News Releases for September 2007
September 17, 2007
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Hoeven Ag Advisor Lance Gaebe Joins Farmers To Lobby For Farm Bill In D.C.
BISMARCK, N.D. – Gov. John Hoeven's Deputy Chief of Staff Lance Gaebe will travel to Washington, D.C. today to join North Dakota farmers in lobbying for the farm bill. Gaebe will join with a group of farmers and ranchers organized by North Dakota Farmers Union, who will be on Capitol Hill this week to press for inclusion of a disaster title in the final draft of the legislation.
"Getting a strong farm bill is important for North Dakota," Hoeven said. "The House version was a good start, and now we must focus on getting a good bill through the Senate. We'll continue to work for disaster assistance in a bipartisan manner. The best solution, we believe, is a disaster title, but if not, there needs to be improvement to crop insurance programs that help farmers manage their risk."
Hoeven has been in Washington to work on the farm bill, most recently in July when he met with leaders in both the House and Senate, as well as administration officials. He met with Rep. Collin Peterson, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Sen. Saxby Chambliss, ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and members of the North Dakota congressional delegation. He also met with the President's agriculture advisor Hunter Moorhead and Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns.
Hoeven has outlined the priorities that need to be included in a good farm bill for North Dakota. That includes a sound countercyclical safety net for producers; either a disaster title or improved crop insurance to help address weather-related agriculture disasters; and solid renewable energy and conservation titles.
The provisions were included in the bill that has passed the House in July, although the disaster assistance in that legislation is in the form of a gap insurance policy, which Hoeven said needs more work. The Governor told lawmakers and administration officials that the disaster assistance needed to be included in the final version of the bill as a disaster title when the Senate takes it up.
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