[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 105 (Wednesday, July 23, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7893-S7896]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1998

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will now 
proceed to the consideration S. 1033, which the clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 1033) making appropriations for Agriculture, 
     Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related 
     Agencies programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 
     1998, and for other purposes.

  The Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. COCHRAN addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Mississippi is recognized.


                         Privilege Of The Floor

  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
following Appropriations Committee staff members and intern be granted 
floor privileges during the consideration of this bill, S. 1033: 
Rebecca Davies, Martha Scott Poindexter, Rachelle Graves-Bell, Galen 
Fountain, Carole Geagley, and Justin Brasell.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. COCHRAN. I add to that unanimous consent request, at the 
suggestion of the distinguished Senator from Kentucky, to ask 
unanimous-consent they be granted floor privileges during the votes, if 
any, that may occur in relation to S. 1033.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I am pleased to present for the Senate's 
consideration today S. 1033, the fiscal year 1998 Agriculture, rural 
development, Food and Drug Administration, and related agencies 
appropriations bill. This bill provides fiscal year 1998 funding for 
all programs and activities of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with 
the exception of the Forest Service, the Food and Drug Administration, 
the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and expenses and payments of 
the farm credit system.

  As reported, the bill recommends total new budget authority for 
fiscal year 1998 of $50.7 billion. This is $3.2 billion less than the 
fiscal year 1997 enacted level, and $1.6 billion less than the 
President's fiscal year 1998 budget request.
  Reductions in mandatory funding requirements account for the overall 
decrease below the fiscal year 1997 enacted level, principally 
reflecting lower Food Stamp and Child Nutrition Program costs due to 
the enactment of welfare reform. Even with these reductions, $38 
billion, or approximately 75 percent of the total $50.7 billion 
recommended by this bill, will go to funding the Nation's domestic food 
assistance programs in fiscal year 1998. These include the Food Stamp 
Program; the national school lunch and elderly feeding programs; and 
the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and 
children [WIC].
  Including congressional budget scorekeeping adjustments and prior-
year spending actions, this bill recommends total discretionary 
spending of $13.791 billion in budget authority and $14.039 billion in 
outlays for fiscal year 1998. These amounts are consistent with the 
subcommittee's discretionary spending allocations.
  The committee continues to place priority on increasing food safety 
to ensure that American consumers continue to have the safest food in 
the world.
  The bill provides $591 million for the Food Safety and Inspection 
Service, $17 million above the fiscal year 1997 level. This will enable 
the Food Safety and Inspection Service to maintain the current 
inspection system and to provide the needed investments required to 
implement the new hazard analysis and critical control point [HACCP] 
meat and poultry inspection system.
  In addition, the bill provides the increased funds requested as part 
of the President's $43 million governmentwide food safety initiative. 
This include the full $1.1 million proposed for the Food Safety and 
Inspection Service, the $4 million increase proposed for Agricultural 
Research Service food safety research, and $24 million in addition 
funds for food safety initiatives of the Food and Drug Administration.
  For agriculture research, the bill provides total appropriations of 
$1.6 billion, approximately $37 million below the fiscal year 1997 
level. Included in this amount is a reduction of $62 million, 
reflecting termination of funding for buildings and facilities of the 
Corporate State Research, Education, and Extension Service; and a $27 
million total increase for agriculture research and education 
activities.
  The total amount provided for the Agricultural Research Service 
continues funding for most of the agency's current research activities, 
and approves nearly $24 million of the increased funding requested to 
meet priority research needs, including research focusing on human 
nutrition, food safety, emerging diseases, and genetics resources. This 
additional

[[Page S7894]]

amount includes $5 million for the survey of food intakes by children 
and infants required in response to the Food Quality Protection Act of 
1996.
  The recommended funding for the Cooperative State Research, 
Education, and Extension Service includes a $2 million reduction in 
funding for special research grants, an increase of $1.8 million for 
pesticide clearance, and $100 million, a $6 million increase above the 
1997 level, for the National Research Initiative competitive grants 
programs. Appropriations for formula programs, including the Smith-
Lever and Hatch programs, are maintained at 1997 levels.
  For farm credit programs, the bill funds an estimated $2.9 billion 
total loan program level, including $460 million for farm ownership 
loans and $2.4 million for farm operating loans.
  Total funding of $912 million is recommended for the Farm Service 
Agency, $44 million less than the 1997 level. The Department has worked 
in 1997 to achieve program efficiencies. As a result, we are assured 
that the funding recommended in this bill will prevent further 
personnel reductions during fiscal year 1998.
  The committee also has given increased attention to the need to 
provide affordable, safe, and decent housing for low-income individuals 
and families living in rural America.
  Estimated rural housing loan authorizations funded by this bill total 
$3.5 billion, a $60 million net increase above the fiscal year 1997 
appropriations level. This includes funding to support $1.0 billion in 
section 502 low-income housing direct loans and $129 million in 
section 515 rental housing loans. In addition, a total appropriations 
level of $541 million is recommended for the rental assistance program. 
This is the same as the requested level and $48 million more than the 
1997 appropriation.

