Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act of 2025

Floor Speech

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Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, my home State of Nebraska is currently facing devastating wildfires, the worst in our State's history. Yesterday, I, along with Senator Ricketts, Congressman Adrian Smith, and our Governor Jim Pillen welcomed U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins to Nebraska so that she could meet firsthand with responders and ag producers who have experienced incredible damage.

Across the State, more than 800,000 acres and counting have burned, turning grasslands to ash. We saw this firsthand up close. Family farms and ranchers have watched hundreds of miles of fences burn. They have done everything they can to protect their livestock.

The coming weeks and months will be difficult. Fences will need to be rebuilt. Grazing plans will need to change. Entire seasons of work will likely need to be reconsidered.

While recovery will be difficult, we should do everything in our power to ensure that disaster recovery programs at the USDA can support our farmers and ranchers during this difficult time.

It was feedback from ag producers in previous years' wildfires that led me to introduce my bipartisan Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act. The goal of this legislation is to expedite Federal cost sharing following these natural disasters, just like the wildfires burning across Nebraska right now.

My bill would ensure that the Emergency Conservation Program eligibility can be triggered faster in response to a wildfire and provide flexibility for the producers completing the rehabilitative work.

In times of crisis, Nebraskans deserve relief, not additional burdens. The Emergency Conservation Program's current distribution system, well, it too often fails to provide the support it was designed to offer. We need to streamline the recovery process so we can restore agricultural land more quickly following emergencies like these tragic wildfires.

This legislation won't solve all the challenges Nebraska's producers are facing, but it would meaningfully improve this disaster recovery program.

That is why I am asking my colleagues to join my bipartisan effort to improve the Emergency Conservation Program. This is a bipartisan piece of legislation that has already passed through the Senate and the House Ag Committees in various packages.

Farmers and ranchers not only in Nebraska but all across America will have more security and stability because of it.

629 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

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