Harkin Criticizes Senate Agriculture Budget Plan

HARKIN CRITICIZES SENATE AGRICULTURE BUDGET PLAN

Cuts to agriculture budget target poorest Americans, farmers and rural communities as Republicans seek more tax giveaways for nation's wealthiest

Senator Tom Harkin today denounced Congressional leadership for moving forward with agriculture budget cuts while giving tax breaks to the nation's wealthy, further deteriorating the federal budget situation. The Senate's agriculture budget plan slashes spending for the nation's poorest and scales back help for farmers as they face harvesting season with skyrocketing energy costs and depressed commodity prices. The proposal unveiled today by Senate Republicans calls for a $3 billion cut to USDA programs.

"The Republicans in Congress and the White House are asking the nation's most vulnerable citizens, rural America and farmers to sacrifice while at the same time worsening the deficit by rewarding the wealthiest with more tax giveaways," said Harkin. "Ever increasing poverty and greater need for helping low income families after the hurricanes have not changed Washington's mentality. This proposal is an unconscionable slap in the face at America's poor. If we are not responding to the needs of our country's poor now, when will we?"

The Republican proposal will:

* Cut off 300,000 low income Americans from receiving food assistance. As proposed in President Bush's budget, this plan slashes $570 million for food aid over five years.
* Cut farm income support promised in the 2002 farm bill. For an Iowa farm of 1,000 acres, this would mean a reduction of $1,158. That same farm, if energy prices were to remain high, would lose over $6,100 dollars in costs on fuel, electricity and nitrogen fertilizer and other expenses. Thus, over the next year, the 1,000 acre farm would lose more than $7,200 in income.
* Cut conservation programs by over $1 billion over five years. The plan results in a 30% reduction in the Conservation Security Program (CSP) meaning that most farmers will continue to be denied the chance to enroll in CSP and receive federal assistance in improving their conservation practices.

"While Farmers are facing record energy prices, depressed commodity prices and the harvest, Washington is cutting assistance to rural communities and agriculture,' Harkin said "Cutting income support for farmers at the time when they need it most is a double dose of bad news for rural America."

"Conservation has yet again been singled out for disproportionately high cuts," Harkin said. "Because of this budget plan, most farmers simply won't be rewarded for taking measures to conserve resources and improve the environment."

The cuts proposed today for the agriculture budget were originally called for in the federal budget passed by Congress earlier this year. The Agriculture Committee was given instructions by Republican leadership to cut $3 billion dollars from programs within its jurisdiction. Harkin voted against the federal budget establishing these cuts.

This plan was scheduled to have been pushed through earlier this fall but was put off in light of the hurricanes.

http://harkin.senate.gov/news.cfm?id=246959