Congressman Denny Rehberg

WASHINGTON, DC - Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg (R), today responded to reports the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers may ask for more funds and more time to complete the Fort Peck Fish Hatchery. In a letter to U.S. Army Corps Brigadier General William Grisoli, Rehberg asked for an explanation.

“While I understand that the details surrounding the problems are, at this point, speculative, the mere suggestion of any problem with that particular project concerns me greatly,” Rehberg, a member of a House Committee with jurisdiction over the Corps, said in his letter to Grisoli.

Congress, in 2000, authorized $20 million for the construction of the Fort Peck Fish Hatchery, to be overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“[M]y $10 million request [in FY2005] was to comprise the final appropriation of funds needed. However it now seems this may no longer be the case and, in fact, the Corps is signaling it will ask Congress to pass a supplemental authorization in order to add some 130,000 cubic yards of soil to the hatchery.”

The project, a multi-species, warm water fish hatchery, will raise federally endangered species, such as the pallid sturgeon, and improve warm water fishing opportunities in Montana while stimulating the local economy. The Fort Peck Fish Hatchery was scheduled for completion this year.

“I must insist that the Corps provide an explanation to me – and an account to the taxpayers – of where all this money is going,” Rehberg said. “Regardless of the contracting situation, the Corps is ultimately responsible for the successful, on-time, on-budget completion of the Fort Peck Fish Hatchery.”

LETTER:

May 25, 2004
Brigadier General William Grisoli
Commander, Northwestern Division
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
P.O. Box 2870
Portland, Oregon 97208

Dear General Grisoli:

I received a call today regarding problems with the soils at the Fort Peck Fish Hatchery construction site. While I understand that the details surrounding the problems are, at this point, speculative, the mere suggestion of any problem with that particular project concerns me greatly. Once completed, the Fort Peck Fish Hatchery will produce much needed fish for Montana’s sportsmen and provide much needed economic stimulus in an isolated region in Montana. Given the current state of affairs in Northeastern Montana, the completion of this project is critical.

As you are aware, in 2000 Congress authorized $20 million for the construction of the Fort Peck Fish Hatchery. The project is to be a multi-species, warm water fish hatchery that will raise federally endangered species, such as the pallid sturgeon, and improve warm water fishing opportunities in Montana. Since the project’s initial authorization, I have worked diligently with the rest of the delegation to ensure this project has been appropriately funded through the Congressional appropriations process.

Last year our appropriation earmarks secured $8 million in final construction money; however, the project did not remain on schedule for completion in 2004. This year, I again submitted a request for FY2005 monies to enable contractors to finish construction and ensure that the project stays on schedule for completion by spring of 2005. Based on information, planning, and advice from your Omaha District office, my $10 million request was to comprise the final appropriation of funds needed. However it now seems this may no longer be the case and, in fact, the Corps is signaling it will ask Congress to pass a supplemental authorization in order to add some 130,000 cubic yards of soil to the hatchery.

While I will do whatever is necessary to ensure the Corps completes this project, even asking for whatever continued authorizations and funding are necessary, I must insist that the Corps provide an explanation to me – and an account to the taxpayers – of where all this money is going. Regardless of the contracting situation, the Corps is ultimately responsible for the successful, on-time, on-budget completion of the Fort Peck Fish Hatchery.

Additionally, I would like to note a disturbing pattern I’ve observed involving the Corps-run Montana projects, including the construction problems at the Fort Peck Interpretive Center, this issue at the Fort Peck Fish Hatchery, and the continued releases from the Fort Peck Dam to feed downstream interests of the Missouri River Mainstem System. Each of these situations seems to underscore the Corps’ continued disregard for the wellbeing of Montana. Let me suggest that perhaps Corps personnel spend less time trying to pass blame for its problems with Montana’s projects and instead be more attentive to project oversight.

As I have suggested before, I am prepared to request an investigation into the Corps activities in Montana. My position as a Member of both the Transportation & Infrastructure and Resources Committees affords me such an opportunity. Make no mistake that Congressional investigations into the Corps’ actions remain an option.

I expect for the Fort Peck Fish Hatchery to be completed on-time and on-budget and without compromising any other Montana project.

