Many producers suffered near 100 percent crop losses.

Hurricane Michael destroyed some 97 chicken houses and killed more than 2 million chickens. It devastated the Georgia cotton crop, which was nearing peak harvest and was on track to be the best season in years.

Unfortunately, this is all too familiar for the region. This is the third straight year hurricane damage has caused significant losses to the pecan, peanut, cotton, vegetable, forestry, landscaping, and agritourism industries.

Less than a month before Hurricane Michael, Hurricane Florence crashed into the Carolinas, causing $22 billion in damage. The agricultural losses there are also overwhelming. Several lagoons responsible for containing animal waste were breached and are in drastic need of repair.

Last year, California witnessed yet another devastating fire season, including both the largest and deadliest fires on record. In Hawaii, volcanic activity caused farmers nearly $30 million in damage. Americans in the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa were also hit by violent storms.

This disaster supplemental bill provides the funds to begin addressing these needs. This bill increases payments for losses from 85 to 90 percent for producers with crop insurance and from 65 to 70 percent for producers without insurance. It also includes $150 million for the rural community facilities program. From debris removal to the repair of local infrastructure, such as drinking water and water systems, small communities across the Nation and the territories often struggle to rebuild in the aftermath of natural disasters.

The legislation includes $480 million for the Emergency Forest Restoration Program and $125 million for the Natural Resources Conservation Service. It provides $600 million in funds for the nutrition assistance program in Puerto Rico and $10.2 million to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

From coast to coast and beyond, there is an urgent need for this disaster bill. As I said in October after touring the damage from Hurricane Michael, responding to natural disasters and helping our communities recover is a responsibility we all share, regardless of geography, ideology, or political affiliation.

Madam Chair, I urge all my colleagues to support this bill and to bring relief to our communities that continue to recover and rebuild. Let's open the government and get this job done for the American people.

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Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Chair, I rise to speak on behalf of this amendment, which is cosponsored by my very good friend, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Austin Scott), and 12 other distinguished Members on both sides of the aisle.

As I said during general debate, Hurricane Michael devastated my district and left a path of destruction all the way up to Virginia. Across the State of Georgia, many producers suffered nearly 100 percent crop loss. Damages were experienced by the pecan, peanut, cotton, vegetable, and timber industries, and this is the third straight year these folks were hit.

A few weeks before that, Hurricane Florence hit the Carolinas, causing $22 billion in damage. Last year, Californians witnessed another devastating wildfire season, while Hawaii suffered from volcano damage, the Northern Mariana Islands were hit by typhoons, and American Samoa, by a horrific cyclone.

This disaster supplemental bill provides funds to begin addressing these needs for our agriculture and our rural communities. The bill increases payments for losses from 85 to 90 percent for producers who have crop insurance and from 65 to 70 percent for producers without crop insurance.

Unfortunately, the $1.1 billion in the bill was based only on USDA's assessment of need, nationwide. However, the various State departments of agriculture, those States that were devastated by these disasters, submitted to the committee assessments which came to over $7 billion.

To ensure that more of these needs can be fully met, Mr. Scott and I put our heads together. We looked at the numbers and concluded that the original estimate by the Department of Agriculture of $1.1 billion in damages could very well and was, most likely, going to be too low; so we have offered this amendment to increase it by $1.9 billion, for a total of $3 billion.

I urge a ``yes'' vote on the Bishop-Scott amendment. It was needed. We want to make sure that we can do what is necessary to allow Americans who were devastated by these natural disasters to have sufficient recovery.

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Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, to close, I just want to reiterate how important it is for us to pass sufficient resources in order to allow these communities that have been devastated all across the United States, as well as the territories, to recover from these natural disasters.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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