U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson introduced a piece of bipartisan legislation on Wednesday aimed at supporting Texas agriculture.
According to Jackson’s office, H.R. 1692, the RESTORE (Rehabilitating Economic Success Through Overcoming Rural Emergencies) Act, is aimed at helping “farmers recover from natural disasters by reauthorizing the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildfire Hurricane Indemnity Program Plus (WHIP+) to cover natural disasters from 2020 and 2021.”
The program previously provided payments to producers due to natural distastes in 2018 and 2019.
Jackson introduced the bill with Texas Democrat, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar.
“I am proud to lead this bipartisan effort for Texas’ agriculture community alongside my colleague, Congressman Cuellar,” Jackson said in a statement. “The historic winter conditions experienced in Texas resulted in over $600 million of agricultural losses, leaving many crops and dairy products destroyed. In Texas, agriculture production is critical for our economy and food supply. The RESTORE Act will go a long way to support our farmers during this tumultuous time as they work on restoring their operations. This bill will also re-stabilize our food supply, which recent events have proven is not invincible. Texans are resilient, so I know we will get through this together!”