Last Day for Farm Aid?

August 3, 2001

The Senate must make choices today about how to provide another year of multi-billion-dollar assistance for farmers. A vote to cut off debate on the measure is set for this morning..

One option is to pass the Senate's own $7.4 billion aid package that has been stalled, technically by a filibuster much of this week. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) will hold a vote to invoke cloture – limit further debate and amendments – when senators convene for the Friday session and move on to the farm aid issue if 60 Senators vote yes.

Another option is to approve the House-passed version. That would avoid a conference committee and send the House bill worth $5.5 billion to the White House were President Bush likely would sign it. That also would allow USDA plenty of time to get the money out to farmers before the end of the fiscal year, Sept. 30.

A third is for Daschle to call for a weekend session if senators fail to do either of the first two options, and a fourth, of course, is to do nothing and wait until September to see if a final bill can be approved. That has potential political consequences, however, since it would give USDA a much shorter time frame in which to get the payments to farmers, opening the door to charges and countercharges over who is to blame for the delays.

Although a conference between the two bills could be conducted by staff during the recess with conferees coming back after Labor Day for quick approval, there were strong indications Bush might not sign a bill with more than $5.5 billion in it. The White House has said for weeks that anything more than the smaller amount passed by the House was unacceptable.