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Ranking Member David Scott Calls on Trump, Johnson to Reject Freedom Caucus Effort to Withhold Disaster Aid from Farm Families

House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member David Scott today responded to an effort by the far-right House Freedom Caucus to deny disaster aid to farm families struggling with the fallout from Hurricanes Helene and Milton. 

“The House Freedom Caucus’s eleventh-hour attempt to derail much-needed disaster assistance for Georgia’s rural communities is disheartening. With only days left in this Congress, the position of the House Freedom Caucus jeopardizes aid for the people of Georgia and the nearby regions, putting them at risk of facing the holidays with no help to recover from Hurricanes Milton and Helene.

“The House Freedom Caucus not only threatens the natural disaster supplemental, but it also undermines efforts among the four corners of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees to craft much-needed economic assistance that addresses the ongoing downturn in large parts of the agricultural economy. From the hearing the House Agriculture Committee held in September on the state of the agricultural economy, we know the need in rural America is real and increasingly growing desperate.

“I call upon President-elect Trump to direct the House Freedom Caucus to stand down and let Congress move forward in providing this assistance to storm-ravaged communities in the Southeast and bringing adequate resources to address the economic disaster facing farmers across the country.

“I call upon Speaker Johnson to bring President Biden’s natural disaster request to the House Floor for a vote, where I am confident it will pass. Failure to do so demonstrates that the Speaker is placing his political career ahead of the emergency needs of the millions of Americans hurt by these storms.

“Finally, the Bible teaches us to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. With that in mind and given that it takes an 80 percent vote of the Freedom Caucus to take an official position, I call upon the Freedom Caucus to release the vote for yesterday’s position to deny natural disaster assistance to struggling farm families. Let the rest of the House and the world know which Freedom Caucus members are fine with denying aid to their constituents when nature unleashes her fury.”

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