Sincerely,

Denny Rehberg
Montana’s Congressman

WASHINGTON, DC - Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, today announced a $4.3 million grant has been awarded to Great Falls International airport. The amount, funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation, is part of a multi-phase project to upgrade the airport’s Instrument Landing System (ILS).

“This important upgrade will permit Great Falls International to maintain its landing capabilities in reduced visibility, when weather conditions deteriorate,” Rehberg, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said. “This will give Great Falls International the best approach, landing and rollout capabilities available, giving the airport authority another tool to lure new carriers and cargo operations to Great Falls.”

The grant announced today will fund Phase IV of a project to upgrade the airport’s 10,500 foot Runway 3/21 from its current ILS Category I system to a Category III Instrument Landing System. Category III permits precision instrument approaches with the lowest minimums possible. The new navigational aiding equipment will allow Great Falls International to support stabilized approach, landing, and rollout operations with no decision height, as opposed to its current 200-foot decision height limitation.

“This new Category III instrument approach and landing system represents state-of-the-art equipment that will perfectly enhance the extra-long main runway at Great Falls,” Rehberg, a helicopter pilot, said. “I want to see more cargo and commercial passenger service into Great Falls, and I’m certain this critical modernization and upgrade to the airport’s approach and landing capabilities will help enormously.”

WASHINGTON, DC - Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, with the support of 27 of his colleagues, today urged the chief tax-writing Member of the House to add an additional two-year tax delay on livestock sales in drought areas. The provision, if included in the House version of a manufacturing and trade bill, “would help preserve jobs in the agricultural community,” Rehberg said in the letter.

“Repeated drought conditions are forcing producers in Montana and neighboring states to sell their livestock with the hope that conditions will improve,” Rehberg explained. “If we can give these producers a tax delay on the sale of this livestock, it may encourage them to eventually reinvest the proceeds of these sales, which would be good for their business and good for the local economy.”

Twenty-seven other House Members added their signatures to Rehberg’s letter, addressed to House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas (R-California). In it, they request that Thomas’ tax-writing committee support an “additional two-year delay for the inclusion of income on the sale of excess cattle” in drought designated areas. The tax delay would apply only to producers using the exemption to reinvest in future production.

“The Senate has already included similar language in its bill,” Rehberg said. “Everyone in the industry supports the plan, because it gives producers the relief they need to hold on to their businesses, allowing them to concentrate on managing their herds.”

“In many agricultural communities, the loss of even one farm or ranch can be devastating,” Rehberg stated in his letter to Thomas, adding that the losses are “multiplied throughout the community, impacting local grocers, implement dealers, feed sellers, fuel suppliers, fertilizer sales, and the vitality of the community as a whole.”

“Providing an incentive for ranchers to eventually reinvest the proceeds of these sales will maintain jobs in the community and local economic development,” Rehberg wrote.

Letter Below:

May 18, 2004

The Honorable Chairman Bill Thomas
Committee on Ways and Means
1102 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20215

Dear Chairman Thomas:

We are writing to ask your support for a provision to be included in the House version of the FSC/ETI bill that would help preserve jobs in the agricultural community.

With the continuation of repeat drought conditions diminishing the availability of grass, producers that operate in drought designated areas are unable to sustain livestock. In far too many cases, producers are forced to sell their livestock and hope that conditions will improve.

Providing an incentive for ranchers to eventually reinvest the proceeds of these sales will maintain jobs in the community and local economic development.

In many agricultural communities, the loss of even one farm or ranch can be devastating. The effects of such losses are multiplied throughout the community, impacting local grocers, implement dealers, feed sellers, fuel suppliers, fertilizer sales, and the vitality of the community as a whole.

Therefore, in an attempt to sustain these operations, we respectfully ask that you support a provision that provides an additional two-year delay for the inclusion of income on the sale of excess cattle in a drought designated area. The additional two-year delay would be applied only if a producer uses this exemption to reinvest these monies into future production.

