[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 137 (Monday, October 6, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H8385-H8394]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 2160, AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD
AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1998
Mr. SKEEN. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 232, I call up
the conference report on the bill (H.R. 2160) 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, and I ask for its immediate
consideration.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the conference report
is considered as having been read.
(For conference report and statement, see proceedings of the House of
September 17, 1997, at page H7509.)
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from New Mexico [Mr. Skeen]
and the gentlewoman from Ohio [Ms. Kaptur] each will control 30
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Mexico [Mr. Skeen].
General Leave
Mr. SKEEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on
the conference report to accompany H.R. 2160 and that I may include
tabular and extraneous material.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New Mexico?
There was no objection.
Mr. SKEEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present to the House a conference report
on H.R. 2160, providing appropriations for fiscal year 1998 for the
Department of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration, and related
agencies.
Mr. Speaker, the House voted overwhelmingly in favor of this bill on
July 24. Since then, we were given an additional $100 million in the
combined allocation process with the Senate. That money has been spent
on rural development, research, and conservation, making it an even
stronger bill than before while still remaining within our revised
allocation.
Mr. Speaker, this bill benefits every American every day, and this is
incorporated in this bill. It is truly a bipartisan bill. All of our
subcommittee members and many other Members from both sides of the
aisle have helped put this bill together, which I think was reflected
in the earlier House vote.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Louisiana [Mr.
Livingston], the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Obey], and the
gentlewoman from Ohio [Ms. Kaptur], the distinguished subcommittee
ranking member, for their support. I ask my colleagues to send this
conference report on to the Senate and the President with a strong
``yes'' vote.
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Mr. SKEEN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for their forbearance here. I feel
privileged to join the gentleman from New Mexico [Mr. Skeen], our
subcommittee chair, and all of our committee members in supporting this
conference report on H.R. 2160, our fiscal year 1998 Agriculture, Rural
Development, Food and Drug Administration, and related agencies
appropriation bill.
I just want to say that this bill truly represents a bipartisan,
bicameral compromise in our efforts to provide critical support for the
Department of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration, and other
agencies funded in this bill. This will help our Nation remain at the
leading edge for food production, fuel production, fiber and forest
production, as well as agricultural research, trade promotion, and food
and drug safety.
Mr. Speaker, there cannot be too many places in this Congress where
one is privileged to serve on a committee where in a week he can talk
about windmills and lambing season, child nutrition, and coyotes all at
the same time. We are very pleased that the additional funding that is
included in this bill will help us on our important research programs,
our conservation programs, and our rural housing and development
programs. The agreement also fully funds the budget request for youth
tobacco prevention and food safety initiatives under the Food and Drug
Administration.
I would like to acknowledge and thank the very talented and hard-
working subcommittee staff: Tim Sanders, Carol Murphy, John Ziolkowski,
JoAnne Orndorf, Doug Lawrence, Sally Chahbourne, and Roberta Jeauquent.
We all rely on these individuals' experience and expertise in
agriculture programs; and without their help, we would not be on this
floor today.
I have to say to the gentleman from New Mexico [Mr. Skeen], my good
friend, the chairman, I shall always remember that he has been the
chair of this committee during the first year that I served as its
ranking member, and these moments will remain among my treasured
moments in this Congress.
Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman
from Texas [Mr. Stenholm].
(Mr. STENHOLM asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this
conference report and commend those conferees who did an excellent job
in making balanced the priorities.
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I might just mention that we have one request for time
on this side.
Mr. SKEEN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished
gentleman from Missouri [Mr. Skelton].
Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill. So
often agriculture and so often rural America gets overlooked in the
whole scheme of things.
This bill does an excellent job. I compliment the chairman and the
ranking member on the bipartisan approach to this. The fact that it is
agreed upon and is noncontroversial speaks well for the way agriculture
is being treated, rural development is being handled, and as well as
the agriculture research, which is so very, very important for the
agriculture community, which in turn is important to all of America.
{time} 1745
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to
observe for the Record that the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. Skelton]
took off his field boots in order to give his remarks this afternoon.
So we thank him very much for being down here on the floor.
Mr. BENTSEN. Mr. Chairman, I rise to express my strong support for
H.R. 2160, the conference report on the fiscal year 1998 Agriculture
Appropriations Bill. I am especially pleased that this conference
report includes $11.3 million for pediatric research conducted at the
Children's Nutrition Research Center [CNRC] in Houston, which I
represent. This funding level represents a $500,000 increase over last
year's bill and will be used to conduct critical nutrition research on
children.
It is important that we provide sufficient funding for agricultural
research programs, including nutrition research. This research has
helped to lead to better and more effective strategies to improve
children's health. I have worked closely with members of the
Appropriations Committee and the Texas Congressional Delegation to
secure this vital funding, and I wish to thank Subcommittee Chairman
Skeen and ranking member Kaptur for their assistance.
