February 09, 2001
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., and 18 other senators are sponsoring a resolution that calls for a new farm bill to be passed this year, Sarbanes office said Thursday.
According to the resolution, S. Res. 13, "many agriculture-dependent rural economies have continued to experience serious economic hardships," despite the economic boom during the last few years.
The resolution would seek a bill that would make criteria for farm disaster relief more consistent and equalize the distribution of disaster payments.
S. Res. 13 also asks Congress to set aside funds for a farm income safety net and provide funding for farm-related development, telecommunications, conservation, research, nutrition and food safety.
"Our Maryland family farmers confronted a serious situation in 1999 with a double whammy of low commodity prices and severe drought, which depleted their financial resources," Sarbanes said.:
