WRDA, Preservation of Farm Programs Top NCGA Priorities When Congress
Returns Next Week (9-2-05)
When Congress
returns Tuesday from its August recess, the National Corn Growers
Association (NCGA) will make the case for preservation of farm programs,
emphasizing the importance of not re-opening the 2002 farm bill as
deliberations begin on the budget reconciliation legislation. In addition,
NCGA will continue to advocate the importance of advancing the Water
Resources Development Act (WRDA) for modernization of the navigation
system on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers.
“With the
devastation by Hurricane Katrina, the importance of saving lives is
the first priority,” Lisa Kelley, NCGA director of public policy
said. “It is too soon to tell near- and long-term impacts the
storm will have on agriculture producers. Now more than ever, we need
to take a step back and look at this nation’s infrastructure
needs.”
Kelley said those
needs include proper assessment and restoration of the locks and dams
and levees along the Mississippi and gulf areas to ensure inland waterways
and port systems are prepared for the challenges of natural disasters
or growing economic opportunities.
WRDA gives authorization
for the Corps of Engineers to construct seven 1,200-foot locks on
the Upper Mississippi River System. The bill also includes immediate
implementation of small scale measures such as guide wall extensions
and helper boats to help alleviate congestion, as well as authorization
for a major ecosystem restoration project. In addition, the bill includes
coastal restoration and a flood prevention measure for Louisiana and
Mississippi.
“NCGA will
continue to advocate for quick passage by Congress of WRDA when it
returns,” Kelley said. “The time is now to pass this bill
and to begin the restoration along this vital coast.”
In July the House
passed its version of WRDA, H.R. 2864. The Senate has not passed its
version of the bill, S. 728, due to limited floor time.
“The House
and Senate will take up the budget reconciliation legislation when
they return from the recess,” said NCGA Vice President of Public
Policy Jon Doggett. “NCGA expects a series of issues that will
be contentions surrounding the proposed $3 billion cuts to farm programs.
We are working to ensure those cuts are limited and do not include
re-opening the 2002 farm bill.”
The legislation
must meet $3 billion in savings from the mandatory U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA) programs over fiscal years 2006 through 2010. Spending
cuts are likely to be considered for commodity support programs, food
stamps, crop insurance and conservation, Conservation Reserve Program
(CRP), Conservation Security Program (CSP), and the Environmental
Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). Members of both authorizing
committees will be under considerable pressure to avoid cuts to food
stamp and conservation spending exceeding levels in the president’s
budget proposal.
Sept. 16 is the
deadline for the House and Senate Agriculture Committees to submit
their legislation to the House and Senate Budget Committees on the
Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 Budget Resolution which was approved earlier
this year. The Budget Resolution passed by narrow margins in both
the House and Senate.
According to Sam
Willett, NCGA senior director of public policy, final approval of
a budget reconciliation bill could extend into November due to the
contentious issues of Medicaid spending cuts and the Senate’s
provision to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas
exploration.
Willett said NCGA
will continue to advocate to members of Congress “equitable
and proportional across-the-board cuts in key support programs: direct
payments, countercyclical payments and marketing loan assistance programs.”