[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 133 (Tuesday, October 5, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2032]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 1906, AGRICULTURE, RURAL DE-VELOPMENT, FOOD 
 AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2000

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. DEBBIE STABENOW

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 1, 1999

  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my extreme 
disappointment in the process that led to the consideration of the 
Conference Report for H.R. 1906 in the House of Representatives today. 
While I intend to vote for this legislation, the leadership in the 
House has chosen to ignore the wishes of this body on two counts.
  First, we selected conferees, knowledgeable Members who have proven 
themselves in this process, who should have been allowed to represent 
the House during the conference on H.R. 1906. In the end, however, the 
conferees were shut out of the process and the final version of the 
conference report was developed by House leadership, behind closed 
doors.
  Second, this House voted just last week, by an overwhelming majority, 
to mandate the Option 1A pricing scheme for dairy. H.R. 1402, the bill 
that I strongly supported and was proud to cosponsor, passed this House 
on September 22, 1999, by a vote of 285 to 140. While many other 
elements of the farm crisis were addressed in the conference report, 
and I am pleased that over $8 billion has been directed for disaster 
assistance, why was the dairy crisis ignored? Why wasn't the issue of 
dairy even allowed to be brought to the table during conference 
negotiations? I am disappointed that H.R. 1402 is not included in the 
conference report. Our dairy farmers deserve more.
  Mr. Speaker, despite these problems, I am pleased to announce that 
several special grants that are critical for Michigan agriculture will 
be funded again this year at their Fiscal Year 1999 levels. The 
following grants, many of which are executed at the world-class land 
grant institution in my district, Michigan State University, have been 
funded at their Fiscal Year 1999 levels: Improved Fruit Practices, Wood 
Utilization, Potato Research, Apple Fireblight, and Sustainable 
Agriculture. Overall, the positive provisions included in the 
conference report allow me to support it, but the process that brought 
us to this point has been deeply flawed and I am very disappointed that 
the House has not included H.R. 1402 in this legislation