Berry Slams Administration and House Leadership for Refusing to Pass Agriculture Relief Bill
December 19, 2005
Berry Slams Administration and House Leadership for Refusing to Pass Agriculture Relief Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Representative Marion Berry (D-AR, 1st) announced this morning that House Leadership refused to hold a vote on an agriculture assistance package before ending legislative business for the year. Rural lawmakers tried to attach the package to the Fiscal Year 2006 Defense Appropriations bill, which included emergency funding for Katrina victims, but House Leadership opposed any language that would include direct assistance for farmers and producers.
"The working people of America took a terrible hit this morning when House Leadership refused to provide farmers with relief before the holidays," said Congressman Berry. "I am devastated that after so much work, the President and Republican leadership can come in at the last minute and kill any chance of passage."
The Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Saxby Chambliss, expressed similar concerns with the Administration and House Leadership in a press release yesterday about the Budget Reconciliation package which included over $3 billion in cuts to farm programs for fiscal years 2006 to 2010:
"Continued insistence by House Leadership, the White House, and USDA of no extension of any provision in the commodity title of the farm bill has resulted in a package that contains obvious inequities," said Chambliss.
After introducing legislation in September to provide farmers with either an additional 50% direct payment or an additional payment based on yield loss, Congressman Berry worked tirelessly to secure support for the measure in Congress. Supporters of such a measure include House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Ranking Member of the House Agriculture Committee Collin Peterson, and Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture Rosa DeLauro. Congressman Berry was also working with Senators Thad Cochran, Blanche Lincoln, Mark Pryor, and other rural Senators to secure passage in the U.S. Senate.
Despite significant support in Congress for an agriculture relief package, the White House the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) all announced their opposition to a direct payment this week. Without this assistance, many farmers throughout Arkansas and other rural states are likely to foreclose on their farms and go out of business.
"The President and Republican House Leadership could not have sent a clearer message to the American people that they do not care about our farm families," said Congressman Berry. "I only hope they realize how dangerous it is to gamble with the security of our nation's food supply."
http://www.house.gov/berry/pressreleases/archive/agno.html