Approved by unanimous consent, the Senate has already included similar language. Widely supported by industry organizations and individuals, this four-year window will give producers the opportunity to maintain their business, while properly managing their herd.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

Sincerely,

Denny Rehberg (R-MT)

Richard Baker (R-LA) / Doug Bereuter (R-NE) / Rob Bishop (R-UT) / Ken Calvert (R-CA)
John Carter (R-TX) / Barbara Cubin (R-WY) / Tom Feeney (R-FL) / Jim Gibbons (R-NV)
Joel Hefley (R-CO) / John Hostettler (R-IN) / Johnny Isakson (R-GA) / Steve King (R-IA)
Tom Latham (R-IA) / Howard McKeon (R-CA) / Jerry Moran (R-KS) / Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)
Tom Osborne (R-NE) / CL “Butch” Otter (R-ID) / Steve Pearce (R-NM) / John Peterson (R-PA)
Richard Pombo (R-CA) / Rick Renzi (R-AZ) / Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) / Michael Simpson (R-ID)
John Sullivan (R-OK) / Lee Terry (R-NE) / Greg Walden (R-OR)

WASHINGTON, DC - Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, (R) said today the federal government should curb its land buying spree and instead fully fund the Payment-In-Lieu-of-Taxes (PILT) program. Rehberg said the PILT funding is needed in rural states, such as Montana, which encompass large amounts of federal acreage that cannot be tapped for local tax revenues.

“This federal compensation is critical to Montana counties, which lose revenue needed to maintain schools and vital local services,” Rehberg, a member the House Agriculture and Resources Committees, said. “The problem for Montana is that Congress is not fully-funding the program as it should, meaning our county governments are strapped while the federal government continues to gobble more land that can’t properly be maintained.”

Since 1977, revenue from the PILT program served as compensation to Montana’s counties, offsetting property taxes that cannot be levied on the nontaxable federal lands within their boundaries. The annual recompense, calculated on the amount of federal entitlement acreage within each county, is designed to help Montana’s county governments maintain local services, such as housing, public safety, social services, and transportation.

“Although the PILT program has been authorized at $340 million, it is only receiving $226 million in the President’s budget for Fiscal Year 2005,” Rehberg said in letter urging House appropriators to fully fund the program. “At the same time, the President has provided over $220 million for new federal land acquisition in his budget, which would add to the counties’ need for more PILT funding.”

This year Montana’s counties received a total of $16,874,448 in PILT funds.

Letter Below:

The Honorable Charles Taylor
Chairman
Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies
House Committee on Appropriations
B308 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Taylor:

As you consider funding for the Fiscal Year 2005 Department of Interior and U.S. Forest Service budgets, we would like to highlight the need to fully fund the Payment-in-Lieu-of-Taxes program (PILT) by reducing funding for more federal land acquisition.

We believe this can be accomplished by finding savings of $170 million in the combined federal land acquisition money in the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) account for both the Department of Interior and the U.S. Forest Service and then shifting $114 million of that money to fully fund the PILT program.

This shift in funding would raise PILT funding from $226 million in the President’s Fiscal Year 2005 budget to $340 million, which is the fully authorized level. The remaining savings in federal land acquisition money would be used to reduce overall discretionary spending by $56 million, thus contributing to deficit reduction.

It is important to note that under this proposal $50 million would remain for federal land acquisition authority in the budget for emergency federal land acquisition to protect private property owners who must sell their land.

The need for fully funding PILT instead of continuing to fund more federal land acquisition is clear. As you know, PILT funding goes to counties with high percentages of federal land. Counties can not draw tax revenue from these federal lands, and PILT funds provide the funding for schools, roads, and public safety programs that local tax revenue would usually pay for.

Although the PILT program has been authorized at $340 million, it is only receiving $226 million in the President’s budget for Fiscal Year 2005. That is one million more than last year’s level, but woefully short of what is needed. At the same time, the President has provided over $220 million for new federal land acquisition in his budget, which would add to the counties’ need for more PILT funding.

It is important to note that cutting the $170 million for new federal land acquisition would not affect the remaining $730 million in the President’s budget for the LWCF, which includes state money as well as the President’s Cooperative Conservation Initiative.

It is also important to note that this request is consistent with report language included in the Fiscal Year 2005 House Budget Resolution stating that the budget resolution could accommodate full funding the PILT program and that further reductions in federal land acquisition should be made.

Your favorable consideration of this request, which is so important to Western and rural counties, would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

FAA agrees to establish expedited process to inspect firefighting air tankers for airworthiness

WASHINGTON, DC - Following a meeting today with Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, and House leaders, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) agreed to work expeditiously with the Forest Service to develop a system for inspecting for airworthiness the U.S. Forest Service firefighting air tanker fleet. The meeting was convened following a House Forests and Forest Health Subcommittee hearing last week in which Rehberg blasted federal officials for unfairly penalizing companies like Missoula-based Neptune in deciding to ground the entire air tanker fleet at the beginning of the fire season.

