New Hampshire Delegation Votes Against New Federal Farm Bill

THE NEW FARM BILL?SPENDS AROUND

170 BILLION DOLLARS OVER THE NEXT TEN YEARS.

AND AS IT POURS BILLIONS OF DOLLARS INTO NEW

SUBSIDIES?THE MEASURE MOVES AWAY FROM THE

OLD 1996 FREEDOM TO FARM ACT ? DESIGNED TO

WEAN FARMERS OFF SUCH SUPPORT.

AND THAT STRUCK A PARTISAN NOTE?AS

REPUBLICANS OFFERED STRONG OPPOSITION TO

THE MEASURE.

ALL FOUR REPUBLICANS FROM THE GRANTITE

STATE?TWO IN THE HOUSE?TWO IN THE SENATE?

VOTED AGAINST THE LEGISLATION.

WITH THE SENATE JUST A FEW HOURS AWAY

FROM FINAL PASSAGE YESTERDAY?NEW

HAMSPHIRE?S JUDD GREGG?DENOUNCED THE

MEASURE?AS A GIVE AWAY OF TAXPAYERS MONEY.

?TAPE?(SOUND: It is truly ironic in fact, when you
think about it, because the way the farm program works today,
for those people who are on the system, is that the federal government essentially pays through tax dollars of the american people through their tax dollars essentially pays for the net income
of those farmers. 46 percent of the net income of farming as a result of this bill ? 46 percent ? will go will be paid for by tax dollars) (GREGG 2)

GREGG SAID THAT IN STATES?LIKE

IOWA?SOUTH DAKOTA?MINNESOTA?ARKANSAS

AND MISSOURI?THE PAYMENTS WILL ACTUALLY

EXCEED NET INCOME.

AND THE GRANITE STATE REPUBLICAN?PICKED

UP ON THE GENERAL LINE OF THE G-O-P?HEARD

THROUGHOUT THE DEBATE?THAT THIS BILL WAS

JUST TOO EXPENSIVE:

?TAPE?(SOUND: The increase in spending above the baseline here which is approximately a 173 billion dollars is beyond anything we can afford as an economy as taxpayers but more importantly the policy in this bill totally perverts the market and in my opinion drives us in the wrong direction away from a market oriented farm policy) (GREGG)

BUT THE STATE?S AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER

STEVE TAYLOR WAS DELIGHTED WITH THE BILL:

?TAPE?(SOUND: The northeast and New Hampshire have made out the best in this farm bill of any of the farm bill that have been passed probably since world war two.

TAYLOR POINTS TO THE RESTORATION OF THE

BENEFITS OF THE NORTHEAST DAIRY COMPACT?THAT

PROVIDES ASSISTANCE TO DAIRY FARMERS.

ONLY NOW?HE NOTES?THE PROGRAM IS

NATIONWIDE.

IN ADDITION?TAYLOR EXPECTS MAJOR

INCREASES IN SPENDING FOR FARM CONSERVATION

AND LAND PROTECTION.

BUT THE NEW HAMPSHIRE FARM BUREAU

FEDERATION WANTED MORE.

ESPECIALLY FOR THE SMALL FARMERS.

REPUBLICANS HAVE NOTED?THAT 60 PERCENT

OF CROP PAYMENTS GO TO FEWER THAN 10 PERCENT

OF THE FARMERS.

AND IN SOME CASES?THEY ARGUE?THE FAMILY

FARMER DOES NOT RECEIVE ANYTHING AT ALL.

ROB JOHNSON?IS THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE FARM BUREAU FEDERATION:

?TAPE?(SOUND: I wouldn?t say we received enough. I would say the big commodity producing states did make out and that?s a big reason why our congressional delegation voted against it. They were hoping in this farm bill there would be a real change from past farm bills that target assistance to the family farm, the small producer) (NHFBSMALL PRODUCER)

BUT SENATOR TOM HARKIN?WHO LED THE FIGHT

ON THE FLOOR?NOTED THAT THERE WERE MANY

BENEFITS FOR THE NORTHEAST.

THE IOWA DEMOCRAT NOTED?IN PARTICULAR?

THE ADDITION OF SPECIALTY CROPS LIKE BLUE

BERRIES?POTATOS?APPLES AND VEGETABLES?

TO THE SUBSIDY LIST.

?TAPE?(SOUND: They are going to be helped immensely under this bill as the senator from Michigan stated. We have a 200 million dollar floor annually on purchases of specialty crops and that?s what the farmers in New England grow. They grow specialty crops. They never had anythng like this.)

THE VOTE IN THE NEW ENGLAND STATES BROKE

MOSTLY ALONG PARTY LINES?WITH REPUBLICANS

OPPOSING THE MEASURE.

THE KEY EXCEPTION WAS REPUBLICAN

OLYMPIA SNOWE?WHO WAS LISTED AS CASTING

CAST HER BALLOT FOR THE BILL.

BUT HER COLLEAGUE FROM MAINE?SUSAN

COLLINS?JOINED HER G-O-P COLLEAGUES IN

OPPOSITION?SAYING SHE BELIEVED?NEW ENGLAND

WAS NOT GETTING ENOUGH:

?TAPE?(SOUND: ?I can?t help but feel that Maine and other northeastern states have been tossed a little bit of hush money, and then asked then to turn the other way while big agribusinesses raid the U-S treasury of funds that are sorely needed for education, for prescription drugs, and defense?and other priorities. (COLLINS)

AND THERE ARE POLITICS COMING FROM BOTH

SIDES OF THE AISLE.

ELECTORAL BATTLE GROUND STATES LIKE SOUTH

DAKOTA?IOWA?MISSOURI AND ARKANSAS?ARE

BENEFITING PROMINENTLY FROM THE SUBSIDIES.

AND THAT SAYS? NEW HAMSPHIRE AGRICULTURE

COMMISSIONER STEVE TAYLOR?IS A GOOD THING FOR

THE GRANITE STATE:

?TAPE?(SOUND: What you had was Democrats and Republicans falling over themselves that the farm consituenies in those states were well taken care of and in order to get the votes to do that money had to be sent to places like the northeast as well.
Policy issues aside, the northeast is better off under this farm bill than we did than on any other in recent memory) (TAYLOR BETTER)

THE LEGISLATION NOW GOES TO THE WHITE

HOUSE?WHERE THE PRESIDENT HAS INDICATED?HE

WOULD SIGN THE MEASURE.

FOR NHPR NEWS

THIS IS DON RUSH

IN WASHINGTON