  The budget also proposed that an additional $52 million be provided 
to convert Housing and Urban Development Agency [HUD] section 8 rental 
assistance to USDA-financed rental assistance. While this proposal may 
have merit and yield long-term savings, the committee was not able to 
afford this further increase within its discretionary spending 
allocation. As an alternative, we would encourage the administration to 
work to fund this proposed conversion through the section 8 housing 
program.
  For USDA conservation programs, total funding of $828 million is 
provided, $57 million more than the 1997 level. This includes $730 
million for conservation operations, and $47.7 million for the resource 
conservation and development program.
  USDA's Foreign Agriculture Service is funded at a level of $136.7 
million, and a total program level of $1.1 million is recommended for 
the Public Law 480 program.
  The bill also provides a total level of $2.1 billion for rural 
economic and community development programs. Included in this amount is 
$644 million for the Rural Community Advancement Program authorized in 
the 1996 farm bill, consolidating funding for 12 existing rural 
housing, utilities, and business cooperative programs of the Department 
of Agriculture.
  The bill, as recommended, also appropriates $3.9 billion for the WIC 
Program and provides up to $12 million for the farmers market nutrition 
program. The recommended WIC appropriation level is $122 million above 
the 1997 level and will be sufficient to maintain the current average 
WIC Program participation level in fiscal year 1998. Also included in 
the bill is a provision to ensure the continuation of infant formula 
WIC Program rebate savings, and to provide the authority requested by 
the administration to give the Secretary of Agriculture discretion in 
allocating WIC funds.
  Further, the bill restores funding for the Pesticide Data Program, 
and provides the increased funds needed in fiscal year 1998 to conduct 
the Census of Agriculture.
  It also includes the full $202 million required to pay agents' sales 
commissions under the crop insurance program. Under current law, this 
shifts these costs from the mandatory to the discretionary side of the 
ledger beginning in fiscal year 1998. This places an added demand on 
the limited discretionary dollars available to the subcommittee. We 
have accommodated this new requirement, in part, through a limitation 
on the export enhancement program. This is a short-term fix. I am 
hopeful that this will not become a permanent burden on discretionary 
spending, and that a long-term legislative solution will be found to 
pay for this expense.
  For those independent agencies funded by the bill, the committee 
provides the budget request level of $60.1 million, an increase of $5.0 
million above fiscal year 1997 level, for the Commodity Futures Trading 
Commission. It provides a $34.4 million limitation on administrative 
expenses of the Farm Credit Administration, as requested in the budget. 
And, it recommends total appropriations of $913 million for the Food 
and Drug Administration, $25.5 million more than the fiscal year 1997 
level. This increase includes the full $24 million requested for FDA 
food safety initiatives and the $1.5 million increase requested for FDA 
buildings and facilities requirements.
  Only 27 percent of the total funding recommended by this bill is 
discretionary, subject to the annual control of this subcommittee. As I 
indicated previously, this bill accommodates increased funding required 
for such programs as WIC, crop insurance delivery expenses, rural 
housing, food safety, and other pressing program needs.
  Mr. President, arriving at these funding recommendations always 
requires a number of difficult decisions. I would like to thank the 
distinguished ranking member of the subcommittee, Senator Bumpers, as 
well as all other members of the subcommittee for their support and 
cooperation in putting together this bill.
  Mr. President, I believe this bill represents a balanced and 
responsible set of funding recommendations within the limited resources 
available to the subcommittee, and I hope Senators will support it.
  Mr. President, for the information of Senators, this bill is 
consistent with the allocations under the Budget Act that have been 
made to this subcommittee. We have worked very hard to identify the 
priorities that Senators have suggested and were in hearings on the 
budget proposals submitted by the President during the last several 
months.
  This has been an effort which has involved the distinguished ranking 
member of the subcommittee, Mr. Bumpers, all of the members of our 
subcommittee, and our staffs. And all have contributed very 
substantively to the work that has led to the presentation of this bill 
today.
  We have increased funding for some of the areas where we thought 
there was justification for doing more in discretionary spending to 
help improve the services provided by the Government, such as in food 
safety, in agriculture research to make our farms more efficient and 
farming more profitable. We have increased funding to maintain the 
current participation caseload in the WIC Program, for example. And 
there are other areas.
  But I mention those three to illustrate that the committee has 
identified priority areas where we have provided increases. But 
overall, this bill reflects a reduction in spending from last year's 
level and a reduction in proposed spending for the next fiscal year 
below the request submitted in the President's budget.
  So we are trying to do our part to reduce the deficit and to control 
spending and to make those hard choices that are necessary if we are to 
in fact balance the budget. We think that the bill reflects a fair and 
thoughtful balance among the various needs that are sought to be met in 
this appropriations bill.
  We hope that Senators who do have suggested amendments will come to 
the floor soon during the consideration of this bill so that we can 
complete action on the legislation today. The leader has suggested that 
votes will probably not occur before 4 o'clock so that if there are 
amendments which require votes we are going to ask unanimous consent 
that those votes be stacked to occur beginning at 4 o'clock. And it is 
my hope that at the same time we can vote for final passage on the bill 
at that time or following votes on amendments.
  So with that in mind, I am very happy to yield the floor for the 
purpose of any amendments that Senators may have or for any comments 
any Senator,