The Children's Nutrition Research Center was founded in 1978 and
operates in cooperation with Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor
College of Medicine in the Texas Medical Center. It is a world leader
in the field of pediatric nutrition, and its research has led to better
health and reduced health care costs for children. For instance, some
of its research has saved 40 percent of the cost of treating premature
infants at Texas Children's Hospital by developing a better system for
feeding without compromising nutritional intake. This system saves
$7,500 per infant and reduced the average hospital stay of premature
infants by 3 days. The CNRC is currently conducting research on
children's obesity, which may lead to more effective treatments to
prevent such serious diseases as atherosclerosis, osteoporosis, and
diabetes.
This conference report also includes critical funding for many
nutrition programs, including the Food Stamp Program, the school lunch
and breakfast programs, and the Women, Infants, and Children [WIC]
program. For many low-income families, these programs are the only way
that they can meet their nutritional needs. This legislation also
includes $858 million for the Food and Drug Administration, the Federal
agency responsible for protecting food safety and promoting safe and
effective drugs to combat illnesses. This legislation also includes $34
million for a new food safety initiative to increase surveillance,
research, and education concerning food-borne illnesses.
I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.
Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend the conferees for
their work in putting together a conference report that achieves so
many important goals.
This conference report includes an increase from $4 million to $34
million to implement the FDA's regulations aimed at curbing tobacco use
by underage consumers. This makes sense.
Underage smoking creates a new generation of smokers and it puts them
on the road to potentially debilitating and costly health problems. We
need to prevent this now.
I would have liked a conference report that included language that
would have eliminated the USDA's nonrecourse loan program for sugar.
Through a combination of import quotas, price supports and subsidized
loans, our Government props up sugar prices nationwide.
This is not about the small sugar farmer. This is about big agri-
business. Most beneficiaries of the sugar program are large corporate
interests, not small farmers. The GAO estimates that 42 percent of the
sugar program benefits went to 1 percent of sugar plantations. We need
to eliminate this corporate welfare, and I am sorry we are not doing
that with this conference report today.
Yet, I do support this conference report because it helps our
children.
What we are doing with this conference report is protecting and
feeding our children.
Mr. Speaker, we are helping ensure the health of our children by
increasing funding for WIC by $118 million over the previous year. This
will help maintain the current participation level of 7.4 million
individuals. The WIC program is a program that works, and in the
longer-term, actually saves Federal money. For every $1 dollar used in
the prenatal segment of the WIC Program, Medicaid saves untold moneys
and give healthy productive lives to these children and cannot be
measured in dollars and cents.
WIC works. It reduces the instances of infant mortality, low
birthweight, malnutrition and the myriad other problems of impoverished
children. The WIC program also provides valuable health care counseling
for expectant mothers for both mothers and children.
This report also provides $7.8 billion for child nutrition programs,
such as the school lunch and breakfast programs. This is $885 million
more than the previous year. These programs help our children focus in
the classroom and have the ability to concentrate on learning, and not
hunger.
Mr. Speaker, we have been presented with a great opportunity today to
make wise investments in our children, and our future. Let's vote for
this conference report.
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SKEEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
[[Page H8394]]
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Shaw). Without objection, the previous
question is ordered on the conference report.
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is the conference report.
Pursuant to clause 7 of rule XV, the yeas and nays are ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 399,
nays 18, not voting 16, as follows:
[Roll No. 491]
YEAS--399
Abercrombie
Ackerman
Aderholt
Allen
Archer
Armey
Bachus
Baesler
Baker
Baldacci
Ballenger
Barcia
Barr
Barrett (NE)
Barrett (WI)
Bartlett
Barton
Bass
Bateman
Bentsen
Bereuter
Berman
Berry
Bilbray
Bilirakis
Bishop
Blagojevich
Bliley
Blumenauer
Blunt
Boehlert
Boehner
Bonilla
Bonior
Bono
Borski
Boswell
Boyd
Brady
Brown (CA)
Brown (OH)
Bryant
Bunning
Burr
Burton
Buyer
Callahan
Calvert
Camp
Canady
Cannon
Capps
Cardin
Carson
Castle
Chabot
Chambliss
Chenoweth
Christensen
Clay
Clayton
Clement
Clyburn
Coble
Collins
Combest
Condit
Cook
Cooksey
Costello
Cox
Coyne
Cramer
Crane
Crapo
Cummings
Cunningham
Danner
Davis (FL)
Davis (IL)
Davis (VA)
Deal
DeGette
Delahunt
DeLauro
DeLay
Dellums
Deutsch
Diaz-Balart
Dickey
Dicks
Dingell
Dixon
Dooley
Doolittle
Doyle
Dreier
Duncan
Dunn
Edwards
Ehlers
Ehrlich
Emerson
Engel
English
Eshoo
Etheridge
Evans
Everett
Ewing
Farr
Fattah
Fawell
Fazio
Filner
Flake
Foley
Forbes
Ford
Fowler
Fox
Frank (MA)
Franks (NJ)
Frelinghuysen
Frost
Furse
Gallegly
Ganske
Gejdenson
Gekas
Gibbons
Gilchrest
Gillmor
Gilman
Goode
Goodlatte
Goodling
Gordon
Goss
Graham
Granger
Green
Gutierrez
Gutknecht
Hall (OH)
Hall (TX)
Hamilton
Hansen
Harman
Hastert
Hastings (FL)
Hastings (WA)
Hayworth
Hefley
Hefner
Herger
Hill
Hilleary
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Hobson
Hoekstra
Holden
Hooley
Horn
Hostettler
Houghton
Hoyer
Hulshof
Hunter
Hutchinson
Hyde
Inglis
Istook
Jackson (IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Jefferson
Jenkins
John
Johnson (CT)
Johnson (WI)
Johnson, E.B.
