Senate Approves but Democrats Warn

August 6, 2001

The Senate Friday took things down to the wire. Failing to get the needed 60 votes to close off debate and move to its Agriculture Committee's $7.4 billion bailout bill for farmers, Senators went ahead and approved the House-approved $5.5 billion version but not without a warning from the Democratic leadership. Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) said another attempt would be made after Labor Day to funnel the remaining $2 billion or so into farmers' pockets as well. Reaction was almost all favorable.

It's now up to President Bush to sign the bill, which he is expected to do, since the Senate avoided a conference committee by approving the House version. The bill includes funds for supplemental AMTA payments totaling $4.622 million. Oilseeds will get $423 million, and the balance goes to cottonseeds and peanuts. Corn producers can expect to receive aid at approximately $.31 per bushel of corn and oilseed payments at about 85% of last year's level of payments, the National Corn Growers Association said.

Agriculture groups spent the week urging the Senate Agriculture Committee to hold the line with a $5.5 billion emergency aid package for program crops and oilseeds. "The implicit message: Let the specialty crops find their funds elsewhere, and let's get a fiscal 2001 economic aid package to the President for his signature," NCGA said.

"Family farmers have been waiting for the Senate to take action on the bill and it's unfortunate that they had to wait until the last minute," said Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA). "There was no reason for the agriculture committee to let this bill languish for so long. While the House version isn't absolutely perfect, it's much better than losing the payments altogether, and unfortunately that was the direction we were being led."

He continued, "The Democratic leadership decided to bring up a supplemental without any interest in bipartisan input and then loaded it down with billions in specialty crops, special interests, and issues that should come up in a farm bill this year. I couldn't understand why we were risking these payments, but in the end everyone came to their senses and passed the House version. Now the checks can be in the mail before the end of the fiscal year. I hope the Senate Agriculture Committee learns from this and doesn't try to pass a farm bill without first attempting to find a bipartisan route. It's too important to Iowa family farmers and Iowa's economy."

Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), the ranking Republican on the Agriculture Committee, said, "The President said that $5.5 billion was the limit and that was critical to senators understanding that this was the opportunity to get assistance to farmers. This is a bill the president can sign immediately and the money can get to farmers quickly."

"We were in a position that if we did not take action now, it was very conceivable that the money that was destined for American farmers might not have been there either. The number of claimants on the federal budget, whether in defense or health, are very considerable. We have pinned down today money that will go to American farmers. We've done so in a responsible way. We've done so with the support of the President of the United States and both Houses of Congress. And that is no mean achievement in an agricultural piece of legislation," Lugar said.

National Cotton Council Chairman James Echols said, "The Senate's action ensures that farmers will promptly receive this much-needed infusion of funding. The Senate took responsible action today and kept its pledge to help U.S. farmers through this financial crisis."

Echols said NCC would have preferred additional funding for 2001 assistance and "appreciated" Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin's (D-IA) efforts to increase the package. "We had hoped the Senate would be able to pass its version of the legislation in a timely manner, but ultimately, the only practical option for getting this much-needed aid to farmers was for the Senate to pass the House bill without amendment."

The Independent Community Bankers of America congratulated the Senate on passage of the farm aid package. "Now lenders and their farm customers can be certain that needed aid is on its way. Many farmers will continue to struggle even with this assistance, which is why a new and improved farm bill will be so important to our family farmers and ranchers," said ICBA Chairman Robert I. Gulledge.

"This has been a difficult task but we congratulate the Senate for acting before the August recess, ensuring a known amount of aid will be sent to farm country. With the low prices we've seen in agriculture, farmers are struggling to make their farm operations cash flow. The government farm-aid packages have allowed many farmers to hang on from one year to the next. Enacting a stronger farm safety net in the next farm bill and an aggressive U.S. trade policy are the next steps Congress needs to take to help resuscitate American agriculture," Gulledge concluded.

However, Defenders of Wildlife didn't see it quite that way. The Senate "yielded to pressure from the White House and Senate Republican leadership to strip vital conservation programs from a major agriculture supplemental spending bill," the group said. That "gives the bum's rush to stewardship-minded farmers across the country," according to Defenders of Wildlife President Rodger Schlickeisen.

After losing the vote to stop senators from filibustering the funds for the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP), Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP), and Farmland Protection Program (FPP) in the supplemental, Senate leaders accepted the House version of the bill without the conservation money. "Stiffing farmers who want to do the right thing on their own land is incredibly shortsighted, and we're deeply disappointed that the intransigence of the president and the House of Representatives has led us to this sad juncture," said Schlickeisen. "We want to commend Senator Harkin for fighting for these important conservation programs, and hope along with family farmers across the country that he prevails later this year."