FARM BILL FACES CONFERENCE HURDLES AND VETO THREAT
News Date December 18, 2007
The House and Senate have passed their 2007 farm bills but there are some key issues that will need to be resolved by a joint conference committee. In addition, the Bush administration has threatened to veto the farm bill if changes are not made to the legislation.
The 2007 farm bill will now go to a House-Senate conference in January and congressional leaders have said that they want to complete work on the legislation by the end of that month. Some of the key issues that lawmakers will have to resolve are differences on commodity payment limits, specialty crop funding, crop insurance, and livestock competition issues.
After the Senate passed the farm bill on December 14, USDA Acting Secretary Chuck Conner issued a statement saying the legislation was "fundamentally flawed." He said the Senate farm bill has $22 billion in unfunded commitments and budget gimmicks, and includes $15 billion in new taxes. Conner said it is imperative that substantial changes are made to this legislation.
The White House also issued a statement that said the Senate farm bill does not represent wise stewardship of taxpayer dollars. The statement noted that Congress has refused to significantly limit farm income subsidies for the wealthiest Americans. The White House statement said the president's advisors would recommend he not sign this bill. (Contact: Charlie Ingram)