Johnson, Sam
Jones
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Kasich
Kelly
Kennedy (MA)
Kennedy (RI)
Kennelly
Kildee
Kilpatrick
Kim
Kind (WI)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kleczka
Klink
Klug
Knollenberg
Kolbe
LaFalce
LaHood
Lampson
Lantos
Largent
Latham
LaTourette
Lazio
Leach
Levin
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (GA)
Lewis (KY)
Linder
Lipinski
Livingston
LoBiondo
Lowey
Lucas
Luther
Maloney (CT)
Maloney (NY)
Manton
Markey
Martinez
Mascara
Matsui
McCarthy (MO)
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum
McCrery
McDade
McDermott
McGovern
McHale
McHugh
McInnis
McIntosh
McIntyre
McKeon
McKinney
McNulty
Meehan
Meek
Menendez
Metcalf
Mica
Millender-McDonald
Miller (FL)
Minge
Mink
Moakley
Mollohan
Moran (KS)
Moran (VA)
Morella
Murtha
Myrick
Nadler
Neal
Nethercutt
Neumann
Ney
Northup
Norwood
Nussle
Oberstar
Obey
Olver
Ortiz
Oxley
Packard
Pallone
Pappas
Parker
Pascrell
Pastor
Paxon
Payne
Pease
Pelosi
Peterson (MN)
Peterson (PA)
Petri
Pickering
Pickett
Pitts
Pomeroy
Porter
Portman
Poshard
Price (NC)
Pryce (OH)
Quinn
Radanovich
Rahall
Ramstad
Rangel
Redmond
Regula
Reyes
Riggs
Riley
Rivers
Rodriguez
Roemer
Rogan
Rogers
Ros-Lehtinen
Rothman
Roukema
Roybal-Allard
Rush
Ryun
Sabo
Sanchez
Sanders
Sandlin
Sanford
Sawyer
Saxton
Schaefer, Dan
Schaffer, Bob
Scott
Serrano
Sessions
Shadegg
Shaw
Shays
Sherman
Shimkus
Shuster
Sisisky
Skaggs
Skeen
Skelton
Slaughter
Smith (MI)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Smith, Adam
Smith, Linda
Snowbarger
Snyder
Solomon
Souder
Spence
Spratt
Stabenow
Stark
Stenholm
Stokes
Strickland
Stump
Stupak
Sununu
Talent
Tanner
Tauscher
Tauzin
Taylor (NC)
Thomas
Thompson
Thornberry
Thune
Thurman
Tiahrt
Tierney
Torres
Towns
Traficant
Turner
Upton
Velazquez
Vento
Visclosky
Walsh
Wamp
Waters
Watkins
Watt (NC)
Watts (OK)
Waxman
Weldon (FL)
Weldon (PA)
Weller
Wexler
White
Whitfield
Wicker
Wise
Wolf
Woolsey
Wynn
Yates
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
NAYS--18
Andrews
Campbell
Conyers
Cubin
DeFazio
Doggett
Ensign
Kucinich
Lofgren
Miller (CA)
Paul
Rohrabacher
Royce
Salmon
Scarborough
Sensenbrenner
Stearns
Taylor (MS)
NOT VOTING--16
Becerra
Boucher
Brown (FL)
Coburn
Foglietta
Gephardt
Gonzalez
Greenwood
Hilliard
Manzullo
Owens
Pombo
Schiff
Schumer
Smith (OR)
Weygand
{time} 1805
So the conference report was agreed to.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________