[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 56 (Wednesday, April 9, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H2119-H2121]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 MOTION TO GO TO CONFERENCE ON H.R. 2419, FOOD AND ENERGY SECURITY ACT 
                                OF 2007

  Mr. HOLDEN. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on 
Agriculture, I move to take from the Speaker's table the bill (H.R. 
2419) to provide for the continuation of agricultural programs through 
fiscal year 2012, and for other purposes, with a Senate amendment 
thereto, disagree to the Senate amendment, and agree to the conference 
asked by the Senate.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The motion was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.


              Motion to Instruct Offered by Mr. Goodlatte

  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to instruct conferees.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Mr. Goodlatte moves that the managers on the part of the 
     House at the conference on the disagreeing votes on the two 
     Houses on the Senate amendment to the bill H.R. 2419 be 
     instructed, within the scope of the conference, to--
       Disagree to any provision which will result in an increase 
     in taxes.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Hastings of Florida). Pursuant to clause 
7 of rule XXII, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) and the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Holden) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I offer this motion to instruct conferees to make clear 
that tax increases do not belong in a farm bill. While there are still 
some funding issues that need to be worked out and many policy 
decisions to be negotiated, these instructions are very clear in 
stating that tax increases cannot be used to fund the remaining 
elements of the farm bill.
  Again I will read the actual language of the motion, which is that 
the managers on the part of the House at the conference on the 
disagreeing votes on the two Houses on the Senate amendment to the bill 
H.R. 2419 be instructed within the scope of the conference to disagree 
to any provision which will result in an increase in taxes.
  These instructions are very clear in stating that tax increases 
cannot be used to fund the remaining elements of the farm bill. Farm 
bills have long enjoyed bipartisan support in this body, and it would 
be devastating to American agriculture to add a divisive element such 
as tax increases to this bill.
  This conference has been a long time coming, and we are ready to put 
together a reform-minded farm bill that addresses a variety of issues, 
including conservation, nutrition, energy, rural development, fruits 
and vegetables, and forestry, while maintaining a strong safety net for 
America's farmers and ranchers so that they can continue to meet the 
growing demand for their products in the global market.

                              {time}  1815

  This motion is very important. I expect that there will be strong 
bipartisan support for this motion, and it's important because we have 
been down this road of attempting to pass a farm bill for quite some 
time.
  When the bill came out of the House Agriculture Committee last 
summer, many of the Members on this side of the aisle expected that the 
amount of money that was added outside of the committee's jurisdiction 
would not constitute tax increases. We are very disappointed to find 
that it did include tax increases, and that has definitely bogged down 
this process for the many, many, many months since.
  We have now had some very good discussions with members of other 
committees that are involved in making sure that we have the ability to 
move forward and to pay for measures that exceed the amount of money 
within the jurisdiction of the Agriculture Committee, and those do not 
include tax increases.
  This is, I think, an important statement to be made here and in the 
other body that we can complete this work without tax increases. We do 
not need to repeat the mistakes that were made earlier in that regard.
  I also think it's very clear that the President of the United States 
has been very strong in his statement that this bill would be vetoed if 
it included tax increases. While we continue to work with the 
administration on a number of other issues, we are making progress 
there as well.
  Again, this would reaffirm, I think, the kind of bipartisan support 
that it takes to pass a farm bill and get it signed into law.
  I urge my colleagues to support this motion to instruct.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HOLDEN. I want to commend the ranking member of the committee for 
the hard work that he has done with the chairman of the committee, who 
is now in a meeting with leadership, as we are trying to iron out the 
final details of a long process where a lot of people, particularly 
Chairman Peterson and Ranking Member Goodlatte, have put a lot of time 
and effort to get to this spot in the process where we are. We are 
hoping that we can meet our deadline of next Friday to see that we can 
have this conference report completed.
  The ranking member has correctly evaluated the process that we have 
gone through as we try to get to this process, and we are in agreement. 
We believe that we can pass this farm bill without any tax increases.
  Before I yield back the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 
minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind).
  Mr. KIND. I thank my friend from Pennsylvania for yielding me this 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, we need a farm bill, and we need it soon. Planting 
season is

