WASHINGTON, Aug. 29, 2006
Bush OKs $800M For Drought Relief
Announcement Comes After Hottest July Since Dust Bowl
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President George W. Bush, pictured here at a roundtable discussion on Laura Bush's Gulf Coast School Library Recovery Initiative, Aug. 29, 2006 at Warren Easton Senior High School in New Orleans, has approved emergency aid for drought relief. (GETTY)
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Western Warm Spell
Triple-digit temps blamed for dozens of deaths and prompt scattered power outages.
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Extreme Heat
Dangerously high heat and humidity grip a large part of the U.S.
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns planned to announce the aid Tuesday afternoon in South Dakota.
The drought aid includes:
The department would accelerate $700 million in planned payments to cotton, grain, sorghum and peanut farmers.
Two sources confirmed the details on condition of anonymity because Johanns had not yet announced it.
The administration has resisted a $4 billion drought-aid plan in Congress because it would go only to those who already get government subsidies, about four in 10 farmers. House leaders and President Bush have opposed the aid, but senators in June added the aid to a farm spending bill.
Drought has hit farmers in western Corn Belt states particularly hard.
Last month was the hottest July since the Dust Bowl in 1936. Dryness also approached records in many parts of the country, which saw the driest conditions from May through June since 1988.
The western two-thirds of Nebraska is in severe drought or worse, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center.
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