Farm bill clears Senate

So the Senate punted the tax extension for biodiesel credit from the energy bill to the farm bill yesterday.  I think this is chickenshit, but then they passed the farm bill.  I guess that is progress Washington DC style.

Farm Bill Clears Senate; January Conference Next

By: Geof Koss

CongressNow Staff
Friday, December 14, 2007   4:16 PM

The Senate today overwhelmingly passed the 2007 farm bill, capping a prolonged debate that saw hundreds of proposed amendments whittled down to a few dozen.

By a 79-14 vote, Senators approved the $288 billion measure, which authorizes federal farm programs for five years.

“We have a good farm bill,” said Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) following the vote.

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), the ranking Republican on the committee, acknowledged regional differences that emerged during the debate but noted broad bipartisan support for the measure.

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said today’s tally represented the most votes for a farm bill since 1973.

The bill contains billions for conservation, energy, specialty crops and rural investment. “We have met our obligations not just to farmers and ranchers but to rural communities,” Harkin said.

Harkin said he would meet with House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) next week to begin preparations for a January conference committee.

Harkin has said the conference should be completed by the end of January. The White House has repeatedly criticized the bill, but a presidential veto of the popular bill is considered unlikely.

Today’s vote followed a two-week procedural standoff over the decision Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to limit the scope of debate, which culminated with a failed cloture vote before Thanksgiving. The bill was revived last week after the two parties settled the dispute by agreeing to 20 amendments each.

In an effort to complete the bill today, several amendments were agreed to and adopted in a manager’s amendment.

Not included was a Harkin amendment to limit junk food in schools. He vowed to revisit the issue.

“We’re not giving up,” he told reporters.

The bill includes a package of agriculture tax measures attached by
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.).

These provisions include the creation of a $5.1 billion trust fund to help ranchers
and farmers hurt by crop and livestock losses, the conversion of a number of
conservation payment programs into fully offset tax credit programs, and
additional incentives for rural economic development and energy-related tax
relief to aid agricultural producers.

“Our hardworking agricultural producers deserve a strong safety net and more
money in their pockets through this much-needed tax relief,” Baucus said. “The
agriculture tax provisions the Senate approved today will recognize the
sacrifices of farming families, reward their efforts to conserve American land,
and revitalize the rural communities where they live.”