Brady Joins Colleagues To Provide Emergency Farm Financial Relief For The Eighth District
Legislation would make over $5 billion available to farmers

Washington, D.C. -- The Eighth District farmers hit hard by this summer's drought may find much-needed relief under a bill co-sponsored by U.S. Representative Kevin Brady. Brady today joined House Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Smith (R-OR) to introduce legislation that would provide significant financial assistance to farmers to help them cope with the drought.

"The Emergency Farm Financial Relief Act will provide the Eighth District farmers the option of receiving all of their Agricultural Market Transition Act (AMTA) contract payments for 1999 in October of this year. Essentially, this plan will provide farmers with an interest-free cash loan of up to a year, and it gets the money to farmers sooner rather than later," said Brady. Currently, annual payments are made two times a year, the first coming in December 1998.

The drought is close to becoming the worst natural disaster in Texas history. According to an economist at Texas A&M University, the drought will eliminate 40,000 Texas jobs - the equivalent of every man, woman and child in Texas City, Texas.

The bill was announced at a news conference this afternoon in the U.S. Capitol. In addition, lawmakers called upon the Clinton Administration to fully utilize the Export Enhancement Administration (EEP), a program designed to help open up foreign markets for U.S. agricultural products.

Brady recently brought members of the European Parliament to Texas in an effort to open up the large European market to agriculture and bio-medicine.

H.R. 4265, The Emergency Farm Financial Relief Act, is supported by numerous members of Congress whose states have been hard hit by the drought. Furthermore, Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich indicated he will hold a vote on the bill next week in the U.S. House of Representatives.