Dairy Sours Senate Final Farm Aid Vote

August 1, 2001

The Senate Tuesday voted down 52-48 the House version of $5.5 billion in farm assistance, then bogged down over dairy compacts before senators could vote on the more liberal $7.4 billion package approved by the Senate Agriculture Committee. Despite a veto threat from the White House, it appeared likely the Senate would approve the larger amount, forcing the issue into a conference committee.

With the long August recess looming after business on Friday, conferees would have to work quickly to resolve the differences in the two bills before the August recess. But with fiscal 2001 money involved in the deal, USDA would have to write checks prior to Sept. 30 when the fiscal year ends or the money would disappear.

An amendment to reauthorize the Northeast Dairy Compact and authorize a similar but far more broad milk coalition among states throughout the South took senators down the rather slippery path of delay. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) led the debate in favor of the amendment, but Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) also was vocal in his strong support.

Leahy believes the Northeast Compact is not to blame for higher consumer prices. Instead, he believes concentration among dairy processors has brought about higher milk costs. And the $10,000 to $20,000 in added annual farm income "has helped keep New England farmers in business who otherwise would have had to leave farming." A compact has the authority to set milk prices to farmers at a level higher than the federal order system allows.

Aligned against the Landrieu effort were more than 40 senators, according to opposition leader Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI), who Kohl said were ready to filibuster any dairy compact legislation and thereby force a vote on the farm aid package to the back burner

The million-plus-member Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) also told Kohl it supported his efforts to prevent the adoption of "any amendment that would extend and expand dairy compacts."

CCAGW said it objects to "legislating on this vital issue on an emergency assistance bill. Dairy compact legislation is properly considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact was never approved by a vote of the House, the Senate or any committee. Instead, it was created and has been extended by being added on to various legislative vehicles in conference. Please prevent history from repeating itself."

Kohl and Sens. Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Larry Craig (R-ID), told Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle they had enough votes to block the legislation and sustain a filibuster.

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) issued a statement warning that Congress must act swiftly to pass an the assistance package or future program payments would be jeopardized. "That would mean producers would lose their AMTA payment, which they have been expecting and to which they are entitled," he said.

The House Agriculture Committee chairman, Rep. Larry Combest (R-TX) and the committee's ranking Democrat, Rep. Charles Stenholm (D-TX) also urged the Senate to act quickly on farm aid. "It is unwise to encumber the bill with unnecessary, nonemergency items like increased conservation spending when our farmers' livelihoods hang in the balance," they said.

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) said that by expanding the assistance package, the Senate Agriculture Committee "created a situation where many more hoops need to be cleared before the money can be sent out the door. Those delays are risky because the money needs to be spent by Sept. 30, or it's no longer available."

It was not certain when the Senate would vote on the $7.5 billion package supported by the Democrats; today's schedule called for debate on other bills.