Reagan Sets Up Panel to Study Drought Relief

President Reagan named an interagency committee today and directed it to report to him in two weeks on what steps the federal government can take to deal with the drought afflicting much of the nation.

White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said that Vice President George Bush plans a visit to the drought-stricken Midwest this weekend and that Reagan may make a similar visit later.

Fitzwater said the task force will “study current federal programs that address the situation to determine their adequacy and effectiveness.”

He said the task force will include Secretary of Agriculture Richard E. Lyng, Secretary of the Interior Donald P. Hodel and representatives of the Army Corps of Engineers, the Energy Department, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Office of Management and Budget, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Office of the Vice President.

He said no decisions had been made as to what emergency relief might be made available to farmers, but FEMA was included in the task force because of its role in distributing such assistance.

After making an initial report in two weeks on the immediate situation, the group is to make an additional report in 30 days on more long-range problems.

“The President is very concerned about the current drought and wants to make certain that everything that the federal government can do to assist will be done,” Fitzwater said.

After a reporter asked in jest if the measures to be recommended would include praying for rain, Fitzwater said: “I grew up on a farm and I can tell you that praying for rain is not a funny matter if you grow up on a farm. My family has prayed for rain often.”