To Members of the NASULGC System:

The House Appropriations Committee considered the FY 2005 Agriculture Appropriations bill in a markup session today. After debate on several amendments -- including an amendment by Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) to cut $6 million from the National Research Initiative -- the bill was reported by the committee. It is expected to be considered on the House floor sometime after the Independence Day recess, which begins on June 25 and ends on July 5.

Kaptur Amendment Defeated on a Voice Vote
As you are aware from our action alerts, Rep. Kaptur offered an amendment to move $6 million from the NRI to a "Farmers Market" program. The Kaptur amendment was vigorously opposed by NASULGC champions, including Reps. Henry Bonilla (R-TX), Tom Latham (R-IA), and John Olver (D-MA).

Thanks to all of you who scrambled to contact your congressional offices. We're sure that our collective "quick response" had a lot to do with the Kaptur amendment's defeat.

Minor Changes in the Bill Reported from Subcommittee
The full Appropriations Committee made some minor adjustments to the bill as approved by the Agriculture Subcommittee on July 15.

The committee agreed to include $500,000 within the bill for the "Resident Instruction and Distance Education Grants" line item of benefit to land-grant institutions located in the U.S. insular areas (Guam, Puerto Rico, etc.).

The committee also increased the Smith-Lever 3(b)-(c) line item by $500,000, making the FY 2005 level for that item $277,242,000 (as compared to the FY 2004 level of $277,742,000).

The committee reduced the NRI level from $181,000,000 to $180,000,000. The NRI would, therefore, be funded at the president's FY 2005 budget request level, which is still $16,000,000 (10%) more than the FY 2004 level.

Fred H. Hutchison
Tim Sanders
The Blue Ribbon Team