Defenders Rural Updates!
March 19, 2002
FARM BILL CONFERENCE TALKS TODAY!
PLEASE TAKE ACTIONS BELOW
To subscribe visit:
www.familyfarmer.org/sections/ruralsubscribe.html
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1. Farm Bill ACTION Background
2. ACTION #1 - Call Conferees
3. ACTION #2 - Call Your Senator
4. Administration Offers Mixed View on Farm Bill
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1. FARM BILL ACTION BACKGROUND
Farm Bill conservation programs have proved to be a lightning rod
for controversy in ongoing deliberations of the House-Senate
conference. The Senate-passed bill, which delivers $21.3 billion in
new funding for conservation programs, must be reconciled with a
House bill that provides about 25% less money. The Senate bill
also contains significantly better policy provisions. Buoyed by the
recent revelation that the Senate bill will cost $6.1 billion more than
previously estimated (see Rural Updates, March 13), House
conferees are demanding that the Senate cut the very provisions
that made its bill better than the House version conservation, rural
development, nutrition and credit programs that rural America
desperately needs. Unfortunately, the Senate seems poised to
acquiesce and cut these critical programs. Conferees need to hear
how important the Senate provisions are to rural America. See #2
and #3 below for how to make your voice heard!
2. CALL CONFEREES AND TELL THEM TO HOLD FIRM
ON CONSERVATION!
Now, more than ever, it is crucial to contact members of the House
and Senate conference committee and let them know that a
compromise on conservation is unacceptable. ASK THEM TO
SUPPORT THE CONSERVATION PROGRAMS AND
SPENDING LEVELS AS LAID OUT IN THE SENATE
VERSION. Remind them that without significant overhaul,
additional funding into commodities programs is throwing good
money into a bloated system that only supports the richest farmers.
Remind them that taxpayers won't take well to reducing
conservation funding to pay for ineffective commodities payment
programs. This is particularly important, because some Senators
have indicated they would be willing to cut conservation funding
almost all the way down to the House level. If you live in one of
the districts or states below, please call your Representative or
Senator and ask them to maintain the funding levels and the policies
and programs in the Senate bill. PLEASE CALL TODAY
Senator Tom Harkin (Iowa): 202-224-3254
Senator Patrick Leahy (Vermont): 202-224-4242
Senator Kent Conrad (North Dakota): 202-224-2043
Senator Tom Daschle (South Dakota): 202-224-2321
Senator Richard Lugar (Indiana): 202-224-4814
Senator Jesse Helms (North Carolina): 202-224-6342
Senator Thad Cochran (Mississippi): 202-224-5054
Representative Larry Combest (Texas 19th District): 202-225-4005
Representative John Boehner (Ohio 8th District): 202-225-6205
Rep. Bob Goodlatte (Virginia 6th District): 202-225-5431
Representative Richard Pombo (California 11th District): 202-225-
1947
Rep. Jerry Moran (Kansas 1st District): 202-225-2715
Rep. Terry Everett (Alabama 2nd District): 202-225-2901
Rep. Frank Lucas (Oklahoma 6th District): 202-225-5565
Rep. Saxby Chambliss (Georgia 8th District): 202-225-6531
Rep. Charles Stenholm (Texas 17th District): 202-225-6605
Rep. Gary Condit (California 18th District): 202-225-6131
Rep. Collin Peterson (Minnesota 7th District): 202-225-2165
Rep. Calvin Dooley (California 20th District): 202-225-3341
Rep. Eva Clayton (North Carolina 1st District): 202-225-3101
Rep. Tim Holden (Pennsylvania 6th District):202-225-5546
Rep. Ron Kind (Wisconsin 3rd District): 202-225-5506
3. ACTION #2 - CALL YOUR SENATOR
Even if your Representative or Senator is not a member of the Farm
Bill conference committee, your Senator can be key in helping to
preserve the gains in the Senate bill. If you live in one of the states
listed below, please contact your Senator and ask him or her to pass
the conservation message on to Senate Majority Leader Tom
Daschle. The more of his colleagues telling him not to compromise
on the Senate's conservation funding levels and the good programs
and policies included in the Senate bill, the more likely he will be to
stand firm. Please call the following Senators and ask them to
inform Senator Daschle that farm bill conservation programs are
important to their constituents:
California: Senator Barbara Boxer (202-224-3553) and Senator
Dianne Feinstein (202-224-3841)
Maryland: Senator Paul Sarbanes (202-224-4524) and Senator
Barbara Mikulski (202-224-4654)
Massachusetts: Senator John Kerry (202-224-2742)
Minnesota: Senator Paul Wellstone (202-224-5641)
New Jersey: Senator Torricelli (202-224-3224)
New York: Senator Charles Schumer (202-224-6542)
Oregon: Senator Ron Wyden (202-224-5244)
Wisconsin: Senator Russ Feingold (202-224-5323)
4. ADMINISTRATION OFFERS MIXED VIEWS ON FARM
BILL PROGRAMS
In a March 13 letter to House Agriculture Committee chairman
Larry Combest, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman related the
Administration's mixed views on the Farm Bill options currently
before conferees. Veneman emphasized the need for the final bill to
stay within the confines of the Congressional Budget Resolution,
not exceeding $73.5 billion. She also criticized the front-loading
approach taken by the Senate version of the bill and stated that the
Administration preferred the commodity program structure in the
House bill. However, she praised the Senate bill's nutrition
programs and stated, "The Administration supports a Farm Bill
with a strong conservation title that bolsters working land
stewardship, supplements farmers' and ranchers' income, improves
water quality, provides wildlife habitat, conserves water and
protects open space." The Senate's conservation title is accepted by
most environmental and rural advocates to be the stronger of the
two bills. Unfortunately, according to Veneman's letter, the
Administration would prefer to see the Senate's Conservation
Security Program as a pilot program this despite the fact that the
Administration's statement of Farm Bill principles just months
before emphasized the need for stewardship programs such as the
CSP.
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Forwarded by
Erin Jordahl
Director, Iowa Chapter Sierra Club
3839 Merle Hay Road, Suite 280
Des Moines, IA 50310
515-277-8868
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