Date: 1991-07-30
Speaker: DE LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. IH.R. 3029 seeks to correct a number of technical problems that have come to the attention of Agriculture Committee members since enactment of Public Law 101624. the Food. Agriculture. Conservation. and Trade Act of 1990. last November. The majority of the provisions contained in H.R. 3029 are purely technical in nature and were suggested by the independent Office of the Law Revision Counsel which codifies the laws passed by Congress. As is the case with any major. lengthy piece of legislation. human proofreading errors occur. Most of the provisions in this bill correct various punctuation. capitalization. and citation errors. These are simple human errors that escaped the scrutiny of the staff of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees when we finalized the 1.237 page conference report for the 1990 farm bill last year. There are provisions in this bill that are somewhat more substantive in nature. However. even these provisions seek to correct technical problems which have come to our attentioneither in the wording of last years farm bill or by questions raised in the initial interpretations of the law made by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. I would note that most of these provisions were initially proposed by the Subcommittee on Wheat. Soybeans and Feed Grains and the Subcommittee on Cotton. Rice and Sugar in separate markups. We have worked closely with the Department of Agriculture in drafting this bill. and I am pleased to say that the administration does support passage of this legislation. Mr. Speaker. there are a lot of problems out there in rural America and on our Nations farms these days. The recession has hit not only our factories and businesses. but also our Nations farm community. Every member of the Committee on Agriculture. including myself. has been urged by wellmeaning people in our district or by this or that interest group to make major changes in the 1990 farm law. Although Its not perfect legislation. the Committee on Agriculture wants to give the 1990 farm law a chance to work. The members have exhibited restraint and discipline in bringing to the floor today legislation which makes very limited changes and are without budgetary cost. In the areas where the bill is more substantive. the amendments seek to achieve the original intent of the 1990 farm bill by providing the Department of Agriculture the direction it needs to carry out these programs in a fair and equitable manner. Mr. Speaker. I briefly want to highlight the more substantive provisions of the bill: Several sections of the bill will ensure that farmers can take full advantage of the planting flexibility provisions of last years farm act. Other provisions make technical improvements to the conservation and environmental aspects of commodity program operations. These provisions clarify how the planting requirement for cover crops is to be carried out and stipulates the acreage for annual eurollment in the 1990 farm bills Integrated Farm Management Program which encourages crop rotation. The bill also has several provisions which clarify and make explicit certin changes in the food stamp and nutrition programs to benefit lowincome Americans. In last years reconciliation bill we were forced to change the calculation of deficiency payments from a 5month basis to a 12month basis. H.R. 3029 does not change this but simply requires USDA to pay wheat producers a projected deficiency payment at the end of the first 5 months of the marketing year. This provision will ensure that financial planning for the wheat producer will not be disrupted by last years change. The bill also clarifies the implementation of the oilseed marketing loan program. explicitly allows the interchange of corn and sorghum crop bases. clarifies certain aspects of the cotton program. and exempts fresh pizzas from duplicative meat Inspections. Mr. Speaker. this bill was approved by unanimous voice vote of the committee. I think our colleagues should be aware of the conscious decision made by the members of the Committee on Agriculture to keep this bill focused on the technical fixes needed to make the 1990 farm legislation work more effectively. The Agriculture Committee has been and wants to continue to be sensitive to the budget problems our Nation faces. Our committee and the entire Congress have agreed to legislative savings in farm spending totaling $46.5 billion since 1982. We have been responsible in every farm bill and budget reconciliation bill since 1982. I would point out to my colleagues that this technical corrections bill is not only budget neutralit actually provides us with some budget savings over the next 5 years. The bill is scored by the Congressional Budget Office as saving about $3 million over the next 5 years. The Department of Agriculture estimates the bill save $15 million over the next 5 years. Mr. Speaker. this bill will help our farm programs operate more effectively and as we intended. It will benefit a wide spectrum of American agriculture and all of us who depend on it for an abundant and affordable supply of food and fiber. I urge my colleagues to support passage of this very necessary piece of legislation.