Statement by Senator John McCain on Amendments Included in the House-Passed Farm Bill
Statement
U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) released the following statement on amendments included in the Farm Bill passed by the House of Representatives this afternoon:
"While the Farm Bill passed by the House this afternoon leaves much to be desired in terms of genuine reform, I am pleased that the House included two provisions that I proposed to the Senate Farm Bill earlier this year.
"First, the House bill includes a provision to eliminate a special Catfish Inspection Office within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which the General Accountability Office has called duplicative and wasteful. According to the USDA, the office will cost about $30 million to set up and about $15 million per year to operate -- for a function that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) already performs. My amendment to the Senate bill (S. Amdt. 956) would have eliminated this egregious program, which essentially amounts to a protectionist scheme benefiting southern catfish farmers at the expense of American taxpayers and consumers. Unfortunately, I was blocked from having a vote during consideration of the Farm Bill by Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Ranking Member Thad Cochran (R-MS). I am pleased that the House, through the efforts of Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), agrees that USDA has no business duplicating FDA's role in seafood inspections.
"Second, the House bill includes a provision that repeals the outdated 1938 and 1949 Farm Bills that are still on the books today, similar to an amendment I proposed to the Senate bill (S. Amdt. 1091). Those laws, called "permanent farm law,' are a set of Depression-era "command and control' policies that automatically kick-in if Congress fails to renew the Farm Bill. According to the USDA, these laws would spend up to $50 billion in subsidies and increase food prices by $20 billion. Permanent farm law functions as a sort of "deadman's switch' to pressure Congress into passing modern, pork-filled Farm Bills. There's no reason to keep a permanent farm law except to force Congress into passing Farm Bills by holding consumers hostage."
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