Sen. Chuck Grassley today praised the Senate Appropriations Committee’s vote to include aid for those affected by the derecho in an agriculture funding bill. Grassley called for adoption of this measure months ago.
“In all my decades of farming, I’ve never seen the scale of devastation that Iowa suffered by last year’s derecho. Millions of acres of farmland were destroyed and many barns, grain bins and other facilities were leveled,” Grassley said. “This assistance is a win for Iowans and a great step to help those still dealing with the aftermath of the historic storm.”
The bill included the Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program Plus (WHIP+) language that will cover derecho winds as a qualifier for disaster relief.
Grassley initially proposed this amendment in March to be included in the pandemic recovery package after Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa) worked to include it in the House of Representatives bill before it was ultimately stripped out by Democrat leaders. Feenstra offered the same amendment and it passed in the House Agriculture Committee last week.
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