[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 87 (Monday, July 10, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H5723]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          PERSONAL EXPLANATION

  Ms. KILPATRICK. Mr. Chairman, due to official business in my 
district, I was unable to record my vote on the following amendments to 
H.R. 4461, the Agriculture appropriations bill for fiscal year 2001, on 
which rollcalls were ordered. On the amendment offered by Mr. Coburn 
(rollcall No. 373), I would have voted ``no;'' on the amendment offered 
by Mr. Royce (rollcall No. 374), I would have voted ``no;'' on the 
amendment offered by Mr. Crowley (rollcall No. 375), I would have voted 
``aye;'' on the amendment offered by Mr. Chabot (rollcall No. 376), I 
would have voted ``no;'' on the amendment offered by Mr. Coburn 
(rollcall No. 377), I would have voted ``aye;'' and on the amendment 
offered by Mr. Sanford (rollcall No. 378), I would have voted ``no.''
  Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to reluctantly support H.R. 
4461, the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, 
and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2001. I wish 
to commend Chairman Young, Ranking Member Obey, Subcommittee Chairman 
Skeen and Subcommittee Ranking Member Kaptur for their hard work during 
this stressful time for American agriculture and our hard-working 
farmers.
  I support this legislation with the understanding that while this 
bill falls short in many areas, Congress needs to move now to stem the 
flood of debt, drought and despair in rural America.
  Indeed, this bill has some acceptable provisions. To address the 
credit gap that farmers face, this bill appropriates the 
Administration's request of $130 million to support $4.6 billion in 
loans to farmers and ranchers through the Agricultural Credit Insurance 
Fund. There is increased funding for Farm Operating Loans and Farm 
Ownership Loans. In addition, there is $150 million for emergency 
disaster loans and $100 million for boll weevil eradication loans. As 
an increasing number of farmers sell their commodities at prices below 
their cost of production, the availability of this credit could be the 
difference in keeping many of the farmers in my District on the land.
  This bill appropriates adequate stop-gap funding for Farm Service 
Agency salaries and expenses which will allow farmers to continue to 
get the services they need at their local FSA offices.
  This Agriculture Appropriations bill increases funding for the 
Agricultural Research Service by $20 million over last year. This will 
allow for improved research for many producers. The bill appropriates 
$946 million for Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension 
Service to advance research, extension and education in the food and 
agricultural sciences. Soil and water conservation spending is 
increased by $16 million over last year's level. Rural Housing programs 
will increase by $89 million.
  Many of these programs deserve more, but producers and other 
recipients need these programs now. I will continue to fight for 
agriculture's fair share.
  Mr. Chairman, there are great deficiencies in this bill. The bill 
does not contain funding for important peanut research projects at the 
Dawson, Georgia ARS facility. A project to Develop, Evaluate and 
Transfer Technology to Improve the Efficiency and Quality in Peanuts 
and a project to Develop Technology/Methodology for Peanut Quality 
Management During Production and Post Harvest Processing are left 
unfunded in this bill. I will do everything I can to see that these 
important projects are funded in the final Conference Report.
  The bill provides $35.2 billion for domestic nutrition programs--
including food stamps, the school lunch and breakfast programs, and the 
Special Supplemental Food Program for Woman, Infants, and Children. 
This is an increase of $186 million over last year's level, but $1 
billion less than the Administration requested. During this time of 
plenty in much of America we can do better.
  I am going to vote for this bill even though it fails to address 
fundamental problems in providing the economic safety net farmers need 
to keep growing the highest quality, safest and cheapest food in the 
world.
  Mr. Chairman, I am going to vote for this bill because it keeps the 
American food ship afloat. But it remains for this House of 
Representatives to complete its work to knit a safety net for America's 
farmers who are drowning in debt, disaster and depressed prices. This 
vote is just the first step.
  Mr. TANCREDO. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the point of order 
offered by my friend, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart) to 
strike Title VIII from H.R. 4461, the Department of Agriculture 
Appropriations Act. As my colleagues know, Title VIII would amend 
current law to ease economic sanctions against five nations: Cuba, 
Iran, Sudan, Libya, and North Korea. While much of the news reports and 
talk over the last few weeks have focused on the pros and cons of the 
compromise reached between members of both sides of the aisle on how 
the provision will affect the communist nation of Cuba, I mainly oppose 
this provision because of how it deals with--or shall I say ignores--
the tragic situation that currently grips Sudan.
  As a member of the International Relations Committee and especially 
the Subcommittee on Africa and the Subcommittee on International 
Operations and Human Rights, I have been following the situation in 
Sudan with great interest and concern. One of the reasons I chose to be 
on the Africa Subcommittee was to address the conflict in Sudan and the 
practice of slavery that still takes place in this modern day and age. 
This is a country, which has the longest running civil war in the 
world, and has been witness to over 1.9 million deaths over the past 15 
years. More people have died in Sudan than in Kosovo, Bosnia, 
Afghanistan, Chechnya, Somalia and Algeria combined, yet few people 
still seem to take notice. At a time when we are sending military 
troops and proposing emergency supplemental appropriations for the 
situation in Kosovo, little is being done to counter these grievous 
human rights abuses that have been taking place for over a decade. It 
is time for the United States to take notice of the tragedy in Sudan, 
and for us to lend assistance to the Southern Sudanese, a people who 
are being butchered and enslaved by their own corrupt government.
  But repealing economic sanctions on Sudan will, without a shadow of a 
doubt, aid the government of the Sudan, the National Islamic Front in 
Khartoum, which has perpetuated the deplorable human rights abuses.
  I urge my colleagues to reexamine the proposed compromise--exempt 
Sudan from the provision so that we can all work toward meaningful 
change in this turbulent region of Africa.
  Mr. SKEEN. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.
  The motion was agreed to.
  Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr. 
Tancredo) having assumed the chair, Mr. Nussle, Chairman of the 
Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, reported that 
that Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4461) 
making appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug 
Administration, and Related Agencies programs for the fiscal year 
ending September 30, 2001, and for other purposes, had come to no 
resolution thereon.

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