House Makes Farm Bill Offer; Senate Rejects and Makes Counter Offer.

April 19, 2002

A much-anticipated meeting of lawmakers on the 2002 farm bill saw House members propose a compromise to their Senate counterparts. The Senate Conferees rejected a Cochran motion to accept the offer on a 3-4 party line vote and submitted a counter offer. Click here for the House offer. Click here for the Senate counter offer.

Despite some prior speculation that yesterday's morning session could lead to a breakdown, the meeting was civil and low-key. Still, Senate Agriculture Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) made it clear he would not accept everything in the comprehensive proposal that was offered by House Chairman Larry Combest (R-TX).

At 8:30pm, the Conferees returned to meet again. The Senate Conferees voted down the motion by Senator Cochran (R-MS) in a party line vote of 3-4.

One of the most significant differences was the refusal of the Senate to budge at all from the Senate bill's provisions on payment limitations. Another significant difference was the Senate's proposal to cut back substantially on the peanut title of their offer. Congressman Chambliss (R-GA) pointed out that the Senate was taking 10% of the $6 billion that the Senate bill was over budget out of the peanut program.

Despite an exchange of bitter press releases between Senator Daschle (D-SD) and Congressman Boehner (R-OH), the tone of the late night session remained civil and the Conferees remain quietly at work today. Chairman Combest spoke of a weekend session.