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To Members of the NASULGC Family:
After many months of delay, the Senate has finally passed
H.R.2673, the Agriculture Appropriations bill for F.Y. 2004. This
action came after two days of debate on the bill, including action
on a number of amendments. Essential elements of the bill and
debate follow:
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On November 6, the
Senate voted 93-1 to approve the bill, which includes $17
billion in discretionary spending, nearly $1 billion
less than fiscal year 2003. The bill funds the Department of Agriculture, the
Food and Drug Administration, and other agriculture-related
agencies. The bill also includes approximately $60 billion
for non-discretionary programs.
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Before final passage
there was three hours
of debate on a "Sense of the Senate" amendment, offered by
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), directing Senate
conferees not to delay the implementation of the
country-of-origin labeling program in relation to meats and
meat products.
After an attempt to table the Daschle
amendment failed in a 36 to 58 vote, the Senate adopted the
amendment by voice vote. Daschle's amendment was offered to
counter a provision in the House bill that would essentially
delay for one year the implementation of the meat section of
the labeling program. The law is set to take effect on Sept. 30, 2004, and critics of the program are seeking to have it
delayed until Sept. 30, 2005. |
Beyond these provisions and general debate, there
was little discussion of and few amendments affecting the
Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service.
Daschle-Frist Amendment Accepted
The
only amendment of any consequence to the land-grant system was put forward by Senator
Daschle and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist
(R-TN) and adopted by voice vote. The Daschle-Frist amendment
would authorize the "Sun
Grant Research Initiative Act of 2003."
The stated purpose of this proposal -- crafted as an amendment to
the 2002 Farm Bill -- is to "require the Secretary of Agriculture
to establish university-based research, extension, and educational
programs to implement bio-based energy technologies, products, and
economic diversification in rural areas of the United States." The
Daschle-Frist amendment establishes five regional centers at:
South Dakota State University, the University of Tennessee at
Knoxville, Oklahoma State University, Oregon State University, and
Cornell University. While each of these five
universities would keep up to 25% of the funds appropriated to
them, the remaining 75% would go into competitive grants for other
land-grant universities in the same geographical region. The
authorized levels contained in this proposal are: $25M for F.Y.
2005;
$50M for F.Y. 2006; and $75M for F.Y. 2007 to F.Y. 2010.
It is unclear how the House-Senate conferees on H.R. 2673 will
view this proposal.
Link:
Bill Language and Explanatory Statement - Sun Grant Initiative
Next Steps
The House and Senate leadership have expressed strong interest
in wrapping up the current Congressional session prior to
Thanksgiving. An adjournment date of November 21 is still the
target. Now that both houses have passed the Agriculture
Appropriations bill, staff and members can begin conference
negotiations in earnest. When we have news from or about the
conference, we will be certain to pass it along to you.
Fred Hutchison
Fleishman-Hillard Government Relations |
