|
Senators offer views on farm billBy Jennifer M. Latzke With a vote of 79-14, the Senate passed its version of the farm bill Dec. 14, a nice Christmas present to U.S. farmers and ranchers. From here it's on to the House-Senate conference committee for a final bill that will be sent to the White House for approval. Ranking Republican member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-GA, released a statement on the Senate farm bill he co-authored. "Passage of the farm bill is a real victory for American agriculture," said Sen. Chambliss. "The legislation will strengthen the nation's food security, protect the livelihood of our farmers and ranchers, preserve our efforts to remain good stewards of the environment, and enhance our nation's energy security efforts. I consider a safe, affordable and abundant food supply a critical national security interest and this bill takes us in the right direction to ensure those priorities." Despite budget constraints, Sen. Chambliss stated the Senate Finance Committee bill resulted in $3 billion in savings to the farm bill that helped increase spending on specialty crops, nutrition, conservation and energy programs. The nutrition title received the largest funding increase, totaling over $5 billion. Sen. Chambliss, in his statement, noted that the increase was no small accomplishment and additional resources were made available by reductions in the commodity and crop insurance programs. "This bill provides certainty to America's farmers, ranchers, conservationists, school lunch beneficiaries, and environmentalists in rural communities all across this great land," said Sen. Chambliss. "Today, the United States Senate set aside partisanship in favor of assisting those in need. We honor the commitment of the American agriculture sector with the passage of the Food and Energy Security Act of 2007. The bipartisan bill before us today is the culmination of years of hard work on the part the Senate Agriculture Committee and the millions of constituents we work so hard to represent with dignity and purpose." As a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and former Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Sen. Pat Roberts, R-KS, is no stranger to farm policy. In a press release, Sen. Roberts, acknowledges that while the Senate version has some contentious items, it still has a lot of merit for farmers and ranchers. "We have two major victories in the commodity title: This bill leaves direct payment rates alone," Sen. Roberts said. "I would prefer to see these payments increased to help producers meet rising input costs. However, in this budget climate, I am happy we have been successful in preventing cuts to the only commodity title program that provides direct assistance to producers when they have no crop to harvest. I am also pleased that we were able to leave the crop insurance largely intact as a solid program that our producers and their lenders can count on." Another provision Roberts supported that is included in the Senate version provides money to small and rural hospitals to aid in reconstruction and rehabilitation needs. Another reforms the Rural Utilities Service's Broadband Loan program, to bring Broadband Internet to more Kansans in unserved rural areas. However, there are portions of the bill that Sen. Roberts said will adversely affect Kansas agriculture. "Fortunately on the Senate floor, two of my amendments were agreed to in an effort to mitigate unintended effects of the livestock portion of this bill," Sen. Roberts said. "I am thankful we were able to defeat two amendments that would have been extremely detrimental to Kansas producers. The first amendment would have put at risk the innovations and advancements in the livestock industry over the past 20 years. The second amendment would have jeopardized the crop insurance program as we now know it. It would have cut billions of dollars from crop insurance and made it less accessible to farmers in high risk agriculture areas like Kansas. I was proud to lead the fight against these amendments on behalf of Kansas farmers and ranchers." "We still have a lot of work to do, so rest assured I will work with my colleagues to continue the fight to protect the programs that work for Kansas farmers and ranchers, including direct payments, crop insurance and the EQIP program," Sen. Roberts said. Jennifer M. Latzke can be reached by phone at 620-227-1807, or by e-mail at jlatzke@hpj.com. 12/31/07 Date: 12/27/07
Copyright/Privacy
Copyright 1995-2008. High Plains Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Any republishing of these pages, including electronic reproduction of the editorial archives or classified advertising, is strictly prohibited. If you have questions or comments you can reach us at High Plains Journal 1500 E. Wyatt Earp Blvd., P.O. Box 760, Dodge City, KS 67801 or call 1-800-452-7171. Email: webmaster@hpj.com |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
