June 8, 1999

The House Tuesday approved the $61 billion agricultural appropriations bill for fiscal 2000. The vote was 246-183, with most Democrats and a handful of Republicans opposing the bill. The Senate Appropriations subcommittee will reportedly act on its version of the bill June 15, with the full committee following on June 17 and Senate floor action the following week.

House leaders offered an amendment to cut the original bill by $102.5 million, following their new strategy of cutting some early appropriation bills in order to make cuts in later ones less painful. The tactic succeeded in dissuading Rep. Tom Coburn (R-OK), who had delayed action earlier with a long series of amendments, from continuing his self-described "filibuster."

The budget-cutting amendment found its savings mostly through what staff described as "bricks-and-mortar" items, delaying planned construction and renovation projects for the Agricultural Research Service and other agencies. Among other provisions, it also cut $20 million from FDA.

The bill (H.R. 1906) contains $60.7 billion in new budget authority for USDA, the Food and Drug Administration and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Before passing the bill, the House defeated a Democratic motion to return the measure to committee by 207-220. Another narrow vote – 217-214 – came on a Coburn amendment blocking FDA from testing or approving abortion-inducing drugs. A similar provision last year was stripped away in conference with the Senate.

By a wide margin, the House also rejected an effort to kill the Market Access Program, a popular export promotion program.