Associated Press
By PHILIP BRASHER
AP Farm Writer
SOURCE
WASHINGTON - President Bush's election-year proposal to restore food stamps to 
noncitizens has run into opposition from House Republicans who would rather use the money to benefit farmers.
The White House plan is popular with groups that represent Hispanics, a voting bloc the White House has targeted.
But a House-Senate conference committee that is negotiating a farm bill set aside the food stamp issue after House GOP members balked Wednesday at Bush's proposal. They want to restrict the number of immigrants who could qualify and limit how long they could get benefits.
"We ought to target those people who are most in need of assistance," said Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va.
Legal immigrants were cut off of food stamps when Congress overhauled the welfare system in 1996.
Bush's proposal, which was included in a farm bill passed by the Senate in February, would restore benefits to an estimated 363,000 people at a cost of $2.1 billion over the next 10 years.
The proposal "would give a lot of hope to legal immigrants," said Rep. Eva Clayton, D-N.C.
But House Republicans want to take most of that money and shift it into agricultural research and subsidy programs for farmers and landowners.
The GOP negotiators said immigrants should be required to prove they have worked in the country for at least five years and should not receive food stamps for more than two years.
The Republicans also would deny benefits to any immigrants who have ever been in the country illegally for more than a year. Federal and state officials say that restriction would be very difficult to enforce.
"It's hard to see why they (Republicans) are digging in their heels," said Ellen Vollinger, a spokeswoman for the Food Research and Action Center, an advocacy group.
Farm workers, whose jobs are seasonal, would be among the biggest beneficiaries of the White House plan, experts say.
House members of the conference committee voted 8-6 along party lines to support the GOP proposal over the White House plan.
The GOP move also was significant in that it would break an agreement that leaders of the conference committee reached in March on overall spending levels for various sections of the farm bill.
That agreement earmarked $6.4 billion in new spending for nutrition programs over the next 10 years. Overall, the legislation would increase spending for agriculture and nutrition programs by $73.5 billion over the decade.
The negotiators are trying to merge a farm bill that passed the House last fall with the rival version approved by the Senate.
So far, the lawmakers have mostly been staking out negotiating positions on a long list of issues that range from the president's food stamp plan to new rules for farm subsidies.
Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said he did not expect the conference committee to make much progress before next week.
The bills are H.R. 2646 and S. 1731.
"The Republicans also would deny benefits to any immigrants who have ever been in the country illegally for more than a year. Federal and state officials say that restriction would be very difficult to enforce."
So, if it's under a year, it's ok. LOL!