“We can’t allow federal officials to fiddle while Montana’s forests burn. It’s critical that we break this bureaucratic logjam,” Rehberg, a Member of the three House Committees with jurisdiction over the matter, said. “Canceling these air-tanker contracts hurts Montana’s ability to fight wildfires, threatens lives and communities, and puts Neptune and other honest businesses, which play by the rules, out of business.”

The Forest Service grounded the tanker fleet after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) expressed concern with the agency’s process for ensuring the airworthiness of some planes. The concerns arose following an NTSB investigation of three air tanker crashes over the last decade. However, the NTSB does not have the regulatory authority to inspect and certify the planes, and the FAA is not required to certify contracted Forest Service aircraft. Today’s meeting brought federal and Congressional officials together to find a way to safely return the much-needed air tankers into service.

“I’m optimistic this meeting will result in an expedited process by which the FAA will inspect and approve private tankers to allow them to fulfill their role in protecting rural homes and communities from the threat of catastrophic wildfire,” Rehberg said. “I wanted them to understand that it’s wildfire season in Montana, that we’re in our seventh straight year of drought, and that grounding the entire fleet was a sweeping and unfair overreaction that has to be corrected as soon as possible.”

In attendance at today’s meeting along with House leaders were NTSB Chairman Ellen Engleman Conners, FAA Associate Administrator for Safety Nick Sabitini, USDA Deputy Undersecretary Dave Tenny, USDA Undersecretary Mark Rey and Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth participated in the meeting.

BILLINGS, MT - Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg (R), has scheduled a 3:15 p.m. meeting on Friday, May 21, with drought-effected farmers at the Columbus City Hall Courtroom (408 East 1st Avenue North). Rehberg will present a drought relief proposal that includes exempting certain farmers from having to repay a portion of their 2003 counter-cyclical payments, as well as changing the Tax Code to provide a two-year deferral of the taxable gain on the sale of cattle in drought designated areas.

“The financial hardship facing producers in Montana is staggering,” Rehberg, a Billings area rancher who sits on the House Agriculture Committee, said. “We need comprehensive drought relief before it’s too late.”

Last month, the USDA announced that certain producers might have to repay a portion of their 2003 crop year counter-cyclical payments. But Rehberg said severe drought conditions will make it “very difficult for farmers in Montana and other drought-affected states” to make those repayments, and that he is ready to introduce legislation that will exempt producers in disaster declared counties from having to repay.

“I’ve asked Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman to declare all of Montana eligible for drought disaster relief and to open Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acreage for emergency haying and grazing,” Rehberg said. He has also asked Veneman to provide 50/50 hay cost-shares for livestock producers and allow additional payment deferments on Farm Service Agency (FSA) loans.

Rehberg sent a letter to House tax panel members urging the taxable gain deferral on cattle sales. He is also behind legislation that would establish a National Drought Council to develop a National Drought Policy Action Plan, a blueprint aimed at improving federal drought planning and response. In 2002, Rehberg was instrumental in securing $2.3 million in federal drought relief.

USDA Under Secretary to face Rehberg at 11 a.m. Forest & Forest Health Subcommittee Hearing

WASHINGTON, DC - Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, has a number of questions waiting for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials regarding Monday’s decision by the agency to cancel 33 air-tanker aerial firefighting contracts, including Montana-based Neptune Aviation. The questioning begins this morning when the House Forest & Forest Health Subcommittee convenes at 11:00 a.m. (Eastern).

“The decision to cancel these air-tanker contracts will hurt Montana’s immediate need to fight wildfires, not to mention effectively putting Neptune out of business,” Rehberg, a Member of the three House Committees with jurisdiction over the matter. “We can’t allow bureaucracy to fiddle while our forests burn and lives and communities are put at risk.”

Last year, Rehberg thwarted efforts that would have essentially shut down private air tankers, such as Neptune. As a member of last year’s Defense Authorization Conference Committee, Rehberg worked to weaken a section in the bill that would have replaced Neptune and other private aerial firefighters with government-run, military aerial firefighter units.

