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Farm Bill Conference Begins;
Conferees to Meet Again on March 19 Farm bill conferees are scheduled to meet again on Tuesday, March 19, after a brief initial meeting was held last Wednesday, March 13. During that meeting, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest (R-TX) was appointed to serve as chairman of the conference committee; there was no substantive discussion of specific farm bill issues. Staff on the conference committee worked this past weekend to iron out some of the differences between the House and Senate farm bills. The conferees are set to reconvene tomorrow to continue negotiating the different provisions in order to come up with a final farm bill. Last week, some media outlets reported that there were plans in motion to resurrect the Northeast Dairy Compact during the farm bill conference. The reported deal would add in the dairy compact provision, replacing the current $2 billion dairy provision in the Senate farm bill. When asked about this possibility, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) said he supported the $2 billion dairy provision staying in place. "I think what we've got in the Senate bill is an excellent provision. It's one that is supported geographically and philosophically with both conservatives and liberals," said Daschle. "It's one of those rare moments when the moon and the sun were aligned appropriately to get a piece of legislation done that a lot of us thought was almost impossible. So I don't want to break up that alignment. I want to keep it right where it is." During these negotiations, it is critical that lawmakers keep hearing from their constituents. IDFA urges its members to keep communicating with Capitol Hill in order to oppose the inclusion of dairy compacts and other harmful dairy provisions during the conference phase. Even if your U.S. senators and representatives are not serving on the farm bill conference committee, it is important to contact them since they can share your positions and concerns with the conferees. For details on the conference provisions, members can click here to review Alert #02-04. For a list of farm bill conferees, click here. ### Posted March 18, 2002 |
