Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006

AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006

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Mr. FEINGOLD. Madam President, I am pleased that the Senate has approved H.R. 2744, the fiscal year 2006 appropriations bill providing vital funding for the Department of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration and related agencies. While I may not support every provision, this bill provides important funding to support our Nation's farmers, rural communities, and conservation programs along with providing nutritious food for seniors, children and those in need.

I am pleased that the Appropriations Committee rejected a number of administration proposals to reduce or eliminate important programs such as funds for research at our land-grant colleges and universities, conservation partnerships through resource conservation and development councils, and funds to combat Johne's disease in our dairy industry. All of these programs were funded at a minimum of last year's levels instead of receiving drastic cuts.

After years of delay, I was encouraged that the Senate bill included funds to implement mandatory country-of-origin labeling, COOL, for meat, vegetables and fruits. Country-of-origin labeling is vitally important to enable our farmers to show their pride in the quality of their products, from ginseng to cheese to cranberries. Wisconsin farmers are proud of their work, and many consumers want to support American products--with country-of-origin labeling, both farmers and consumers benefit. I urge the Senate conferees to insist on funding COOL when they meet with the House conferees to resolve differences between the two Chambers' bills.

The Senate bill included over $18 million for efforts to control and eradicate chronic wasting disease, CWD, in deer and elk. In addition to this much needed funding, I also worked with Senator Allard to include a provision that would require the Department of Agriculture to set minimum national standards for CWD control. Under the current system there are various State regulations but no set of basic procedures guiding the movement, handling, testing and permitting of captive-raised deer and elk. Our amendment, that was included as part of the bill, requires the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service to publish its uniform methods and rules concerning CWD within 90 days of enactment of the provision. With CWD being newly discovered in New York and West Virginia, it is clear that this disease requires a national response. This provision is an important step to prevent the further spread of CWD and help deer and elk farmers operate safely throughout the Nation.

High fuel costs are putting a squeeze on all Americans, but our farmers are in a particularly vulnerable position. While the high fuel costs are hitting them at many levels, they have little flexibility in whether to plant and harvest their fields, pay to move their products to market or procure fertilizer and feed. More than that, they receive what the market dictates for their products, so when fuel costs double or triple and they see fuel surcharges on every one of their bills, they can't pass these costs on and receive a higher price for their milk, grain or other products. In recognition of this difficult situation, I was proud to cosponsor an amendment offered by Senator Salazar that was included in the bill as a first step to addressing this problem. The amendment requires the Department of Agriculture to study the issue and issue a report on the impact to farmers.

I also submitted an amendment to the bill to require the Food and Drug Administration, FDA, to conduct a study on the levels of pesticides in domestic and imported ginseng. With Wisconsin ginseng being highly prized worldwide for its quality and lack of unsafe residues, mislabeled imported ginseng, often with high levels of pesticide residues, remains a problem for our producers. This study would have investigated this issue and provided important information to focus FDA's enforcement activities on reducing the amount of unsafe ginseng being passed off as Wisconsin- or U.S.-grown and helping growers fight back against this unfair competition. I was disappointed that I was blocked from having this amendment included in the bill. Despite this setback, I will continue to fight for better enforcement to protect consumers and Wisconsin's ginseng growers.

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