|
|
|
|
By: Springer (Senate Sponsor - Perry) |
H.C.R. No. 31 |
|
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 18, 2017; |
|
May 1, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on |
|
Agriculture, Water & Rural Affairs; May 10, 2017, reported |
|
favorably by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 10, 2017, sent |
|
to printer.) |
|
|
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
|
|
|
WHEREAS, Among the most urgent and costly issues facing Texas |
|
is drought, which recently has caused a number of crop failures on |
|
irrigated land; those occurrences have highlighted the necessity |
|
for policies that promote responsible water usage and water |
|
conservation; and |
|
WHEREAS, The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, managed by |
|
the Risk Management Agency of the United States Department of |
|
Agriculture, supports the economic stability of agriculture |
|
through its crop insurance program, which assists American farmers |
|
and agricultural entities in managing risk and the threat of |
|
natural disasters; in the event of a crop failure, however, current |
|
FCIC policy requires farmers to demonstrate good faith practices, |
|
which include watering the failed crop, in order to qualify for |
|
insurance benefits; and |
|
WHEREAS, The USDA could further help sustain the agricultural |
|
industry and our precious water resources by developing provisions |
|
that encourage water conservation when crop failures occur; now, |
|
therefore, be it |
|
RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas |
|
hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to encourage |
|
the U.S. Department of Agriculture to revise existing policies that |
|
promote the waste of water after an irrigated crop has been declared |
|
a failure; and, be it further |
|
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official |
|
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to |
|
the secretary of agriculture, to the president of the Senate and the |
|
speaker of the House of Representatives of the Congress of the |
|
United States, to the chair of the House Committee on Agriculture |
|
and the chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, |
|
and Forestry, and to all members of the Texas delegation to Congress |
|
with the request that this resolution be officially entered in the |
|
Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United |
|
States of America. |
|
|
|
* * * * * |