House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) sponsored H.R. 6233, the Agricultural Disaster Assistance Act of 2012, which would disproportionately cut funding for conservation programs in order to pay for livestock disaster assistance. These conservation programs help preserve farms and ranches, protect wildlife habitats, and improve soil conservation and water and air quality. While it is critically important to provide support to those who have suffered through harsh droughts, this bill would make the impact of future droughts more severe by cutting the very programs that help make farming operations more resilient to these kinds of disasters. On August 2, the House approved H.R. 6233 by a vote of 223-197 (House roll call vote 554). NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. Some disaster assistance was included in a broader legislative package to avoid the year-end "fiscal cliff" that President Obama signed into law on January 2, 2013; fortunately, these provisions were not funded through cuts to conservation programs.