[[Page H2120]]

starting throughout the country, but I would hope that at the end of 
the process we get a good farm bill rather than a bad farm bill, one 
that recognizes current market prices and the conditions that farmers 
are experiencing out there. It was a little more bold on reform, 
especially under those title I commodity programs.
  The President has made it clear that he won't find a farm bill 
acceptable that does call for an increase in taxes in order to pay for 
it. I and others who have been a part of a reform effort, especially 
with the commodity subsidy programs, believe that we are capable of 
producing a farm bill that maintains an important safety net for family 
farmers, but also protects the important priorities that are also a 
part of the farm bill.
  It's based on the philosophy of let's help family farmers when they 
need it, let's not when they don't. Clearly with commodity prices at or 
near record highs in the marketplace today, part of it driven by the 
biofuels portion in this country, a large part of it due to the 
increased global demand, many of us are suspecting that these prices 
are going to continue. That's been great for the rural economy, and 
it's been great for farm income.
  But let us also take this opportunity then of starting to move 
forward on some commonsense reasonable reforms of these commodity 
programs, while still maintaining a safety net in the farm bill, but 
without jeopardizing the conservation title or nutrition or specialty 
crops, rural economic development programs and renewable fuel 
investment.
  I would hope that my colleagues support this motion to instruct. I 
think it's the right thing to do. I think at the end of the day, if we 
are going to have a bipartisan bill that the President feels 
comfortable in doing, one of the goals that we have to strive for is a 
bill that does not call for an increase in taxes in light of record 
high market prices.
  I commend the gentleman for offering this motion and encourage 
support on the vote.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I would just say to the gentleman from Pennsylvania that I very much 
appreciate his kind words. We have worked in a very bipartisan fashion. 
The chairman of the committee has been very dedicated to working with 
us, and we very much appreciate that, as have the other members of the 
committee.
  We now look forward to going to conference and have the opportunity 
to work together as we work with the other body to try to work out what 
are still many, many hurdles. A lot of the people have been excited 
that we are going to conference, and we need to make sure they 
understand that we are not done with this, but we do have some good 
ideas that we are going to be able to move forward with. I think that's 
very encouraging.
  I would also say to the gentleman from Wisconsin that I too share his 
desire for reform. This farm bill will contain a lot of reform, and it 
will result in substantial savings to the taxpayers of the country, 
because, in fact, that has already occurred.
  The current farm bill, if it were to be perpetuated, which I do not 
support, but if it were to be perpetuated, would cost $58 billion less 
for the next 5 years than it cost for the last 5. So the fact of the 
matter is there is already substantial savings being achieved.
  There are, nonetheless, additional reforms that I and many others 
support as we move to conference with this legislation, and I think the 
outcome will be one that maintains the safety net for America's farmers 
and ranchers, but makes a number of very important reforms in a number 
of different areas and enhances those new areas that I know the 
gentleman has championed and others, like conservation, which I very 
much join him in supporting and making sure that the nutritional needs 
of many in this country are met, and other purposes. We can do that 
without tax increases, and, as a result, I think this is a very 
appropriate motion to instruct to adopt today.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. HOLDEN. I would just like to thank the ranking member for his 
comments and also to say to my friend from Wisconsin, who served on the 
committee, that he understands that we are fortunate to serve on one of 
the most bipartisan committees in the Congress. We do not have Democrat 
and Republican disagreements on agriculture, but we do have regional 
ones.
  I believe that the final product will reflect those regional 
differences and also will have a significant amount of reform that all 
of us are going to be able to go home and talk about that we did 
something positive in this farm bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is 
ordered on the motion to instruct.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to instruct.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Evidently a quorum is not present.
  The Sergeant at Arms will notify absent Members.
  Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, this 15-minute vote on the motion to 
instruct will be followed by 5-minute votes on motions to suspend the 
rules with respect to H.R. 5489 and H.R. 5472.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 400, 
nays 11, not voting 19, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 175]

