Senate extends farm bill until April 18
Senate extends farm bill until April 18
WASHINGTON -- The Senate voted March 12 to give farm bill negotiators until April 18 to broker a deal with the White House, and the House of Representatives was expected to vote on the stopgap extension later in the day.
The 2002 farm bill expires March 15, so lawmakers struggling to agree on how to finance the bill said they needed more time to negotiate differences before they recess for the two-week Easter break. Congress extended the bill once before to March 15 after failing to reach an agreement in September.
At stake are the current bills -- backed by fruit and vegetable business leaders -- that would increase spending for specialty crops, nutrition, conservation and renewable energy.
"We continue to make progress on the farm bill," said Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry. "Talks continue on a bipartisan basis between Senate and House negotiators, and each day brings us closer to resolution."
While Sen. Harkin said that there was a "considerable amount of work ahead" to obtain a mutually accepted funding scheme for the bill, a short-term extension would allow "more time to reach agreement and obtain the necessary cooperation from the White House."
"We feel to keep the negotiations moving forward, this is an appropriate step for Congress," said Robert Guenther, senior vice president of public policy for the United Fresh Produce Association. "However, at some point, Congress needs to come up with some decision on how to resolve these funding issues," he said.
"As part of that decision, the final agreement must include the appropriate level of funding that can fully address the key priorities of the fruit and vegetable industry," he added.
Earlier this month, Sen. Harkin said that there was support for spending $10 billion above the $280 billion bill, a breakthrough in negotiations, but congressional leaders are still debating how to offset the new funds. Once the new funding level is agreed upon, lawmakers will need to write a new farm bill and iron out differences between the two bills on provisions such as conservation, disaster funding, research and energy.
The 2002 farm bill expires March 15, so lawmakers struggling to agree on how to finance the bill said they needed more time to negotiate differences before they recess for the two-week Easter break. Congress extended the bill once before to March 15 after failing to reach an agreement in September.
At stake are the current bills -- backed by fruit and vegetable business leaders -- that would increase spending for specialty crops, nutrition, conservation and renewable energy.
"We continue to make progress on the farm bill," said Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry. "Talks continue on a bipartisan basis between Senate and House negotiators, and each day brings us closer to resolution."
While Sen. Harkin said that there was a "considerable amount of work ahead" to obtain a mutually accepted funding scheme for the bill, a short-term extension would allow "more time to reach agreement and obtain the necessary cooperation from the White House."
"We feel to keep the negotiations moving forward, this is an appropriate step for Congress," said Robert Guenther, senior vice president of public policy for the United Fresh Produce Association. "However, at some point, Congress needs to come up with some decision on how to resolve these funding issues," he said.
"As part of that decision, the final agreement must include the appropriate level of funding that can fully address the key priorities of the fruit and vegetable industry," he added.
Earlier this month, Sen. Harkin said that there was support for spending $10 billion above the $280 billion bill, a breakthrough in negotiations, but congressional leaders are still debating how to offset the new funds. Once the new funding level is agreed upon, lawmakers will need to write a new farm bill and iron out differences between the two bills on provisions such as conservation, disaster funding, research and energy.
