Bipartisan disaster package includes $21 billion in disaster relief for farmers & $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers facing tough economic conditions
In first days after Hurricane Helene, Sen. Ossoff led a bipartisan, bicameral group of 34 lawmakers urging Congressional Leadership to pass disaster relief for agricultural producers
Last month, Sen. Ossoff testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations on the urgent need to support Georgia agriculture by end of the year
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is delivering on his promise to pass disaster assistance for Georgia farmers after Hurricane Helene.
Tonight, the U.S. Senate passed bipartisan legislation that includes $21 billion in agricultural disaster funding, which can help Georgia farmers recovering from the disastrous impacts of Hurricane Helene and farmers nationwide impacted by natural disasters. It also includes $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers who have struggled in recent years with difficult market conditions, cheap imports, and rising costs, for which Sen. Ossoff has also fought.
Tonight, Sen. Ossoff released the following statement:
“Before, during, and after Hurricane Helene, I’ve been in constant contact with Georgia farmers, and I took their message directly to the White House and the Congress: deliver hurricane aid NOW.
“Tonight, we’ve done it, passing disaster and economic assistance for Georgia farmers.
“After Hurricane Michael, it took Congress over 8 months. After Helene, we’ve done it in under 90 days.
“I’ll never stop fighting for Georgia’s number one industry. Georgia farmers sustain Georgia’s rural communities and feed our great Nation.”
In September, in the immediate days after Hurricane Helene, Sen. Ossoff and Congressman Austin Scott (GA-08), alongside Georgia’s entire Congressional Delegation, led a bipartisan, bicameral group of 34 lawmakers from Southeastern states urging Congressional Leadership to ensure disaster relief resources are made available to agricultural producers following the devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene.
Then again last month, 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.
Georgia’s agricultural industries were decimated by Hurricane Helene, including hurricane-force winds and torrential rains that 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. The Georgia Pecan Growers Association reported that 48,000 acres of pecan orchards were damaged with a loss of nearly 400,000 trees, and the Georgia Poultry Federation reported that 495 poultry houses took significant damage, including 295 that were completely lost.
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