Senate Approves Farm Aid Package

By Philip Brasher
AP Farm Writer
Aug. 3, 2001

WASHINGTON –– The Senate gave final congressional approval to a $5.5 billion farm assistance package Friday after Democrats bowed to a White House threat to veto a fatter measure.

"This vote is a victory for our nation's farmers at a time when they need it most," President Bush said, promising to sign the measure.

Democrats saw it a bit differently. The Senate abruptly approved the legislation on a voice vote after the Democrats failed to break a Republican filibuster of a $7.5 billion measure that had been approved by the Agriculture Committee.

"The gun was held to our heads and the White House refused to compromise," said the committee chairman, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.

It's the fourth straight year that Congress has provided a multibillion-dollar bailout of the farm economy to compensate for low crop prices.

This latest measure should boost net farm income to $47.9 billion, $2.7 billion above last year and the highest level since 1997.

Grain and cotton farmers, who receive the bulk of the special assistance, will get smaller checks than they saw under last year's bailout. A farmer who got $40,000 in 2000 should receive less than $34,000 this year.

After meeting with the president Friday, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said the farm crisis is ebbing, particularly when it comes to milk, livestock and even grains, where prices are improving. Overall for farmers, she said, "There is some easing in the downturn of pricing we've seen in recent years."

With Congress breaking for a monthlong recess this weekend, senators were in a rush to finish work on the bill. The congressional budget agreement provided $5.5 billion in farm aid for the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, so the cash had to be distributed to farmers by that date or it could have been used for other purposes.

Senate Republican leaders got four major farm groups representing soybean, corn, cotton and wheat growers to sign a letter urging passage of the smaller aid package. Had the Senate passed the Democratic bill, lawmakers would have had to negotiate a compromise in September.

"The calls into our office in the last 48 hours from individual corn growers have been ... saying we've got to have this before the August recess," Bruce Knight, a lobbyist for the National Corn Growers Association.

But the nation's largest farm group, the American Farm Bureau Federation, doesn't think $5.5 billion is enough and declined to sign the GOP letter.

"There's a good chance you'll see a move in September to get another $1 billion to $2 billion in assistance," said Mary Kay Thatcher, a Farm Bureau lobbyist.

"Republicans wanted cover and therefore that letter will be very helpful to them," she said.

Underlying the battle over the aid plan were concerns that the federal budget surplus is shrinking because of the recently enacted tax cuts and the slumping economy.

The extra $2 billion in spending sought by Democrats would have come from funds the congressional budget agreement set aside for farm programs in the 2002 budget year that begins Oct. 1.

The first $4.6 billion in the legislation sent to the president would go to grain and cotton farmers to supplement the fixed annual payments they get from the government.

There's also $423 million in payments to growers of soybeans, sunflowers and other oilseeds; $169 million in grants to states to promote sales of fruits, vegetables and nuts; $129 million for tobacco growers and additional payments to peanut and wool producers.

The Senate bill contained $5.5 billion for direct payments to grain and cotton farmers, almost $900 million more than the House measure, plus $542 million for conservation programs and $150 million for apple growers.

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The bill is H.R. 2213.

On the Net: House Agriculture Committee: http://www.agriculture.house.gov Senate committee: http://agriculture.senate.gov