[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
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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,
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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
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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.
____________________