Rehberg, a Member of the House Resources, Agriculture and Transportation & Infrastructure Committees, said he was “shocked and disappointed” to learn that the USDA and the Department of the Interior cancelled the contracts, saying the abrupt decision “left me questioning the logic behind it.”

“In canceling these contracts, the bureaucrats have put Montana’s communities at further risk, with delayed response time and diminished firefighting effectiveness – is this really what they want?” Rehberg asked. “I want answers, not excuses. We need solutions, now, because wildfire season has already begun, and we simply can’t wait.”

Bill co-sponsored by Rehberg will protect more than one-in-four Montana taxpayers from an average tax increase of $2,400 over the next decade.

WASHINGTON, DC - Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg (R), today voted for legislation that makes permanent the lower 10-percent tax bracket enjoyed by 73 million working people. “Without the measure,” Rehberg, who co-sponsored the bill, pointed out, “more than one-in-four Montanans will be paying higher taxes next year” when the 10-percent tax bracket narrows to include fewer low-income workers and families. The House approved the measure, 344 to 76.

“The plain and simple fact is this tax relief has allowed thousands of Montanan’s to keep their own, hard-earned money,” Rehberg said. “Out of the 427,000 individual federal tax returns filed in Montana last year, more than 103,000 qualified for the 10% tax bracket, compared to the previous 15% bracket. That’s money staying in the pockets of lower middle class families and individuals where it’s needed.”

The 2001 jobs plan created a temporary 10-percent tax bracket, decreasing the lowest tax rate from 15 percent and alleviating the tax burden felt by America’s lowest-income workers. The 10-percent rate applies to the first $7,000 of taxable income for single taxpayers, and $14,000 in taxable income for joint filers.

However, unless Congress acts, taxes will increase on low-income individuals, beginning next year, with the gradual phase-out of the 10-percent bracket by 2011 – effectively increasing taxes on all of Montana’s low-income workers.

“Without this bill, more than one-in-four Montana taxpayers are going to see their taxes increase by 50%. I won’t stand by and let that happen,” Rehberg said. “I urge the Senate to do the right thing and pass this bill. Washington has a responsibility to prevent these kind of harmful tax increases.”

WASHINGTON, DC - Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg (R), today introduced legislation to protect the water level at Montana’s Fort Peck Lake. Rehberg immediately requested a hearing on his bill.

“My legislation places Montana’s fishing and recreation interests ahead of the downstream barge industry,” Rehberg said. “The Corps’ practice of releasing water from Montana, in its sixth year of serious drought, has had the effect of draining our state’s lifeblood, compromising Montana’s fishing, tourism, and recreation industries. This measure aims to put an end to that.”

Rehberg introduced the “Fort Peck Protection Act” after seeking input from Montana sportsmen and conservation organizations, such as American Rivers and the Walleyes, International. The measure would prohibit the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from releasing water from Fort Peck Dam if the water level of Fort Peck Lake is 20 feet or more below the reservoir’s full pool, effectively setting 2,226 feet as the minimum lake level for Fort Peck.

Concluding that the “biological and ecological resources at Fort Peck Lake, Montana, are compromised by drought and a lack of water,” the bill requires the Corps to “manage the Missouri River Basin in a way that imparts equal emphasis on each of its uses, including flood control, navigation, recreation, and conservation of fish and wildlife (including threatened and endangered species).”

“I’m simply insisting that the federal government treat Montana fairly when it comes to protecting threatened species and local economies,” Rehberg, a member of the U.S. House Committee on Resources, said. “If the Corps’ is allowed to proceed with its idiotic policy, Fort Peck Lake will soon become a desert – all to satisfy larger downstream populations with exaggerated industry concerns.”

# # #

…………………………………………………………..

(Original Signature of Member)

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. _______

To prohibit the Secretary of the Army from releasing water from Fort

Peck Dam if the water level of Fort Peck Lake is 20 feet or more

below the reservoir’s full pool, and for other purposes.

_______________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Mr. REHBERG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on _______________________

A BILL

To prohibit the Secretary of the Army from releasing water

from Fort Peck Dam if the water level of Fort Peck

Lake is 20 feet or more below the reservoir’s full pool,

and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-

tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fort Peck Lake Protection Act’’.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:

(1) 2004 is the 6th consecutive year of severe

drought in the State of Montana.

