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Farm bill action needed nowBy Seymour Klierly Last week I compared the actions of some of the major farm bill players to actions normally displayed by teenagers. At the time it may have been a stretch, but since then I am more convinced of its accuracy. Seven days have passed since my last submission and still no word from the agriculture leadership that a bill is any closer to being completed. In fact, the only news reported this week highlighted the intense bickering taking place behind closed doors. In a scathing article published in Roll Call, a daily newspaper with circulation in Washington D.C., several unnamed sources criticized Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin for being detached from farm bill negotiations. The article claims that the chairman was not part of the discussions that lead to a funding framework for negotiations to begin. Instead, the article claims Senator Kent Conrad has been acting as the "de facto chairman." It takes a lot of nerve to try to manage a committee of which you are not the chair. On the other hand, such efforts to sidestep a chairman aren't unheard of and rarely involve just one member. In this case, I would imagine Senator Conrad is working with a larger group of members who also feel that Chairman Harkin isn't getting the job done. If an orchestrated effort to run an "end around" the chairman is indeed successful, what position does that leave the chairman in for future issues? The article goes on to quote Chairman Harkin admitting that he's stood aside from the debate to let others work it out. So, is this a case of a chairman being overthrown or simply abdicating his seat? I'm not certain. Such teenage tendencies are not limited to the Senate. House Ag Chairman Collin Peterson is also airing his dirty laundry in the press. He's calling for public meetings to discuss the tax measures included in the package being negotiated between the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee. Peterson apparently feels frustrated by the fact that there are so many committee chairmen involved in the farm bill process. I guess he doesn't understand why folks won't just let him write the bill on his own and agree to whatever he decides. No matter what rumors surface about what is going on behind these closed doors, there are still a few facts that remain. First, the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has yet to appoint conferees. Official conference meetings cannot take place until this happens and official conference meetings provide the only venue to settle some of the longstanding disputes. Second, the farm bill expires on April 18 and no one in the leadership has been talking about what happens if that deadline isn't met. Reverting to the permanent farm law of the '30s and '40s will have disastrous implications, not only on producers but also on consumers. It's time for the elected officials who are charged with the leadership of the agriculture and taxing committees to take action. There is no time left to continue the childish posturing that has been the standard operating procedure exercised by the chairmen. Furthermore, if the elected party leaders of both chambers can't rein in their members, then maybe their members should start questioning their effectiveness. I know I am. 4/14/08 Date: 4/9/08 Advertisement
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