[[Page S7895]]

and especially the distinguished Senator from Arkansas, the ranking 
member of the committee, might have.
  Mr. BUMPERS addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arkansas is recognized.
  Mr. BUMPERS. Mr. President, I first want to extend my sincere thanks 
to my distinguished colleague, the chairman of this subcommittee, who 
crafted this bill. He has done a magnificent job. He has always been 
unfailingly polite, courteous and thoughtful in the process.
  I do not want to take up the Senate's time by going into a full 
detailed statement of what we provided and what we did not provide. But 
I do want to say a few things that I have said in the committee and I 
have said in speeches in the last couple months regarding what I 
believe is a serious lack of funding for research in the area of 
agriculture.
  We have provided well over $1 billion in this bill for agriculture 
research, but it pales by comparison. And in spite of that commitment, 
I think I have a commitment to express my concern about the 
comparatively small amounts we provide for agriculture research.
  We live in a world with an ever-growing population. We live in a 
nation with an ever-increasing demand on our natural resources, 
including the conversion of arable land for urban growth, for highways, 
and shopping centers. We live in a world where our very survival is 
premised on our ability to produce more food with fewer inputs on fewer 
acres and with fewer risks to public health and the environment.
  In the face of all these challenges, it is inconceivable that we 
would not place a much higher premium on investments in the research 
vital to human survival, simply put, the research of how we are going 
to feed ourselves.
  We live in a nation that is blessed with abundant natural resources. 
We live in a nation blessed with a bounty of agricultural products 
currently capable of feeding ourselves and a good part of the rest of 
the world. We live in a nation that has lapsed into a complacency 
caused by the fact that our next meal has always been as close as the 
corner supermarket. It would not take many days spent in the back 
country villages of Latin America, the ravaged countryside of Central 
Africa, or the weathered, tortured steps of Mongolia to witness the 
lack of what we daily take for granted. I constantly admonish high 
school and college groups who are going out into the world to remember 
to count their blessings more often and their money less.
  Mr. President, do not misunderstand me. I fully support the efforts 
of Senator Cochran in providing the funds contained in this bill for 
agriculture research, but I am constantly dismayed and perplexed at 
Congress' willingness to spend 30 times more on weapons research than 
we do on guaranteeing our future food supply. We spend twice as much 
every year just on the space station as we do on agriculture research.
  I have often felt that truly meaningful agriculture reform is only 
one good famine away. But I also continue to hope that such a cataclysm 
will not be the event that brings us to our senses.
  Senator Cochran has done an excellent job with this bill within the 
fiscal constraints that bind all of us. He has properly balanced the 
needs of the research community with the other demands to which we must 
answer. This Nation looks to Congress, and I admonish Congress that we 
do not have forever to come to grips with the train wreck that is on 
the horizon and is absolutely certain to occur. We must begin laying 
the groundwork for an agricultural policy that allows our producers all 
the scientific advances we can develop if we are to grow more with 
less. We know that certainly we will need more and we will have less if 
we don't.
  One other comment I make regarding the need to bolster agricultural 
research. Just 1 year ago, this Congress ended most of the support 
programs that historically protected American farmers from the market 
forces that often were marshaled to their disadvantage through either 
the plagues of weather, the domain of foreign policy, or forces beyond 
their control. Now they are left with the tattered safety net that has 
brought prices declining, as they are now doing, and there is little 
break to their fall.
