August 4, 2000

Watershed rehab bill passed by House
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation (H.R. 728) responding to the maintenance and improvement issues involving a large number of water projects originally authorized by the federal government.

More than 10,000 small flood prevention dams, mainly located in Texas, Oklahoma and Iowa, have provided conservation and other economic benefits to much of rural America since 1948. The infrastructures of many of these projects, however, are at or near their designated life spans and need to be rehabilitated.

“Water resources have played an important role in the livelihoods of farmers and ranchers and in rural economies,” said House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest. “Many of these dams are in desperate need of rehabilitation, but the local communities just don’t have the financial resources to repair them. Common sense dictates that the federal government should play a role in protecting its own investments.”

Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK) introduced the Small Watershed Rehabilitation Amendments of 1999 (H.R. 728) as a federal response to this situation.

Under this legislation the federal government would provide financial assistance for at least 65 percent of total costs to local communities for making improvements in their projects.

“We must ensure the safety of more than 10,000 small flood prevention dams because the impacts of dam failures on communities and local economies would be devastating,” Lucas said.

Railroad merger moratorium upheld
The U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld a federal 15-month moratorium on railroad mergers, which postpones and possibly terminates a merger between Canadian National Railway Co. and Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Corp.

Writing for the majority, Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg said the board “neither violated the statute nor otherwise exceeded its authority” in issuing the moratorium.

Robert Krebs, chairman and chief executive of BNSF and Paul Tellier, president and chief executive of CN, issued a joint statement expressing displeasure with the decision.

“The managements of CN and BNSF will discuss the ruling’s implications for their proposed business combination, and each will consult its respective board of directors,” Krebs and Tellier said in the statement. “Neither BNSF nor CN will speculate about its options.”

The court’s two-to-one ruling upheld the Surface Transportation Board’s March decision to impose the moratorium, which the board said would allow time to study whether rail industry consolidation is hurting competition. Charging the board with going beyond its authority, the two railroads asked the court to overturn the decision.

Senate sets PNTR vote in September
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said he will seek a final vote on permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) for China in September. He also predicted the measure would pass “overwhelmingly.”

The White House, along with farm and business groups, has been pushing Lott to hold the vote before the summer recess. They fear any foot-dragging could imperil the pact, which already has cleared the House. Lott responded by saying he would turn to the trade bill in August and begin debate in earnest in September.

“Clearly, we intend to go to this legislation,” he said.

The White House welcomed Lott’s decision.

U.S. farm exports are up 10 percent
U.S. farm exports totaled $3.92 billion in May, pushing the total value so far this year to nearly 10 percent higher than last year’s levels, according to the Commerce Department.

Meat and soybeans led the uptick in exports, totaling $20.68 billion through the end of May. This compares to $18.84 billion for the first five months of 1999.

The Agriculture Department had forecast farm exports to reach $50 billion in fiscal 2000, which ends Sept. 30. That would be a $1 billion increase from last year.

Farm exports peaked at nearly $60 billion in fiscal 1996, but took a big fall in the face of large grain crops around the world and the Asian financial crisis.

Notable Quotables
“Green is going to be a shocker for a lot of adults. But kids don’t have those hang-ups. The core idea is to give kids more control and fun over their food.”
Casey Keller, at the helm of Heinz’s effort to reintroduce ketchup as a hip aspect of everyday meals, explaining one way in which the company will try to corner the market among kids, who eat more than half the ketchup in the United States. The new green ketchup will come in a plastic bottle which squirts a stream so thin kids can draw with it. Despite the drastic color change, the new green ketchup tastes just like the traditional condiment.