House Panel Begins Markup on 2007 Farm Bill
News Date July 17, 2007
The House Agriculture Committee is scheduled to begin marking up the 2007 farm bill the afternoon of July 17 and plans long sessions through July 19 to complete their work on the legislation. The full House is expected to debate the farm bill beginning July 26 before Congress leaves for the August summer recess.
Most observers are expecting lively, if not contentious, debate and amendments on several issues, such as proposals on payment limitations, commodity price support, country-of-origin labeling and others. The markup session suddenly became more complicated the evening of July 16 when Republican committee members issued a statement announcing their unanimous objection to proceeding with markup until the money promised to the panel is produced. Additionally, the Republican members of the committee expressed their intention to meet with the chairman once they have had the opportunity to review the bill with its new comprehensive manager's amendment language and have received the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) scores. (Contact: Charlie Ingram)