Bush supports 'generous but affordable' farm legislation

AP | 11/28/01 | Philip Brasher

[Native American Female Vet]

Bush supports 'generous but affordable' farm legislation

By Philip Brasher, Associated Press, 11/28/2001 18:02

WASHINGTON (AP) President Bush and his agriculture secretary expressed concern Wednesday that crop subsidies in a Senate Democratic farm bill could lead to price-depressing surpluses.

Bush said he supports ''generous but affordable'' farm legislation that would provide farmers with an adequate safety net without encouraging them to overproduce.

Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said the Senate bill would raise subsidy rates as much as 20 percent, which could encourage overproduction and drive down prices.

''This creates pressure for more government payments, thereby creating a self-defeating and ultimately unsustainable cycle,'' Veneman said.

The remarks by Bush and Veneman to a farm convention meeting were the administration's first substantive comments on the Senate farm bill. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle planned to bring it to a vote by next week. The legislation faces a Republican filibuster.

White House press secretary Ari Fleischer later suggested that farmers should fall in line behind the economic stimulus package on which Bush is demanding action by the Senate.

''On the farm bill ... the president thinks the timing is odd in the Senate. At a time when all Americans need help, why is the Senate abandoning all Americans and focusing only on one segment of America, even if it's a segment as important as farmers,'' Fleischer said.

The administration favors a GOP farm bill that has lower subsidy rates and would provide assistance to a broader range of farmers. The Republican plan would set up subsidized IRA-style savings accounts that would let farmers sock away income in good years to use when crops or prices are poor. ''A good farm bill should keep a safety net under our food producers without misleading our farmers into overproducing crops that are already in oversupply,'' Bush said.

''A good farm bill should be generous but affordable. It should honor the budget limits that Congress has agreed to live by.''

Existing farm programs do not expire until next fall, but Daschle says growers need the assistance that would be provided by the Senate bill. He also raised concerns about whether the Agriculture Department would have time to write rules for new programs if Congress does not soon finish the legislation. ''I don't think you can emphasize enough the urgency with which we need to address farm legislation,'' said Daschle, D-S.D.

Democrats forced their bill through the Senate Agriculture Committee earlier this month after giving Southern senators more money for big farms and adding a dairy program that could raise retail milk prices. Some farm groups are concerned that there will be less money available for their subsidies if Congress waits until next year to reauthorize the programs. ''It's time to provide some certainty and stability to our producers,'' said Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation.

The measure faces a series of amendments on the Senate floor, including the GOP subsidy plan and a move by environmentalists to shift billions in crop subsidies into conservation programs.

Both the Senate bill and one passed by the House in October would cost about $170 billion over the next 10 years, the ceiling set in this year's congressional budget agreement. The Senate legislation would have to be renewed in five years.

To win approval from the Senate committee's Southern Democrats, Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, dropped his effort to cut payments to big grain and cotton farms, added money for rice and peanuts and offered new subsidies for lentils and chickpeas.

Veneman raised concerns about proposed new subsidy programs that are in both the House and Senate bills. The payments, triggered when commodity prices fall below certain levels, could exceed U.S. subsidy limits in an international trade agreement, Veneman said. If that were to occur, the bills would require the department to cut payments.

Veneman also criticized the new dairy program in the Senate bill that would fix the prices farmers receive for a portion of their milk.

Information on the Senate bill, S.1628, can be found at

http://thomas.loc.gov/

On the Net: Agriculture Department:

http://www.usda.gov