  One of the safety net remnants in hand is our agricultural research 
structure. As the cost of farm inputs skyrocket, we must find ways to 
reduce their application. As threats to the environment increase, we 
must find cost-effective protections. If we expect to continue spending 
less on food than any other developed nation on Earth, we must find 
ways to make its production cost less.
  More than simply a producer, there is not a better steward of the 
Earth than the American farmer. The farmer knows that his livelihood is 
directly tied to his care for the soil and water. This bill contains 
funding for programs designed to help the farmer continue what he 
practices naturally--conservation. For the first time in many years, 
this bill places no limitations on the mandatory conservation programs 
established in the farm bill. These include the Wetlands Reserve 
Program, the Conservation Reserve Program, the Environmental Quality 
Incentives Program, and many others established to help farmers protect 
our natural environment.
  In the area of rural development, important areas of spending are 
protected and, in some instances, provided an increase. The Water and 
Sewer Grants Program, one near and dear to my heart, increased this 
year from the budget request of $438 million to $491 million. I want to 
especially thank Senator Cochran for engineering that. The section 502 
Single-Family Housing Program was returned to a program level of $1 
billion. In addition, the Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural 
Areas Program, one I am happy to say is housed at the University of 
Arkansas, important for the sustainable agricultural prices and 
products, is increased to $1.5 million.
  The bill provides nearly $4 billion for the WIC Program. We all know 
that is the program that provides a healthy diet for poor pregnant 
women and thereby increases the protein diet and the brain count of the 
fetus. This amount is an increase of nearly $200 million above the 
level we provided in the fiscal year 1997 bill. Noninclusive is the $76 
million we put in the recent supplemental appropriations bill. Included 
in the fiscal year 1998 WIC appropriation is $12 million for the WIC 
Farmers Market Nutrition Program. That helps provide fresh produce for 
WIC participants. In other words, WIC participants can buy produce at 
the roadside vegetable stand, just as everybody else can, with their 
vouchers.
  For the Food and Drug Administration, this bill provides an increase 
above last year--an increase--and includes a 1-year extension of the 
Prescription Drug User Fee Act and a Mammography Quality Standard Act. 
Fees collected from these two authorities will provide an additional 
$105.2 million for the FDA. These funds are vital to protect Food and 
Drug supplies and to ensure the safety and efficacy of our 
pharmaceutical and medical devices.
  Mr. President, just as we too often take for granted the availability 
of food, we too often take for granted the safety of that food. It only 
takes a single outbreak of E. coli in fruit juice, or similar strains 
in other food products, to quickly bring us short as to how fragile our 
health can become in the hostile world of bacteria and microorganisms. 
Visit with one mother of a child who has known the horror of a food-
borne illness and what it can do, and you will never take the safety of 
our food for granted again. The Food and Drug Administration, along 
with the Food Safety Inspection Service, stands as a guardian to 
protect our food supplies and the public health. This bill serves to 
help those agencies carry out those very important missions.
  The bill provides $14.5 billion to complete phase 2 for the FDA's 
National Center for Toxicological Research. This important facility is 
on the front-line of helping protect the health of American consumers. 
Once complete, this facility will be a cornerstone of the FDA's 
streamlining efforts to make Government more efficient and cost 
effective.
  There were several initiatives included in the administration's 
budget request, many of which included funding in this bill. The food 
safety initiative, vitally important to protect our food supply and 
help bolster consumer confidence in all meat, poultry and

