Senate conservatives object to swift cleanup vote on farm bill
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Allison Winter, E&E Daily reporter
At least two Senate Republicans are blocking the attempts of farm state lawmakers to swiftly clean up the procedural mess created last month by the missing section of the new five-year farm bill.
Democratic leadership tried to hotline the farm bill yesterday, in an attempt to approve all 15 titles by unanimous consent. But at least two conservative GOP senators -- Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Jim DeMint of South Carolina -- placed a hold on the bill, standing in the way of further action. Lawmakers enacted more than 90 percent of the measure last month, but must revisit it because of a missing section in the paperwork of the vetoed bill.
An aide for Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) -- the ranking member of the Agriculture Committee and a strong supporter of the bill -- said he is talking to members to try to address their concerns.
The hope is that if given time on the floor to state their objections, the protesting lawmakers would relent and allow the bill to move forward under unanimous consent. Otherwise, the measure would be open to amendments again -- essentially placing the whole process back at square one.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said leadership is still working on a plan to make sure the bill is enacted, including the missing trade title. "We're going to have to try to figure out a way to do that," Reid told reporters yesterday.
Missing parchment
Congress all but wrapped up the two-year effort to reauthorize the farm bill last month, when the House and Senate voted overwhelmingly to approve the farm bill and override the veto just before the Memorial Day recess. The Senate has to revisit the farm bill because of a clerical error that left the 34-page trade title out of the paperwork the president vetoed -- essentially enacting only 14 of the 15 titles.
The trade title -- which includes international food aid and a certification program for softwood lumber -- is still left out of the mix. Agriculture Committee members want to wrap up the title quickly to make sure U.S. AID can enter new agreements on food aide.
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