U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton (D-Minn.) is pessimistic about the chances Congress will approved disaster assistance for northwestern Minnesota and northeastern North Dakota farmers this year.
Speaking to Minnesota reporters Wednesday, Dayton said he would like to be encouraging about the aid, but accused the Bush administration of opposing it.
Dayton pointed to efforts in 2003 and 2004, when farm state lawmakers "fought tooth and nail" for ag disaster assistance but the administration "dug in their heels even though the farm bill that was passed in 2002 realized a savings from what was projected of some $15 billion over the then three years of the bill."
Dayton was also critical of the administration's leadership before and after Hurricane Katrina. He said he feels President Bush's appointees in charge at the Federal Emergency Management Agency lacked the needed qualifications for disaster response and assistance.
Citing testimony before a U.S. Senate committee last week by federal disaster officials Dayton said the administration's immediate response contained serious flaws.
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Dayton said those problems persist with past disasters, such as the City of Roseau still struggling from major flooding three years ago.
"(FEMA) is so dysfunctional and nonfunctional I frankly think we ought to shut it down and give the responsibility temporarily to the National Guard at the state level and the national level. The military chain of command is about the only thing we have at the federal level that operates efficiently and reliably," charged Dayton.
Dayton joined 40 other senators earlier Wednesday to block a proposed trust fund for asbestos victims. Dayton believes the $140 billion trust fund isn't large enough to cover all claims, a position also held by U.S. Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), who said the Congressional Budget Office has not taken into account dormant claims.
Dayton also believes Twin Cities communities should receive special compensation, as is being proposed for Libby, Mont., where the raw material for manufacturing asbestos was mined. Those materials were then sent to the Twin Cities and elsewhere for manufacturing.
