Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Madam Chair, on October 10, 2018, my district took a direct hit from Hurricane Michael, one of the most powerful storms to make landfall in U.S. history. It slammed into the Florida panhandle and drove through much of the Southeast, leaving a path of destruction all the way up to Virginia.

In Georgia, many producers suffered nearly 100 percent crop losses. Hurricane Michael killed more than 2 million chickens and devastated the Georgia cotton crop, which was nearing peak harvest and was on track to be the best crop in years. This is the third straight year hurricane damage caused significant losses to peanut, pecan, cotton, vegetable, landscaping, and the agri-tourism industries.

The Carolinas also suffered billions in damages a month earlier from Hurricane Florence. Californians had another devastating fire season, including both the largest and deadliest fires on record. In Hawaii, volcanic activity cost pineapple farmers nearly $30 million in damages. Americans in the Mariana Islands and American Samoa were also hit by cyclones.

To meet these needs, this House passed and sent to the Senate an emergency supplemental appropriations bill on January 16 that allocated $14 billion in emergency spending to help families and communities recover from these hurricanes, wildfires, and other natural disasters.

Agriculture provided $3 billion for crop losses, $150 million for the Rural Community Facilities Program, $480 million for the Emergency Forest Restoration Program, and $125 million for the Emergency Watershed Program. They provided $600 million in desperately needed funds to help with Puerto Rico's continued recovery from Hurricane Diane in 2017.

Madam Chair, I thank my fellow Georgian, Austin Scott, and the bipartisan leadership, the House leadership, our committees for quickly getting this bill passed. But as we passed it and sent it to the Senate, the Trump Office of Management and Budget issued a Statement of Administration Policy saying that FEMA had enough money and that this money was not needed. That could not be further from the truth. I disagree. Farmers and communities in all of the impacted States disagree, and even the USDA disagrees.

The emergency supplemental appropriations bill has been stalled in the Senate for 4 long months, with no action and no relief for Americans who are suffering. American farmers are living through the worst economic crisis in 30 years, driven by low commodity prices, trade war pressures, and natural disasters. Those impacted have had their patience stretched thin and cannot wait any longer for disaster assistance that they were promised.

Right now, due to the disaster losses, farmers can't pay their operational loans from last year, nor can they get new loans to plant and operate this year. Planting season is now. We already are in the growing season, with conditions permitting normal growth. If we miss this window, it will have lasting effects on agriculture production, including food, fiber, building materials, and fuel, that will increase costs for American consumers all over this country.

We are about to enter the 2019 hurricane season, which starts June 1. So today I am once again supporting this emergency supplemental bill, as more disasters have hit since the last bill passed, the latest being terrible floods in the Midwest and tornadoes that ripped through Georgia and Alabama.

This expanded supplemental bill will provide for the needs of those who suffered in those disasters and will add $3 billion, bringing the appropriations total to $17.2 billion, which will cover all disasters and get much-needed funds to those who were devastated and affected by Hurricane Michael.

From coast to coast throughout the territories, there is an urgent need for this disaster bill. As I said last October, after touring the damage from Hurricane Michael with the President, Vice President, and the Secretary of Agriculture, responding to natural disasters and helping our communities recover is a responsibility that we all share, regardless of ideology or political affiliation. Failure to respond now will result in failures later and suffering later throughout this country.

Madam Chair, I urge my House and Senate colleagues to support this bill to finally bring relief to our long-suffering communities.

Madam Chair, I support the gentlewoman's amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Madam Chair, until the Midwest floods struck, the U.S. Department of Agriculture was fairly confident that the Emergency Watershed Protection Program needs were fully met with the $125 million that was in the bill. However, on April 25, the USDA advised us that the estimate had increased to $435 million with large funding needs in Iowa and in Nebraska, in particular. This amendment would bring the bill to that level. So I am therefore happy to support the amendment.

Madam Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Fortenberry), who is the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies of the Appropriations Committee.

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