{"id":24922,"date":"2024-11-20T11:52:31","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T16:52:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/?post_type=press-releases&p=24922"},"modified":"2024-11-20T11:52:32","modified_gmt":"2024-11-20T16:52:32","slug":"watch-sen-ossoff-presses-both-parties-on-urgency-of-agricultural-disaster-assistance-for-georgia","status":"publish","type":"press-releases","link":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/press-releases\/watch-sen-ossoff-presses-both-parties-on-urgency-of-agricultural-disaster-assistance-for-georgia\/","title":{"rendered":"WATCH: Sen. Ossoff Presses Both Parties on Urgency of Agricultural Disaster Assistance for Georgia"},"content":{"rendered":"

VIDEO FOOTAGE: Sen. Ossoff testifies before the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe must refuse the temptation to delay or to get dragged into politics. We must swiftly pass disaster assistance by the end of the year,\u201d Sen. Ossoff testifies<\/strong><\/em><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington, D.C.<\/strong> \u2014 U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff today pressed both parties on the urgency of passing agricultural disaster assistance for Georgia before the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This morning, Sen. Ossoff testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations on the urgent need to support Georgia agriculture after the devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe numbers are staggering, but this isn\u2019t about numbers. It\u2019s about families and rural communities, and without our help, the simple fact is that many of these family farms will fold, and they may fold soon. They\u2019re staring at devastated farmland and orchards, they\u2019re deep in the red, and they\u2019re under immense stress. If they go under, our rural communities go under. The local tax base funding schools and infrastructure is destroyed. And the rural way of life in Georgia risks disappearing altogether,\u201dSen. Ossoff testified.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe must refuse the temptation to delay or to get dragged into politics. We must swiftly pass disaster assistance by the end of the year. My constituents and Americans in every state hit by this terrible storm and hit by natural disasters for the last several years are counting on all of us,\u201d Sen. Ossoff continued.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September, in the days after Hurricane Helene, Sen. Ossoff and Congressman Austin Scott (GA-08), alongside Georgia\u2019s entire Congressional Delegation, led a bipartisan, bicameral group of 34 lawmakers<\/a> from Southeastern states urging Congressional Leadership to ensure disaster relief resources are made available to agricultural producers following the devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here to watch Sen. Ossoff\u2019s full testimony<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Please find a transcript of Sen. Ossoff\u2019s testimony below:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEN. OSSOFF<\/strong>: \u201cChair Murray, Vice Chair Collins, thank you for this opportunity to brief the Committee on the dire conditions faced by Georgia farmers in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGeorgia farmers, and farmers in neighboring states, are suffering deeply, and Congress must proceed urgently to pass disaster relief by the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGeorgia agriculture was devastated by this hurricane, and I respectfully urge this Committee to swiftly send the full Senate a disaster relief bill that includes vital assistance for Georgia farmers, who are in acute distress and who are the backbone of Georgia\u2019s rural communities and our State\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHurricane-force winds and torrential rains destroyed fall crops still in the field, knocked down pecan orchards that growers spent decades cultivating, and damaged a million and a half acres of timberland \u2013 a million and a half acres of timberland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn addition to the agricultural devastation, Georgia suffered severe damage to the power grid, to businesses, housing, roads, and other critical infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVirtually every crop and commodity produced in Georgia has been seriously damaged, including poultry, cotton, timber, beef cattle, blueberries, pecans, peanuts, tobacco, vegetables, citrus, soybeans, nursery crops, and dairy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Georgia Pecan Growers Association reports that 48,000 acres of pecan orchards were damaged with a loss of nearly 400,000 trees.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPecan growers like Scott Hudson, a fifth-generation family farmer whose family also runs a cleaning and processing plant, faces 60-70 percent crop loss and 20-30 percent tree loss for their older trees, which will take 10-20 years to replace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTaylor and Arren Moses in Uvalda estimate that they\u2019ve lost 85 percent of their 800 acres of trees. They won\u2019t be able to save a single tree from the first orchard they planted in 2007.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Georgia Poultry Federation reports that 495 poultry houses took significant damage, including 295 that were completely lost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVann Wooten, a county commissioner in Jeff Davis County, who\u2019s raised chickens for 31 years, saw all 10 of his chicken houses destroyed, many with birds still inside. Without our help, he isn\u2019t sure now whether he\u2019ll be able to return to raising chickens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe University of Georgia estimates that Georgia vegetable producers lost 25-30 percent of the fall crop. T.J. Moore\u2019s grandfather started farming in 1964. Now, he, his brother, and their parents grow green beans, eggplant, bell peppers, cucumbers, and more, and due to the storm, they expect this fall to sell less than 30 percent of their normal crop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Clinch County, blueberries make up 35 percent of the loan portfolio at the local bank. In some of State Senator Russ Goodman\u2019s fields, a full quarter of the plants are broken off and blown over, which will also hurt next year\u2019s crop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI emphasize again, one and a half million acres of Georgia timberland have been damaged, and we\u2019re projected to have lost 500,000-600,000 bales of cotton, or nearly one-third of our cotton crop. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cColleagues, the numbers are staggering, but this isn\u2019t about numbers. It\u2019s about families and rural communities, and without our help, the simple fact is that many of these family farms will fold, and they may fold soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019re staring at devastated farmland and orchards, they\u2019re deep in the red, and they\u2019re under immense stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf they go under, our rural communities go under. The local tax base funding schools and infrastructure is destroyed and the rural way of life in Georgia risks disappearing altogether. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe know what we need to do, and the fact that my colleague, Senator Tillis and I are here before you, a Democrat and a Republican, urging speed to achieve this essential goal, I hope, is testimony to the urgency of bipartisan action before the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe must refuse the temptation to delay or to get dragged into politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe must swiftly pass disaster assistance by the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy constituents and Americans in every state hit by this terrible storm and hit by natural disasters for the last several years are counting on all of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd that’s why I’m so grateful again, Chair Murray and Vice Chair Collins and members of the Committee, for the privilege of appearing before you today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

# # #<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VIDEO FOOTAGE: Sen. Ossoff testifies before the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations \u201cWe must refuse the temptation to delay or to get dragged into politics. We must swiftly pass disaster assistance by the end of the year,\u201d Sen. Ossoff testifies Washington, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff today pressed both parties on the urgency of passing agricultural […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24922","press-releases","type-press-releases","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/24922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-releases"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/70"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/24922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24926,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/24922\/revisions\/24926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}