                               YEAS--400

     Ackerman
     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Allen
     Altmire
     Andrews
     Arcuri
     Baca
     Bachmann
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Barrett (SC)
     Barrow
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bonner
     Bono Mack
     Boozman
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boustany
     Boyd (FL)
     Boyda (KS)
     Brady (PA)
     Brady (TX)
     Braley (IA)
     Broun (GA)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown, Corrine
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Butterfield
     Calvert
     Camp (MI)
     Campbell (CA)
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Capps
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carney
     Carson
     Carter
     Castle
     Castor
     Chabot
     Chandler
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Coble
     Cohen
     Cole (OK)
     Conaway
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Cramer
     Crenshaw
     Crowley
     Cubin
     Cuellar
     Culberson
     Cummings
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (KY)
     Davis, David
     Davis, Lincoln
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Donnelly
     Doolittle
     Doyle
     Drake
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Ehlers
     Ellsworth
     Emanuel
     Emerson
     Engel
     English (PA)
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Everett
     Fallin
     Farr
     Fattah
     Feeney
     Filner
     Flake
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Fossella
     Foster
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Gilchrest
     Gillibrand
     Gingrey
     Gohmert
     Gonzalez
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Gordon
     Graves
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hall (NY)
     Hall (TX)
     Hare
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Herseth Sandlin
     Higgins
     Hill
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Hobson
     Hodes
     Hoekstra
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hoyer
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Inglis (SC)
     Inslee
     Israel
     Issa
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Jones (OH)
     Jordan
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Keller
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Klein (FL)
     Kline (MN)
     Knollenberg
     Kucinich
     Kuhl (NY)
     LaHood
     Lamborn
     Lampson
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Latta
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (GA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Loebsack
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Lucas
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Lynch
     Mack
     Mahoney (FL)
     Maloney (NY)
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCaul (TX)
     McCollum (MN)
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McHenry
     McHugh
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     McNerney
     McNulty
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Melancon
     Mica
     Michaud
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, Gary
     Miller, George
     Mitchell
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (KS)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murphy, Tim
     Murtha
     Musgrave
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Neugebauer

[[Page H2121]]


     Nunes
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Ortiz
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Paul
     Pearce
     Pence
     Perlmutter
     Peterson (MN)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Price (GA)
     Price (NC)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Rahall
     Ramstad
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Renzi
     Reyes
     Reynolds
     Richardson
     Rodriguez
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Ross
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Royce
     Ruppersberger
     Ryan (OH)
     Ryan (WI)
     Sali
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Saxton
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schmidt
     Schwartz
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Sensenbrenner
     Serrano
     Sessions
     Sestak
     Shadegg
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shimkus
     Shuler
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Souder
     Space
     Spratt
     Stupak
     Sullivan
     Sutton
     Tancredo
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Taylor
     Terry
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Tierney
     Towns
     Tsongas
     Turner
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Upton
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walberg
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh (NY)
     Walz (MN)
     Wamp
     Wasserman Schultz
     Watson
     Watt
     Weiner
     Welch (VT)
     Weldon (FL)
     Weller
     Westmoreland
     Wexler
     Whitfield (KY)
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (OH)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman (VA)
     Wolf
     Wu
     Wynn
     Yarmuth
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                                NAYS--11

     Blumenauer
     Capuano
     DeFazio
     Ellison
     Frank (MA)
     McDermott
     McGovern
     Olver
     Payne
     Waters
     Woolsey

                             NOT VOTING--19

     Abercrombie
     Bachus
     Buyer
     Edwards
     Ferguson
     Giffords
     Granger
     Hooley
     Larson (CT)
     Myrick
     Peterson (PA)
     Rangel
     Rush
     Salazar
     Shays
     Sires
     Stark
     Stearns
     Waxman

                              {time}  1847

  Ms. WOOLSEY and Messrs. DeFAZIO and PAYNE changed their vote from 
``yea'' to ``nay.''
  Messrs. NADLER and CLYBURN changed their vote from ``nay'' to 
``yea.''
  So the motion to instruct was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
  Stated for:
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 175, I was unavoidably 
detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

                          ____________________