Lugar Keeps House Bill in Pocket

August 2, 2001

Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) is keeping the House version of farmer assistance warm just in case some of his colleagues change their minds and decide it's a better way to go than the Senate's $7.4 billion version. Lugar believes the Senate should pass the House bill quickly to avoid a conference committee that might not get a final bill to President Bush in time to get payments to farmers before Sept. 30 – when the fiscal year ends and much of the money won't be available.

By a vote of 52-48 – mostly along party lines – the Senate Tuesday defeated Lugar's effort to get senators to accept the House version. Tuesday night he again offered the House bill so that it would be available if some members of the Senate changed their minds and decided to quickly to move a bill that Lugar says is consistent with the federal budget parameters for this year and still answers the needs of farmers.

"It is a bill, that if adopted by the Senate, would make a conference (with the House) unnecessary. It is a bill the president would sign immediately, that would guarantee that money would go to farmers. To do otherwise is to gamble with the $5.5 billion and risk losing it all," Lugar said.

"The House bill represents a bipartisan compromise," Lugar continued. "I am not arguing that it is the wisdom of Solomon. It is a pragmatic approach to how we might get action on the agriculture bill as opposed to having a monumental argument for many hours and perhaps a veto at the end of the trail. Farmers are saying that we should pass the bill and cut the checks because they have appointments with the banker. Farmers are saying the Senate should have arguments about farm policy after the August recess. They want the promised $5.5 billion. Passing the House bill is the only clear way to do that."

Lugar said the Congressional Budget Office has said that if the bill is not passed before the recess, the money will not be sent to farmers by September 30, the end of the government fiscal year, and then will be unavailable. President Bush has indicated that the bill should remain within the budget limits for this crop year. Citizens Against Government Waste has argued that $5.5 billion is more than enough.

During floor debate, Lugar argued that $5.5 billion would raise U.S. net farm income to a annual level higher that last year and the average during the last decade. The infusion of $5.5 billion would raise net farm income for 2001 to $57.8 billion. The average annual net farm income for the 1990s was $54.6 billion and last year was $55.3 billion. Lugar also noted that 2001 prices for most farm commodities were moving higher this year than last, although the agricultural sector still has sub-par performance, justifying $5.5 billion in additional assistance.

He said the Democrats' $7.4 billion bill is "a collection of the wish lists of members of the Agriculture Committee thrown together, listed ad seriatim. When you add up the total, it happens to come to nearly $7.5 billion."