Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company The New
York Times
November 29, 2001, Thursday, Late Edition -
Final
SECTION: Section A; Page 32; Column
3; National Desk
LENGTH: 775 words
HEADLINE: Bush Gives Tight-Fisted Support to Bigger
Farm Subsidies
BYLINE: By ELIZABETH
BECKER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Nov. 28
BODY: President Bush jumped into the
debate over American farm policy today, saying he supported generous federal
subsidies for farmers as long as those payments stayed within the budget.
In his first remarks about the 10-year, $171 billion farm bill now stalled in the Senate, Mr. Bush tried to reassure
Republicans from agriculture states that he would not abandon farm subsidies. At
the same time, he tried to stick to an earlier administration goal of spreading
the subsidies to give more to smaller farmers.
He said
he favored the current safety net, which mostly helps the large farmers of grain
and cotton. But he also said he wanted the government to finance savings
accounts that would help all farmers based on need.
"A
good farm bill should be generous, but affordable. It should
honor the budget limits that Congress has agreed to live by," Mr. Bush said.
Normally of interest only to the handful of states that
receive huge grain and cotton subsidies, the farm bill has
become a major concern of environmental groups hoping to expand conservation
measures and of advocates for greater financing for the food stamp program. And
today it became a bargaining chip in the battle between the president and the
Democratic-controlled Senate over several crucial economic issues.
While both parties want to appear to be a friend of
farmers, Republicans in the Senate are threatening a filibuster of the farm bill unless Democrats agree to move on the president's
economic stimulus package.
The Senate majority leader,
Tom Daschle, Democrat of South Dakota, said today that the administration should
press for immediate passage of a new farm bill even though the
current law does not expire until October.
"I don't
think you can emphasize enough the urgency with which we need to address farm
legislation," Mr. Daschle said at a news conference.
And Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa and chairman of the
Agriculture Committee, backed away from his proposal to cut crop subsidies to
the wealthiest farmers, hoping to win the support of the Southern Democrats on
his committee.
But the administration had sharp words
for the Democratic measure supported by Mr. Daschle and Mr. Harkin.
Appearing with the president at a farm convention here,
Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman said the Democrats' bill would deepen the
current cycle of encouraging farmers to produce too much, leading to lower
prices and to farmers pleading for expensive bailouts.
"This creates pressure for more government payments, thereby creating a
self-defeating and ultimately unsustainable cycle," Ms. Veneman said.
The White House had similar complaints about the
Republican farm bill that passed the House last month. That
attempt to provide regular support for farmers went against several goals
outlined in the administration's farm policy blueprint.
Mr. Bush underlined his concerns today saying, "A good farm bill should keep the safety net under our food producers,
without misleading our farmers into overproducing crops."
His answer for American farmers who produce far more food than the
domestic market can consume is to expand trade. The president said the recent
trade summit in Doha, Qatar, could help open new markets to American
agricultural exports.
"Doha shows the way toward a more
level playing field," he said. "That's good news for the world's hungry; it's
good news for the world's most productive food producers -- the American
farmers."
But several proposals in the various farm
measures being considered by Congress could violate existing trade agreements.
The president warned that any farm bill had to "honor our
trade obligations as we expect our competitors to honor their obligations."
Democrats said these complaints could stall the farm bill indefinitely and jeopardize the financing for farm
subsidies. Senator Kent Conrad, Democrat of North Dakota and chairman of the
Budget Committee, has warned that with the economy sliding, money for the farm bill could disappear next year.
Even if Mr. Daschle succeeds in bringing the farm
bill up for a vote, lawmakers from both parties plan to offer amendments to
shift money from the crop subsidy program to environmental programs and to
change the subsidy program itself.
In his speech, the
president repeatedly turned to the war in Afghanistan and praised farmers for
their role in it.
"As we speak, trucks and planes are
delivering American food to the hungry in Afghanistan," Mr. Bush said. "Those
rations say, 'A gift from the people of the United States.' This gift is made
possible by the farmers in our country, and I want to thank you for
it."
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