Thursday, November 9, 2006
CONTACT: Barry E. Piatt
or Brenden Timpe
PHONE: 202-224-2551
SENATORS DORGAN AND CONRAD ASK MAJORITY LEADER FRIST TO BRING AGRICULTURE DISASTER LEGISLATION TO A VOTE IN REMAINING WEEKS OF CONGRESS
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — Senators Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad asked Majority Leader Bill Frist in a letter Thursday to bring agriculture legislation to a vote when the lame duck session of Congress begins on November 13. They have fought repeatedly to pass disaster relief legislation that has been continuously blocked by the threat of a veto from President Bush.
In the letter, Dorgan and Conrad stated, “The brutal drought left hundreds of thousands of crop acres withered and dead, and forced ranchers to sell off herds due to lack of available feed. These family farmers and ranchers have sustained very real losses and deserve the help of the federal government just as we have already provided to those in the Gulf region.”
Senators Dorgan and Conrad said that North Dakota farmers and ranchers have waited long enough for disaster relief, and the vote is long overdue. Both Senators have worked to attach an agriculture disaster package to several appropriations bills, including the still-pending measure to fund the Department of Agriculture in fiscal year 2007, as well as offering the legislation as a stand-alone bill.
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