[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 9768-9769]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             THE FARM, NUTRITION, AND BIOENERGY ACT OF 2007

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I have sought recognition to discuss my 
reasons for voting for the conference report to H.R. 2419, The Farm, 
Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007. Also known as the 2007 farm bill, 
this legislation determines America's agriculture and domestic 
nutrition policy for the next 5 years. It has, received substantial 
criticism because of subsidies paid to farmers of five major 
commodities or crops: corn, cotton, rice, soybeans, and wheat. On April 
29, 2008, President Bush called the legislation a ``massive, bloated 
farm bill'' and has said he would veto it. The bill has also drawn 
criticism from taxpayer advocacy groups.
  The 2007 farm bill conference report scores at $307 billion over 5 
years. However, this increase is fully off-set with customs users fees 
that are collected by the Border and Transportation Security 
Directorate--formerly the U.S. Customs Service--of the Department of 
Homeland Security for processing passengers, conveyances and 
merchandise entering the United States. The White House has agreed that 
this bill does not include any tax increase.
  During my tenure in the U.S. Senate, I have fought hard for 
agriculture and nutrition programs in Pennsylvania. However, I do have 
concerns with direct payment subsidies for farmers where the amount is 
not based on the price of the commodity and, more importantly, with 
large, almost endless, payments to producers. In 2006, Riceland Foods, 
Inc. located in Stuttgart, AR, received $7,710,705 for rice, soybean, 
wheat, and corn production. In 2006, the top 10 recipients of direct 
subsidies for production of corn, cotton, rice, soybeans, and wheat 
were, in order of rank, Iowa, Illinois, Texas, Nebraska, Kansas, 
Minnesota, Arkansas, Indiana, North Dakota, and Missouri. 
Pennsylvania's agriculture producers are not the recipients of these 
large subsidies, as Pennsylvania is a major producer of milk, Christmas 
trees, and specialty crops, which include mushrooms, apples, and fruits 
and vegetables. My home State ranks No. 1 in the production of 
mushrooms, No. 4 in the production of apples and freestone peaches, and 
No. 5 in the production of milk and grapes in the U.S. Pennsylvania 
ranks 32 out of 50 in terms of Federal Government agricultural 
payments, despite the fact that agriculture is PA's No. 1 industry.
  These large subsidies were a major concern when I voted against the 
2002 farm bill conference report, even though the bill contained 
crucial programs for Pennsylvania, including the milk income loss 
contract, MILC, and conservation and nutrition programs. It would be my 
preference that we move toward a free market for agriculture.
  While this legislation is not perfect, it is a much better 
alternative to an extension of the 2002 farm bill or the reversion to 
nonexpiring provisions of primarily the Agriculture Adjustment Act of 
1938 and the Agriculture Act of 1949--permanent law. The 2002 farm bill 
did not include any reforms of program subsidies and the 1938 and 1949 
laws are drastically different from current policy, inconsistent with 
current farming, marketing, and trade agreements, and would mandate 
higher subsidy rates and land controls.
  I have reviewed the pending conference report to determine its 
benefits for the entire country, not just Pennsylvania where I have 
heard from many constituents and stakeholders expressing their support. 
This bill is not perfect, but it still moves America in the right 
direction. Our Nation, like Pennsylvania, will on the whole benefit 
from the 2007 farm bill. It makes key reforms to subsidy programs which 
I will discuss more in detail later. In addition, this legislation 
includes funding for domestic nutrition programs, conservation 
programs, programs to help rural America, and the milk income loss 
contract, MILC, program for America's dairy producers. For the first 
time, the farm bill would extend assistance to specialty crop producers 
through marketing and research programs.
  This conference report includes significant subsidy reforms. Under 
current law, producers are not eligible for payments if their adjusted 
gross income, AGI, exceeds $2.5 million. In the final 2007 farm bill, a 
producers' nonfarm income may not exceed $500,000 in order to receive a 
payment. Further, a producers' farm income, or AGI, cannot exceed more 
than $750,000 in order to receive a payment. One key reform is the 
elimination of the so-called ``three-entity rule,'' which enabled a 
farmer to collect twice the maximum payment limit amount by setting up 
multiple businesses on the same farm. The White House was influential 
in this