[[Page S7896]]

other products, has provided nearly full funding. The human nutrition 
initiative, though not completely funded, gets a substantial boost.

  Mr. President, let me conclude by restating, I am again most grateful 
to Senator Cochran for his unfailing courtesy and consultations and for 
the fine job he and his excellent staff have done in crafting this 
bill. To expedite matters, let me simply say we are all grateful for 
his fair and open consideration of all requests. I gladly join him in 
bringing this bill to the Senate floor and urge the support of all 
Senators in its passage.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I am very grateful for the generous 
comments by the distinguished Senator from Arkansas about our work 
together on this bill and my contributions to the effort. It has been a 
genuine pleasure working with him. I have considered it one of the 
highlights of my career in the Senate of getting to know him personally 
and serving with him on the Appropriations Committee, as we have for 
these last 18 years.


                  corrections to senate report 105-51

  Mr. President, I would like to reflect for the record the following 
corrections to Senate Report 105-51 accompanying S. 1033, the fiscal 
year 1998 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, 
and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.
  The table on page 36 of the report should properly reflect that the 
committee recommends a $200,000 Federal administration grant to the 
``Center for Human Nutrition (Maryland)'' rather than the ``Center for 
Hawaiian Nutrition (Maryland).''
  On page 37, the first paragraph should reflect a total recommendation 
of ``$47,525,000'' for special research grants under Public Law 89-106 
rather than ``$46,525,000''.
  In the table on pages 42-43 of the report, the committee recommended 
total for ``Agricultural quarantine inspection'' under ``Pest and 
disease exclusion'' should be ``26,747'' rather than ``28,547'', making 
the subtotal for agricultural quarantine inspection ``126,747''; and 
the committee recommended total for ``Biological control'' under ``pest 
and disease management programs'' should be ``6,090'' rather than 
``6,290'', making the subtotal for pest and disease management 
``96,281''.
  And, on page 76, delete ``the University of Colorado Health Science 
Center telemedicine project, Colorado,'' from the list of rural 
business enterprise grants which the committee encourages the 
Department to consider.
  Further, I would like to clarify that the $275,100 in the first 
paragraph on page 24 of the report for the University of Hawaii 
Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources for the 
collaboration work on developing and evaluating efficacious and 
nontoxic methods to control tephritid fruit flies is the net amount 
currently going to the location, rather than the gross amount.
  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, there are several amendments which have 
been brought to our attention that we know will be offered by Senators. 
We invite those Senators to come to the floor now and present their 
amendments for the consideration of the Senate. Some of them we expect 
to recommend approval; others we will have to oppose. We hope that we 
can begin that process soon so we can complete action on all amendments 
so that we can have votes on those amendments and final passage of the 
bill at 4 o'clock this afternoon. That is our goal. We need the 
cooperation and assistance of all Senators in order to achieve that 
goal.
  Let me say, in connection with the provisions of the bill, some of 
which the Senator from Arkansas mentioned specifically, I am 
particularly pleased we were able to continue funding for a lot of the 
traditional programs of the Department of Agriculture, which, because 
they are not new, because they do not seem innovative, are often 
overlooked or taken for granted. One that comes to mind is the 
Extension Service. We have seen a lot of changes in the Extension 
Service over the years, and we have tried to give that service the 
funds they need to carry out what many consider to be services and 
benefits that are not often applauded or recognized.
  We have seen so many new developments in technology and in modern 
science that we are able now to utilize in our rural communities and on 
our farms that have really elevated the standard of living in rural 
America to a point that is really quite impressive. We need a lot of 
things done that have not been done, but that is one of the agencies 
that, in my judgment, has done a great deal to help make life more 
livable, more enjoyable, and enrich the lives of many people every day 
because of the work that has been done.
  Another area that seems to me important to mention is the protection 
of our environment, our soil and water resources. The funds for 
conservation programs are increased because of the growing importance 
of developing new technologies, new ways to deal with pests and other 
problems in production of agriculture in an environmentally sensitive 
way. All of that is reflected in this legislation--those ambitions, 
those goals, and the importance of protecting the safety and health of 
those who live in rural America.
  We think the research activities done by the Agricultural Research 
Service also merit special mention. There are a lot of new things being 
undertaken by agricultural research scientists that offer great promise 
in terms of food safety, in reducing the necessity for using some 
products on our farms that many consider to have the potential for 
harming health and human safety. We are trying to make these changes 
and these improvements in agriculture possible through the development 
of new discoveries and new applications of science in agriculture. That 
is the agency that the Federal Government has charged with the 
responsibility of concentrating in that area.
  We also are developing, in concert with the legislative committees in 
the House and Senate, a level of funding of over $100 million for a 
comprehensive research effort that is new and recently authorized in 
the farm bill that was passed 2 years ago. We are hopeful that this 
will mean a more coherent approach to research and a more effective 
approach. Some worry about our spending too much money for so-called 
basic research and not enough money for applied research. The line 
between those two efforts has been blurred, and, in some cases, it is 
hard to distinguish between one kind and another. We appreciate the 
input we have received from those throughout the country who have 
presented information and have made their views known to the committee 
on that subject.
  This bill reflects an effort to bring together the best suggestions 
that we have had on that subject to have a more effective and more 
successful research effort for the betterment of our country.
  With the hope that other Senators will come to the floor and present 
amendments or suggested changes or comments on this legislation, I am 
prepared to yield the floor.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I want to commend Subcommittee Chairman 
Cochran for his work on the Agriculture appropriations bill for fiscal 
year 1998. This bill provides funding for all the activities under the 
jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture, except for the U.S. 
Forest Service. It also funds the activities of the Food and Drug 
Administration, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Farm 
Credit System.
  This has been one of the most difficult years to date and I 
congratulate Senator Cochran and his staff in working through the 
difficult decisions in crafting this bill.


                         Privilege of the Floor

  Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Rob Mangas and 
Jim Low of my staff be granted the privilege of the floor during 
consideration of S. 1033.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. FORD. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.




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