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Veneman answers committee criticisms
WASHINGTON (DTN)--The Senate and House Appropriations committees have each criticized Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman's operation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and her relationship with their committees in their bills this year. Recently, her staff offered a spirited defense to each criticism.
The House report said the U.S. Department of Agriculture, at the direction of OMB, changed the format and content of the budget materials it sends to the committee, but that the new format does not present material in a manner that is "useful in the deliberations of the committee." The committee "directed" Veneman to present the budget in the format used for the 2002 budget. Alisa Harrison, Veneman's press secretary, said in an e-mail response, "Our format is consistent with the President's Management Agenda" and that the USDA "will work with appropriators on a format that is useful to them and highlights the president's goals."
The Senate Appropriations Committee said it is "concerned about the Department's failure to respond to questions submitted during the fiscal 2005 budget hearings. "Failure to respond has affected the requests for specific programs and policy initiatives," the Senate report said.
The House report on the conservation title contains a special section called "misuse of discretionary funds" and expresses disapproval with the way the USDA has used money to provide technical assistance to farmers. Harrison said, "We disagree with the statement that we have misused discretionary funds. We are charging a basic farm plan to the conservations operations appropriations account where it has been charged for years."
The House bill also contains an amendment that forbids USDA from transferring funds from other accounts to the Office of the Chief Information Officer. House Appropriations ranking member David Obey, D-WI, won a bipartisan vote on that amendment on June 23 at a full committee markup after he said the Agriculture subcommittee had learned that the agency had transferred "millions of dollars" in violation of a congressional prohibition on such transfers. Harrison said, "We are currently reviewing the Obey amendment and working with appropriators on the issues."
But a House Appropriations Committee aide said USDA has not done a good job of explaining its computer information initiatives on Capitol Hill and has transferred money to department-wide computer initiatives without explaining the impact of the cuts on the agency's programs. "OMB ought to get smart about informing the committee before doing these things," the aide said.
Date: 10/20/04
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