41 



PATSY T MINK 



SttCONO DISTRICT HAWAII 



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f ax isoei 53B-0333 STATEMENT OF U.S. REPRESENTATIVE PATSY T. MINK 



OF HAWAII 



BEFORE THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE 



SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPECIALTY CROPS AND NATURAL RESOURCES 



NOVEMBER 16, 1993 



Mr. Chair and members of the Subcommittee, I am pleased that you 

 have called this hearing to examine the effectiveness of the 

 Department of Agriculture's crop disaster program in relation to 

 specialty crops. 



This subject is of great significance to my state and my 

 district, which experienced the devastating effects of Hurricane 

 Iniki in September of 1992. 



Our experience in Hawaii shows that the crop disaster program 

 administered through the Agricultural Stabilization and 

 Conservation Service (ASCS) is inadequate to the needs of 

 specialty crop producers following a disaster. 



It is my hope that this hearing today will lead to improvements 

 in the program and necessary changes to the law, so that farmers 

 of specialty crops in any area of the country will not have to 

 endure the agony and frustration, as we have, of trying to work 

 with a system that is not designed to accommodate the 

 circumstances of specialty crops. 



The Island of Kauai, which was completed devastated by Hurricane 

 Iniki, is a rural and primarily agrarian community. While 

 sugarcane and pineapple account for the largest acreage on the 

 island, a move toward diversified agriculture in recent years 

 has increased Kauai's production of taro, papaya, avocado, 

 coffee, macadamia nuts, bananas, cut flowers, nursery products, 

 and other specialty crops. 



However, it was these victims of Hurricane Iniki who experienced 

 the greatest difficulty in obtaining disaster assistance. This 

 was largely due to the fact that the crop disaster program is 

 designed for seasonal crops and the assistance provided is based 

 on losses in a calendar year. It does not accommodate the 

 circumstances of year-round and tropical crops. It insists that 

 something magical happens on December 31st, which changes the 

 tropical fruit into a pumpkin! 



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