Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2007

AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2007

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Chairman, I rise in favor of the amendment offered by my colleague from Minnesota.

Whether it is breeding grounds in the north or wintering grounds in the south, the Wetland Reserve Program--WRP--is worthy of strong funding. Besides wildlife habitat restoration, WRP has an impressive record of providing flood protection, improving water quality and conserving water quantity.

Farmer interest in these programs greatly exceeds the availability of funds. For example, in 2005 in my district, there were 240 farmers with unfunded applications totaling 34,000 acres and $49 million. These lands are marginal, high risk lands that are vulnerable both to floods and droughts because of the high content of hydric soils. These marginal lands detract from a farmer's cash flow and tend to experience repeated losses requiring disaster recovery assistance. Furthermore, it has been shown that WRP can reduce expenses in Federal crop insurance and other farm programs.

WRP provides a lump sum easement payment that assists financially distressed farmers. The easement payment may be used to pay off current debts or to meet current operating fund needs. Additionally, WRP may provide farmers with both a temporary alternative source of income through the wetlands restoration contract and a permanent source of income from the recreational and lease hunting income generated by the restored wetland wildlife habitat. The public benefits from both the reduced demand placed on disaster assistance funds from lands that previously experienced repeated losses and from significant long-term conservation benefits obtained from the protection of wildlife habitat, improvement of water quality, increase of flood storage and reduction of soil erosion.

As the ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee, I have seen avian influenza become increasingly more important. Although there has not been a case of a human contracting the disease from a wild bird anywhere in the world, it is feasible. The more we can disperse wild birds and improve their overall health, the less risk we will have, especially in an area that my colleague from Minnesota and I represent, the Mississippi Flyway.

Let's not continue with empty rhetoric of supporting the 2002 farm bill. In 2002 we passed a farm bill consisting of an annual 250,000 acres of land to be enrolled in the WRP. If we are going to say that we support the 2002 farm bill, then we should support this amendment because it does just that and I strongly encourage its adoption.

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