(2) The biological and ecological resources at

Fort Peck Lake, Montana, are compromised by

drought and a lack of water.

(3) The Secretary of the Army should manage

the Missouri River Basin in a way that imparts

equal emphasis on each of its uses, including flood

control, navigation, recreation, and conservation of

fish and wildlife (including threatened and endan-

gered species).

SEC. 3. FORT PECK LAKE, MONTANA.

The project for flood control and other purposes, Fort

Peck Lake, Montana, authorized by section 9 of the Act

entitled ‘‘An Act authorizing the construction of certain

public works on rivers and harbors for flood control, and

for other purposes’’, approved December 22, 1944 (58

Stat. 891), is modified to prohibit the Secretary of the

Army from releasing water from Fort Peck Dam if the

water level of Fort Peck Lake is 20 feet or more below

the reservoir’s full pool. If the Secretary does release water

from Fort Peck Dam, the outflow from the release may

not exceed the volume of water flowing into the lake, as

measured in average daily cubic feet per second.

###

WASHINGTON, DC - Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg (R), today urged U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman to make the entire state of Montana eligible for drought disaster relief, and announced he will introduce legislation to exempt drought-affected farmers from having to return 2003 overpayments to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Rehberg is a member of the House Agriculture Committee.

“Today I’m announcing a five-point comprehensive approach to drought relief that will help farmers, ranchers and communities in Montana,” Rehberg said. “In addition to my legislation and call for statewide drought disaster relief, I’ve urged Secretary Veneman to open Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acreage for emergency haying and grazing, 50/50 hay cost-shares for livestock producers, and additional payment deferments on Farm Service Agency (FSA) loans.”

Last week, the USDA announced that certain producers might have to repay a portion of their 2003 crop year counter-cyclical payments. In a letter to Veneman today, Rehberg said severe drought conditions will make it “very difficult for farmers in Montana and other drought-affected states” to repay the surplus.

“In light of this additional financial hardship facing farmers in Montana and neighboring states,” Rehberg wrote, “I intend to introduce legislation that exempts producers in disaster declared counties from having to repay their 2003 counter-cyclical overpayments. In the case of wheat, the overpayment is as little as 3 cents per bushel or roughly $1 dollar per acre in Montana. However, this money can make all the difference in the bottom-line of many producers.”

Rehberg has also introduced legislation to establish the National Drought Council, comprising government, tribal, and civic representatives charged with developing a comprehensive National Drought Policy Action Plan to improve federal drought programs, refine forecasting and monitoring capabilities, and develop new tools for drought planning.

May 5, 2003

Secretary Ann Veneman
United States Department of Agriculture
200 Administration Building
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20250

Dear Secretary Veneman,

I would like to thank you for recently naming eleven Montana counties and three Indian reservations disaster areas due to ongoing drought conditions in the state. With Montana in its sixth — and in some areas seventh — year of prolonged drought, farmers, ranchers and communities continue to experience financial difficulties from the severe conditions.

I urge you to consider declaring the remainder of the state of Montana drought disaster areas. Designating the remainder of the state will enable all of Montana’s producers to apply for low-interest loans and other disaster assistance plans. I also encourage you to look at further producer relief measures such as opening Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acreage for emergency haying and grazing, 50/50 hay cost-shares for livestock producers and additional payment deferments on Farm Service Agency (FSA) loans.

There is also another very serious drought-related problem facing producers that I would like to bring to your attention. Last week, USDA announced producers might be required to repay a portion of their 2003 crop year counter-cyclical payments. The 2002 Farm Bill requires this repayment, but severe drought conditions have stretched budgets, and it will be very difficult for farmers in Montana and other drought-affected states to make the payment or even have the surplus withheld from future payments.

In light of this additional financial hardship facing farmers in Montana and neighboring states, I intend to introduce legislation that exempts producers in disaster declared counties from having to repay their 2003 counter-cyclical overpayments. In the case of wheat, the overpayment is as little as 3 cents per bushel or roughly $1 dollar per acre in Montana. However, this money can make all the difference in the bottom-line of many producers. I respectfully ask your support for this common-sense legislation.

Thank you for your consideration and attention to these matters. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Denny Rehberg
Montana’s Congressman