|
Congress Takes Action on Farm Bill; Significant House Dairy Provisions Defeated In the first week of October, Congress turned its attention to farm legislation, and the House of Representatives, the Senate and the White House all weighed in with views about the goals for the next farm bill. On the House farm bill, IDFA was pleased that the House defeated several dairy amendments and there was no inclusion of dairy compact legislation. IDFA will continue to work with the Senate as it prepares to draft its version of farm legislation. The House passed a farm bill, now known as the Farm Security Act of 2001 (H.R. 2646) on October 4, after two days of floor debate. The approved bill maintains dairy and sugar provisions that were passed by the House Agriculture Committee in July. In addition, the House voted to defeat Rep. Bernie Sanders' (I-VT) amendment that would create a new dairy scheme, which would include a $17.50 Class I price, national pooling provisions, new subsidies for producers that supply other classes of milk, and provisions for the creation of regional supply management programs. IDFA strongly opposed the Sanders' amendment. An amendment from Rep. Jim Walsh (R-NY) that called for a study of national dairy policy was approved. During the farm bill debate, a sugar amendment from Reps. Dan Miller (R-FL) and George Miller (D-CA) was defeated. IDFA, through the Coalition for Sugar Reform, supported the Miller/Miller amendment as modest reform toward a market-oriented sugar policy and was disappointed to see the amendment rejected. For complete details on the House farm bill passage, click here to review Alert #01-16. The White House tried to delay the House action on the House farm bill. In expressing the position of the White House, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman noted that the $170 billion House farm bill was too costly, and she urged the House to craft new language that would focus on long-term prosperity for the U.S. agriculture community. Veneman's October 3rd statement reflected the stance she took on September 26, when she testified before the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee on the Bush Administration's food and agriculture policy goals and principles. She urged the committee to consider broader, longer-term views of the U.S. agriculture and food system. Veneman's testimony was based on a new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report, "Food and Agricultural Policy: Taking Stock for the New Century." IDFA applauded the report upon its September 19th release. Senate Committee Chair Tom Harkin (D-IA) and ranking member Senator Dick Lugar (R-IN) also recently unveiled a joint set of objectives for the Senate farm bill. The Harkin-Lugar policy statement contains similar language to the USDA report. The Harkin-Lugar set of objectives are expected to guide the work of the committee as it drafts its version of Senate farm legislation later this month.
Related Links: Secretary Veneman's October 3 Statement IDFA Press Release on USDA Report |
