03/06/07 Pelosi says House will have disaster aid

Farm and Ranch March 6, 2007 As agricultural groups have tried to get disaster assistance through Congress that past few years the stumbling block has been in the U.S. House of Representatives. But the House is now under Democratic control and Speaker Nancy Pelosi has told the annual convention of the National Farmers Union that this month's House Appropriations supplemental bill will include disaster relief for agricultural producers. Pelosi said we recognize the pressing, urgent need to provide agricultural disaster assistance to our rural communities in times of flood, drought, and other natural disasters. That supplemental spending bill is expected before the House later this month. The wheat industry has pushed for energy assistance for high fuel and fertilizer costs to be part of disaster assistance, something Washington Republican Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rogers agrees with. McMorris Rodgers: "It is important that we have some energy assistance for our farmers. It has been a consistent theme that increased fuel and fertilizer costs are just taking away the profits. So, it needs to be a priority. The Chairman of the committee in the House has been a real champion of getting energy assistance so I am hopeful. I was hopeful though last fall that we would see some energy assistance." The Bush Administration has been opposed to disaster assistance and Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns told a Senate panel last week any disaster assistance must be offset with reduced spending elsewhere in agriculture. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.