[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 157 (Monday, September 29, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S10039]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               FOOD, CONSERVATION, AND ENERGY ACT OF 2008

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 6849, which was received 
from the House.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 6849) to amend the commodity provisions of the 
     Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 to permit 
     producers to aggregate base acres and reconstitute farms to 
     avoid the prohibition on receiving direct payments, counter-
     cyclical payments, or average crop revenue election payments 
     when the sum of the base acres of a farm is 10 acres or less, 
     and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today in support of H.R. 6849. 
This important piece of legislation would revise the 2008 farm bill and 
help thousands of Kentucky farmers.
  As many of you may know, the farm bill prohibits producers from 
receiving certain commodity payments on farms of 10 base acres or less. 
Unfortunately, Kentucky has the greatest number of farms that will be 
impacted by this provision. According to the USDA Farm Service Agency 
and the University of Kentucky, one-fourth of Kentucky's farms are 10 
acres or less, which indicates that approximately 20,000 of the 
Commonwealth's 80,000 farms could be affected by this provision. While 
I supported the farm bill, I opposed the inclusion of this program in 
the final legislation.
  Last month, I wrote USDA Secretary Ed Schafer to express my concerns 
regarding USDA's implementation of this provision. I was concerned that 
USDA had interpreted the law in a way that disqualifies farmers with 
more than 10 base acres because that land is not located on a single, 
contiguous tract. As clearly outlined in the Joint Explanatory 
Statement of the Managers that accompanied this legislation, Congress 
intended that USDA allow for aggregation of farms for the purposes of 
determining the suspension of payments on farms with 10 base acres or 
less.
  H.R. 6849 would remedy this issue by suspending this program for the 
2008 crop year. I strongly support this provision since it could lessen 
the impact on my farmers and will perhaps provide encouragement to USDA 
to implement this provision in the manner that Congress intended.
  Mr. CARDIN. I ask unanimous consent that the Harkin-Chambliss 
amendment, which is at the desk, be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be 
read a third time and passed; the motions to reconsider be laid upon 
the table, with no intervening action or debate; and any statements be 
printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 5679) was agreed to.
  (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of 
Amendments.'')
  The amendment was ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read a 
third time.
  The bill (H.R. 6849) was read the third time, and passed.

                          ____________________