Smith says Farm Bill progress is slow
U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith told an audience at Chadron State College on Monday that little progress has been made on the new Farm Bill since he went to Washington, D.C., in January, even though the legislation is vitally important to the nation. Smith said the United States must continue to have “a good, sustainable, domestic food supply” and can’t become dependent on other countries for food like we are for petroleum.
“We must have a safety net around our food supply,” the 36-year-old Republican stated with regard to the Farm Bill.
The current Farm Bill expires in September. Smith said the chairman of the House of Representatives’ Agricultural Committee, Collin Peterson of Minnesota, seems to think there’s still time to write a new bill that can be sent to President Bush before the deadline, but the rookie congressman seemed skeptical. Smith is a member of the Ag Committee as well as the Budget and Science and Technology Committees in the House.
After Smith reported that 60 percent of the Farm Bill’s budget is used for nutrition programs and only 20 percent goes to farmers for commodity payments, he agreed with a member of the audience that the legislation should be renamed.
Smith added that the proposal by Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns to limit annual commodity payments in the new Farm Bill to $200,000 compared to the current $2.5 million is “workable” in Nebraska’s far-flung Third District that he represents, but does not sit well with rice and cotton farmers in the South.
A native of Gering and a member of the Nebraska Legislature for eight years before winning the Third District seat in November, Smith said he hopes to help change the Farm Bill provision that bases crop insurance payments on the previous year’s production. He noted that during a seven-year drought such as Nebraska is experiencing, last year’s production may have been negligible.
“I hope there’s more drought aid in the next Farm Bill,” he said. He also said he will seek to hold the line on federal estate taxes so family farms can more easily be passed on to succeeding generations. This year’s tax rate is 45 percent, down from 55 percent in 2001, but he predicted it will revert back to 55 percent.
Several members of the audience took issue with Smith’s recent newspaper column in which he expressed skepticism over fears of global warming. They said his statements are contrary to the findings of thousands of scientists around the world and disparage their work.
Regardless, Smith said that because China and India are exempt from the Kyoto Protocol and have rampant air pollution while emerging as economic powers, he will not support the treaty.
In response to another statement by a member of the audience, Smith said he “was not elected to carry water for President Bush.” He stated that he opposes the administration’s “No Child Left Behind” because it is a major intrusion by the federal government into local educational planning and programs.
Smith’s appearance at CSC was sponsored by the Agriculture and Wildlife Clubs.
Category: Campus News