Rep. Eric Massa Urges Immediate Assistance For Dairy Farmers

17 other members of Congress sign onto the Massa letter

10/14/09 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - Last night Rep. Eric Massa, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, sent a letter which he wrote to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack urging immediate MILC assistance for dairy farmers. The letter, which was signed by a bipartisan group of 17 other members of Congress, called for a November 15th release of $290 million in dairy farmer assistance payments recently approved in the FY 2010 Agriculture Appropriations bill.

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America has never seen such a crisis in the dairy industry and without the immediate delivery of these critical funds, many dairy farmers will see their livelihood lost.

"Dairy farmers, both large and small, cannot wait any longer," said Congressman Eric Massa. "We've already approved these critical funds, so I see no reason why they shouldn't be distributed immediately as USDA emergency assistance payments. Our dairy farmers work hard every day and America cannot afford to allow their services to be outsourced to China. Protecting our agricultural industries is a matter of national security and I hope Secretary Vilsack helps us deliver this job-saving assistance immediately."

Below is the text of the letter (click here to view a signed copy of it)

October 13th, 2009

The Honorable Tom Vilsack, Secretary
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20250

Dear Secretary Vilsack,

Thank you for your efforts this year in supporting our struggling American dairy industry and for the great attention you have given to farmers in our districts. Representing important dairy regions across the country, we are writing to express our support for the recently-approved $290 million in the FY 2010 Agriculture Appropriations Bill that is provided to you to assist struggling dairy producers.

As you know, the entire national dairy industry is facing a dire situation right now that is threatening the continuation of almost every American dairy farm, big or small. We have not seen a situation like this in decades and we must ensure that these funds are used wisely to provide timely assistance to struggling producers.

To best serve these farmers in the immediate, we ask that you release the appropriated funds by November 15th of this year as retroactive payments using the MILC formula to supplement support checks received during previous months in 2009. Because of familiarity with this program and this concept amongst dairy producers and FSA offices, this would be the most expedient and efficient way of distributing these funds.

America needs a strong, diverse dairy industry to feed our nation and keep rural communities alive. Through USDA assistance and the timely delivery of these appropriated funds for direct payments using this formula, many farmers will see immediate benefits from the actions of the Congress.

Thank you for your consideration of this request and for your commitment to America’s dairy industry.

Sincerely,

Eric J. J. Massa
Member of Congress

Joe Courtney
Member of Congress

Maurice Hinchey
Member of Congress

John Hall
Member of Congress

Scott Murphy
Member of Congress

Ben Ray Lujan
Member of Congress

Chris Lee
Member of Congress

Mike Arcuri
Member of Congress

Paul Hodes
Member of Congress

Jim Oberstar
Member of Congress

Paul Tonko
Member of Congress

Jerrold Nadler
Member of Congress

Patrick Murphy
Member of Congress

Rush Holt
Member of Congress

Dan Maffei
Member of Congress

Brian Higgins
Member of Congress

Peter Welch
Member of Congress

Chellie Pingree
Member of Congress

Source: Secretary Tom Vilsack