Here is a good update on the Farm Bill, forwarded by Jane Clark at
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Defenders Rural Updates!
December 17, 2001
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1.  Senate Farm Bill - Victories Thus Far
2.  Amendments to Support
3.  Amendments to Oppose
4.  SENATE TIMELINE: "We Wish You a Farm Bill Christmas"
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SENATE FARM BILL:  VICTORIES THUS FAR

Thanks to the unyielding pressure of farmers, rural advocates, and
environmentalists, we have scored some great victories in the
opening  days of the Senate debate on the Farm Bill.  Two
important amendments to improve  market conditions passed: the
Feingold-Grassley-Harkin Amendment  prohibiting forced binding
arbitration clauses in agricultural contracts  passed 64 to 31; and
the The Johnson/Wellstone/Grassley amendment to ban packer
ownership of livestock within 14 days of slaughter, passed 51  to
46. Senators also voted to table (defeat) an amendment offered by
Senator Bond (R-MO) that would have allowed the
President to waive any environmental law that affects farming.  So
far, so good... but we still need your help! Senators  need to hear
their constituents standing up for a Farm Bill that works for family
farmers, rural communities, air, water and wildlife. The articles that
follow describe several of the amendments that critically need your
support and those that you should ask your Senators to oppose.

AMENDMENTS TO SUPPORT

Please call your Senators (dial 202-224-3121 and ask to be
connected to your Senator) and ask them to support the following
amendments: 1) the Wellstone Amendment, which institutes
safeguards to ensure that the  EQIP program doesn't allow taxpayer
funds to be used for the expansion of factory farms - CAFOs; 2) the
Durbin Amendment, which protects native prairie and other
grasslands by denying farm commodity program and crop insurance
subsidies on non-cropland converted to crop production; 3) the
Dorgan- Grassley-Johnson-Hagel-Nelson-Lugar-Torricelli-
Wellstone amendment to close the loops in the current payment
limitation system;  4) the Harkin Amendment, which authorizes
production contract  oversight by the Grain Inspectors, Packers and
Stockyards  Administration (GIPSA); and 5) the Dorgan-Johnson
amendment banning  captive supplies.

AMENDMENTS TO OPPOSE

Just as farmers, rural communities and wildlife have much to gain
from  the amendments currently on the table, there is also plenty of
work afoot  to remove these gains and to turn the Farm Bill to anti-
environmental and anti-family farm purposes.  First and foremost,
please ask your Senators  to oppose the Cochran-Roberts
amendment, which deletes the  conservation security program in the
Harkin bill, and lowers funding for  the Farmland Protection
Program and the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program. Senator
Gordon Smith (R-OR) is planning to offer an  amendment that
would essentially turn the crop disaster relief program  into
"takings" amendment that would pay producers to comply with
federal natural resource regulations and water law. Senator Burns
R-MT)  plans to offer to amendments that would weaken the
Conservation  Reserve Program. And Senator Hutchinson (D-AR)
will probably offer an amendment that would exempt the USDA
from complying with  environmental and bird protection laws when
it kills migratory birds to  protect crops. Please ask your Senators
to oppose these amendments.

For more information on Farm Bill amendments, please visit
www.familyfarmer.org  or  www.sustainableagriculture.net

SENATE TIMELINE:  "WE WISH YOU A FARM BILL
CHRISTMAS"

For a Congress that at one point had hoped to adjourn in early
October,  the session keeps right on going.  On Thursday,
December 13, the Senate  failed to come to agreement to limit
debate on the Farm Bill.   With a total  of 96 amendments for
consideration, this means that things could go on for a long time.
Consideration of these amendments is expected to  resume on
Tuesday, December 18 and continue the entire week. While  the
Senate is not likely to be in session on the national holidays of
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, they are threatening to work on
many of the  remaining days this year. Senator Daschle stated at the
close of last week's debate, "I hope we can complete our work this
coming week. I  would not want to have to come back after that,
but we will entertain the  possibility of coming back additional days
after Christmas, if need be, to  get this job done." At issue is the
fact that new budget predictions are  likely to come out shortly
after the second session of the 107th Congress  begins on January
23, and Senators want to finish a bill before they are  told they no
longer have the money to spend. No word on a timeline for the
conference to reconcile the Senate bill with the House version.

Rural Updates!
Scotty Johnson and Aimee Delach
National Rural Community Outreach Campaign
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Defenders of Wildlife
Visit our website at www.familyfarmer.org
520 623-9653

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