[[Page 9769]]

outcome, which I support. Although the final language did not attain 
more stringent reforms as preferred by the White House or the Dorgan/
Grassley amendment to the 2007 farm bill, this AGI reform is a step in 
the right direction. I have been a consistent supporter of efforts to 
limit payments to the major program crop producers. Further, the 
measure includes Crop Insurance subsidy reform by reducing the 
administrative and operating--A&O--reimbursement provided to agents by 
2.3 percentage points and increasing catastrophic--CAT--and non-insured 
assistance program--NAP--insurance fees.
  The bill includes $209 billion for nutrition programs which is 68 
percent of the entire cost of the bill. I have long supported nutrition 
programs, also known as domestic food assistance programs, which are 
crucial to help less fortunate Americans and those experiencing 
difficult times. They include the Food Stamp Program, The Emergency 
Food Assistance Program, TEFAP, the Commodity Supplemental Food 
Program, Community Food Projects, the Seniors Farmers' Market Nutrition 
Program, and fresh fruit and vegetable initiatives.
  The Food Stamp Program helps 26 million low-income Americans buy 
healthy food each month. Its benefits have not been raised in 30 years 
and the conference report raises the minimum benefit from $10 to $14 
per week, indexed for inflation. Further, the final 2007 farm bill also 
includes $1 billion to expand the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program--
FFVP--nationwide to reach nearly 3 million low-income children. The 
FFVP allows schools to offer and promote free fresh fruits and 
vegetables during the day.
  The conference report includes $25 billion for conservation programs 
to help America's farmers use environmentally friendly farming 
practices in order to allow farmers to till the soil and raise 
livestock, while still protecting the land. In Pennsylvania alone, 
about one-quarter of all acres is farmland. The Environmental Quality 
Incentives Program, the Wetlands Reserve Program, the Grassland Reserve 
Program, the Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program, and the Wildlife 
Habitat Incentives Program are all worthy initiatives that need 
improvement and funding. Beyond providing funding for national 
conservation programs, the bill has $438 million for conservation 
programs in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed which includes large sections 
of Pennsylvania.
  Rural America, the backbone of our country, will benefit from this 
comprehensive legislation by reducing the backlog of unfunded pending 
rural development water and wastewater loan and grant applications. 
Also, broadband service will be expanded to rural America to allow 
access to those businesses, farms, and families in rural areas with no 
or very limited service. Further, a new rural microenterprise 
assistance program would be established for low and moderate income 
individuals to help develop the skills necessary to establish new small 
businesses in rural America. Lastly, the conference report provides 
$250 million in mandatory funding for grants and loan guarantees for 
renewable energy and energy efficiency systems for farmers, ranchers, 
and rural small businesses. One item of note is that reduction of the 
production tax credit for corn ethanol from 51 cents/gallon to 45 
cents/gallon to reduce the incentive to shift corn production from feed 
to fuel in order to ensure that we are planting enough acres for other 
crops, including wheat and soybeans, for food.
  Finally, our dairy producers will continue to have the safety-net 
they deserve with a much-needed modification. The 2007 farm bill 
conference report funds the MILC program that provides countercyclical 
payments to our dairy producers when the price of milk falls below a 
set trigger price. This trigger price, as modified, will be adjusted on 
a monthly basis depending on the changes in the costs of feed. 
Increasing input costs are straining our producers and this will ensure 
that the payment will compensate for the increasing costs incurred by 
the dairy farmer. Also, the payment rate will be increased back to 45 
percent from 34 percent and the cap on milk production will increase 
from 2.4 million pounds to 2.98 million pounds per year. Since its 
inception in the 2002 farm bill, the MILC program has provided more 
than $220 million to Pennsylvania dairy farmers. I have been a strong 
supporter of a mechanism to ensure that dairy farmers receive a fair 
price for the milk they produce considering the increased input costs. 
The bill also includes provisions to make the dairy industry more 
transparent by requiring mandatory reporting of dairy commodities and 
establishing a Federal Milk Marketing Order Review Commission.
  America's specialty crop producers which include most fruits and 
vegetables will get the assistance they need to market their products. 
The bill provides about $1.3 billion in mandatory funding for specialty 
crop block grants, technical assistance, and farmers' market promotion. 
This is the most ever set aside in a farm bill to assist these farmers 
who are left out of traditional Federal farm programs. The measure 
establishes the National Clean Plant Network consisting of centers 
across America to efficiently produce and distribute healthy planting 
stock of critical high-value new varieties of fruit trees and 
grapevines. These centers will be the first line of defense against 
devastating viruses, like the Plum Plox virus outbreak in Adams County, 
PA, in 1999. Also, both nursery and Christmas trees are included in the 
Tree Assistance Program which provides disaster relief for growers who 
lost their crops of trees due to natural disasters. Pennsylvania 
growers produce over 10 million trees every year.
  The 2007 farm bill is good for America and good for Pennsylvania. 
Therefore, I support this crucial legislation.

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