Congressman
CHARLIE STENHOLM
17th District of Texas

AG TALK
By Charlie Stenholm
November 2, 2001

Congressional Offices Closed Because of Anthrax Threat

As many of you have heard, anthrax spores have been found in Congressional offices in Washington, as well as postal facilities in other parts of the nation.

Here on Capitol Hill, spores were first found in a letter delivered to the office of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle.

When additional testing found anthrax spores in the mail-handling facilities for the House of Representatives, Congressional office buildings were closed in order to determine the extent to which these spores had been spread to offices through the mail.

The House reopened shortly thereafter and resumed its normal business in the capital.

My offices are located on the second floor of the Longworth Building and, because the sixth and seventh floors have been contaminated, the Longworth building has been closed until decontamination is completed.

My staff and I are currently using temporary office space in downtown Washington. As a result, your calls and letters may not be received and answered as quickly as I would like.

Please bear with us as we try to work under these unusual circumstances, and I am hopeful that our office operations will get back to normal in the very near future.

Senate Completes Agriculture Appropriations

The Senate has finally completed action on the 2002 Agriculture Appropriations bill, the legislation that funds the nation’s agriculture programs for the coming year.

House Members and Senators will soon meet to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions.

The agriculture appropriations bill is one of many bills that make up the federal budget, and 

Congress still has more work to do on other appropriations bills before the first session of the 107th Congress is adjourned.

Senate Begins Working on a Farm Bill

As for the Farm Bill, the Senate Agriculture Committee is now working on a Senate version, following the House passage of the Farm Security Act of 2001 on October 5th.

The Senate Agriculture Committee began marking up a bill this week and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin hopes to have a bill completed by November 9th.

It is expected that the conservation portion of the Senate farm bill will be the most controversial.

While it appears the House and Senate will spend a similar amount on conservation, the 

Senate version would spend the money differently than the House version.
In fact, some Senators are backing a plan similar to one that was defeated when the House considered the farm bill.

Under that plan, conservation spending would increase by $5 billion or more per year and would be paid for by taking money from commodity support. This would be a devastating blow to the producers of commodities.

However, it is important to keep in mind that the Senate is just beginning to work on this legislation and nothing is final as of yet. In fact, a very strange thing happened last week regarding the farm bill.

Producer groups representing cattlemen, pork, corn, soybeans, canola, sunflowers, poultry, and fruits and vegetables sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Daschle asking that the 

Senate delay its consideration of a farm bill until next year, rather than working to complete this bill over the next few weeks.

I believe agriculture should be very cautious about seeking a delay of a new farm bill.

There is a significant danger that there will be less money available for agriculture spending as the debate carries into next year.

The budget resolution approved earlier this year provided agriculture more than $73 billion for price support and income assistance over the next ten years, however this was written at a time when a large surplus was predicted.

Today, however, there are many competing interests for limited dollars.
Now, the need for funding to fight the war against terrorism has put an additional strain on the federal budget.

The economic decline appears to be deeper than earlier thought, and the ability of our country to recover may take longer than expected. Therefore, it is important that Congress move quickly to pass farm bill legislation.

Lamb Meat Adjustment Assistance Program Extended

On October 31, USDA announced the extension and expansion of the Lamb Meat Adjustment Assistance Program for an additional year, through July 31, 2003.

Additionally, a new ewe lamb expansion payment will be created to provide incentives for producers to purchase or retain breeding ewes, expand their herds, and increase the available supply of domestic lamb meat.

USDA has set aside $37.7 million for the extension of the program, with $26 million going to the ewe lamb expansion program and the remaining funds restricted for payments for feeder and slaughter lamb marketings.

To be eligible for the new ewe program, the producer would be required to purchase or retain a ewe lamb during the period from August 1, 2001 through July 31, 2003.

The ewe lamb would have to meet eligibility requirements, including being not older than 18 months, never producing an offspring, being identified with an APHIS-approved scrapie program, and not possessing parrot mouth or foot rot.

Target payment per ewe would then be $18. Sign-up for the program will occur at a later date, and no other details have been announced.

Return to 2001 News