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Honorable Charlie Rose 



Chairman, Subcommittee on 



Speciality Crops and Natural Resources 



U.S. House of Representatives 



1 301 Longworth House Office Building 



Washington, D.C. 20515-6016 



Dear Mr. Chairman, 



On behalf of myself and the entire farming community of Dade, County, Florida 

 that was affected by Hurricane Andrew, I wish to express our appreciation 

 for allowing us this opportunity to present our views on the effectiveness of 

 federal response in providing assistance for this disaster. 



My involvement in this is twofold. I am the owner and operator of a foliage 

 nursery in Homestead, and Chairman of the Dade Chapter of the Florida Nursery- 

 men & Growers Association (FNGA) Disaster Assistance Committee. 



This committee was formed in April of this year at the urging of' the member- 

 ship, and charged with the responsibility of monitoring all relevant legislat- 

 ion and regulations governing the disaster assistance programs and then to 

 convey our recommendations to the appropriate agencies within the USDA. 



Although this committee originated within the FNGA, the membership includes 

 representatives from all sectors in the farming community since most of the 

 issues affects us all. 



The objective of financial disaster assistance programs should be to minimize 

 the disruption of the affected community, and this is best achieved by ensuring 

 the survival of the major employers in the area. Therefore, the criteria for 

 maximizing the effectiveness of the program should reflect this objective. 



Agriculture is a billion dollar industry and major employer in the South Dade 

 area affected by Hurricane Andrew. The Industry's total employment impact is 

 in excess of 23,000 jobs (Ref. Economic Impact of Agriculture and Agri- 

 business in Dade County by Ann Moseley ) . 



The approximately 800 nurseries that comprise the Commercial Ornamental Horti- 

 culture provides over 5,000 of these jobs. 



The photographs provided at the end of this text can only attempt to illustrate 

 the complete devastation suffered by this industry. 



In terms of our particular experience with Andrew we feel that there are three 

 distinct stages to the process. 



1 . Thw first stage should be pre-payment to producers to allow them to commence 

 clean-up operations immediately. Ideally these funds should be made available 

 within one month of the disaster. 



