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Farm Bill Disappointment in the Senate |
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 After weeks of new amendment proposals and
endless lobbying, the Senate finally passed their version of the 2007 Farm Bill
on Friday, December 14th. The benefits of the bill include nutrition
programs for children, shaky promotion of bioenergy, and mild efforts at
conservation. But true reform of trade-distorting subsidies did not pass,
leaving African farmers and small American farmers once again at the mercy of
unjust US
commodity payments.
The House of Representatives passed a similar bill back in
August, much to the dismay of Africa
advocates. Now, the House and Senate must come together in conference committee
to work out the differences between their two bills. The Bush Administration
has threatened to veto the bill if it remains at such a high cost to taxpayers –
the Senate version cleared $286 billion – which may be a good opportunity for
reeling in subsidies to wealthy American farmers.
The Lugar/Lautenberg Farm Ranch Equity Stewardship and
Health (FRESH) Amendment, which would have signaled the greatest comprehensive reform
of the US Farm Bill, failed on December 11th with a vote of 58-37. An
amendment that would have saved billions of dollars by putting a stiff cap on subsidy
payments as well as drastically increasing the money available for programs
like international school lunch and nutrition plans was abandoned. This means
that not only would African farmers be granted a fairer playing field, but
their children would have received enhanced school lunch programs thus
strengthening education in Africa’s poorest
regions. Bread for the World released a press statement shortly after the vote,
congratulating the 37 Senators who did vote for real reform. AFJN asks that you
join us and Bread in thanking these Senators for standing up for hungry people
worldwide.
Both the Dorgan/Grassley Amendment and the Klobuchar/Brown/Durbin Amendment failed by a scant few votes. These
amendments, though not as profound as the FRESH Amendment, would have also
reduced the outrageous trade-distorting payments to our nation’s wealthiest
farmers.
Such failure is a disappointment to the developing world,
where so much of their livelihoods are dependent upon successful crop sales. Instead
of promoting a more equitable global farming economy, the Senate voted to
continue paying US corporations and large factory farms who are already making
upwards of $750,000 per year. AFJN will continue to keep you updated on the
status of the bill as it goes to conference and to the White House. In the
meantime, we encourage you to write to your Senators to either congratulate
them for their positive votes or to inform them how disappointed you are that
they did not support reform.
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