Congress Has Finally Passed A Drought Relief Amendment

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The good news for area farmers and ranchers is that Congress has finally passed a drought relief amendment. The bad news is that the money is too little and very, very late. Of the $3.1 billion in the drought assistance package, Nebraska producers will be eligible for Omega Replica Watches only $ 160 million. Most age economists and experts place the damage suffered last year by Nebraskans at the $1.2 billion figure. Nebraska U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel was the sponsor of this drought relief package and considers the bill to be immediate, real and responsible. Hagel's Democratic counterpart, Sen. Ben Nelson opposed the amendment saying that it didn't go deep enough to provide more relief to Nebraska producers. We agree with Nelson.

Hagel is to be commended in pushing through his bill and allowing some money to reach the producers. It was shameful to watch the Congress waste valuable time in getting a drought package approved this past year. However, Nelson is right in that the funding is not enough and should have come sooner. It is estimated by some economists that ...
... as many as 20 000 family farms could be lost as a result of the drought and the government's slow response for aid. In a state like Nebraska, the loss of family farms means that more families will be looking to relocate to the eastern end of the state and the quality of life in most small towns will be further eroded.

We hope that the drought problem will be addressed again, especially in light of the dire moisture predictions for the state this spring and summer. Another parched summer will be devastating to Nebraska farmers and ranchers. The Congress should not feel that Audemar Piguet Replica they are done with this problem. It is also disheartening to see the drought package and farm issues in general be tossed around like the other political footballs in Congress. Nelson is again right when he points out that the tax cuts will be meaningless to area farmers who will have no income to benefit from those cuts.

We hope I lagel and Nelson can come together to create a united effort to represent the
interests of Nebraska farmers at a time when the state really needs their senators to stand
tall.