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January 4, 2002

Farm Bill consideration
delayed until 2002

Failure on the third attempt to convince 60 Senators to end debate (cloture) and set time certain for debate on amendments and final passage of new farm legislation on Dec. 19 effectively dashed hopes of producers that new farm legislation would be adopted in 2001.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) said following the final vote, "We will pick up where we left off…. I have no doubt we will complete our work."

Congress returns from recess Jan. 23 to begin the second session of the 107th Congress. Farm legislation approved in October by the House (HR 2646) remains intact, and Senate leaders have one option of picking up where debate left off on S. 1731 or developing a new package for consideration by the Senate.

The Senate rejected a substitute offered by Sen. Lugar (R-IN); a Roberts (R-KS)-Cochran (R-MS) substitute backed by the White House; and a Hutchinson (R-AR)-Sessions (R-AL) substitute based on House-passed legislation.

The debate on S. 1731, as reported by the Agriculture Committee, became unusually partisan and divisive, with the White House initially urging the Senate to delay consideration, then expressing support for the Roberts-Cochran substitute. Republican Senators argued they were being denied opportunities to fully debate legislation, while Democrats argued that it was important to promptly move legislation to preserve $73.5 billion in new funding provided in the FY02 budget resolution.

Meanwhile, in a radio press conference Dec. 20, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman and Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) reviewed the Senate farm policy debate and expressed their hopes for a better bill in 2002.

"This administration had really hoped that a bipartisan consensus bill would be developed as all the Senate farm bills in the past have been," Veneman said. "That's not the case. It didn't happen, but we will go forward next year...I'd like to reiterate that this administration supports the funding level for agriculture agreed to in the budget resolution passed by the Congress. The president himself has said that a good farm bill should be generous but affordable, and it should honor the budget limits the Congress has agreed to live by, and so the administration is certainly committed to those budget amounts that the Congress has agreed to, and the administration is ready and willing to support good policy."

Roberts also attempted to reassure producers that support will continue.

"It's not been a very pleasant week or a good week for agriculture, but I don't know of any farmer who puts the seed in the ground who isn't optimistic, or very hopeful, and I think the first thing that I ought to say is, to all farmers and ranchers, don't get too frustrated," Roberts said. "And tell your lender that you are protected for the next crop year."

Both Veneman and Roberts emphasized that funding would still be available for new farm legislation when Congress reconvenes in January, and emphasized that the budget does not expire until April 15, 2002.