Congressman John D. Dingell

May 15, 2008

Washington, DC - Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15) made the following statement on H.R. 2419, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. The House passed the $290 billion farm bill Wednesday with a strong veto-proof majority, in a 318-106 vote.

“MADAM SPEAKER:  Today I rise in support of H.R. 2419, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act.  It has been a long road to this point, and while I must say that I am not entirely pleased with the final bill, I do believe that it makes important steps forward to reforming the priorities of our farm policy.

“Michigan has had a tough go of things lately - and farming is no exception.  Just last spring and summer Michigan experienced severe weather and droughts that caused enormous damage to local farms, leading the USDA to designate 83 Michigan counties as disaster areas.  I have long said that farming is an inherently risky enterprise and with the recent downturn in the economy and fickle Michigan weather, it is clear to see why.

“I will be frank and say that this bill is far from perfect.  Personally, I would have liked to see greater reforms in the areas of conservation and fruit and vegetable programs, however, I do think Michigan will benefit from the bill.  Like the farm bill the House passed last summer, I am pleased to note that most of our farmers in the 15th District of Michigan will not see any significant negative changes if the farm bill is enacted.  All of the safety net programs from the 2002 farm bill are maintained with minor changes -- including direct payments and the counter cyclical and the marketing loan programs. 

“However, the conference report does take measures to curb wasteful spending and distribute our resources to those in need.  This bill places a cap on payments to those with an adjusted gross income (AGI) of $500,000 or more, and puts in place the first-ever cap for farm income at $750,000 for fixed direct payments.  In addition, the bill would eliminate the “3-entity” rule that allows producers to collect payments for multiple ownership interests. 

“As a diverse agricultural state, Michigan has the second-widest variety of farm products after California, this legislation will provide great support for specialty crops.  In 2006 Michigan produced 825,470 tons of fresh market and processing vegetables and the state ranks 5th in exports of fruits and 8th in exports of vegetables nationally.  This bill creates a brand new section dedicated to fruit and vegetable producers and allocates a total of $1.3 billion for new specialty crop programs including $466 million over ten years for the specialty crop block grant program, which provides grants to states to support projects in research, marketing, education, pest and disease management, production and food safety. 

“The conference agreement will also create a pilot Farm Flex project that will allow farmers to switch base acres to specified fruits or vegetables for processing for 2009 through 2012 crop years.  This pilot project is limited to seven Midwestern States, including Michigan which is allocated 9,000 acres.  This planting flexibility pilot program provides an important opportunity for specialty crop producers and I am pleased Michigan is included.  More importantly, this will help the 1.26 million Michiganders that are currently using food stamps. 

“Given Michigan’s economic situation, I have advocated that a second economic stimulus package include an increase in food stamp benefits, and I am pleased that the Farm Bill has increased funding commitments for the Food Stamp Program and the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).  The conference agreement includes $7.8 billion for the Food Stamp program and would raise and index inflation for the program’s standard deduction and minimum benefit.  This is the first time since the program was created 40 years ago that the Food Stamp Program would fully account for annual inflation.  According to the Congressional Budget Office, this will help 11 million low income people. 

“TEFAP, a program that has provided assistance to approximately one million people in Michigan, will see $1.26 billion in funding that will benefit food banks and food pantries across the country. More importantly, this bill will increase annual funding for commodity purchases from $140 million to $250 million allowing organizations to meet the increasing demand for food services and the rising food prices.  The CBO estimates that Michigan alone will receive $45 million in additional TEFAP funding from fiscal year 2008 to 2017.  This is critical to organizations in Southeastern Michigan such as Gleaners Community Food Bank, who just over the last holiday season provided over 34,000 meals using the TEFAP program.

“Now while this conference agreement contains many benefits for my home state, as a lifetime conservationist I am extremely disappointed in the conservation title.  I was displeased to see that the cap for the Conservation Reserve Program was lowered to 32 million acres.  Both the Senate and the House had reauthorized the current enrollment level of 39.2 million acres.  Lowering the cap would result in a cut of almost 7 million acres.  Each year this program helps produce 13.5 million pheasants and 2.2 million ducks.  As the largest land retirement program, lowering the cap will be devastating.  

“And while the Wetlands Reserve Program is continued through 2012, it is done so at a lower level than in the 2002 Farm Bill.  This is extremely disappointing because 50 percent of Michigan’s threatened or endangered species require healthy and functional wetlands.  Michigan currently has enrolled 125 easements of over 16,000 acres and has a backlog of close to 25,000 acres.  This reduction will be extremely detrimental as it is the only conservation program solely dedicated to restoring wetland habitat.

“In addition, I have real concerns about the wisdom and merit of the agricultural chemicals tax credit provided in Section 15343 that allows a tax credit up to $2,000,000 per year until 2012 for eligible agricultural businesses to pay for and offset the costs of security measures taken to protect pesticides and fertilizers used in agricultural operations.  Fortune 500 companies that manufacture or retail agricultural pesticides and fertilizers should not need the taxpayer to help offset the costs of employee security training, installation of security lighting, computer security measures, locks and fences to protect their facilities, and other such security measures.

“Finally, Section 7524 amends current law to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to issue a permit to the Department of Homeland Security to transfer live foot-and-mouth disease virus from Plum Island, New York, to the mainland United States.  The majority of the research at Plum Island is concentrated on foot-and-mouth disease, which is very highly contagious, and which Federal law has for more than 50 years restricted to Plum Island.  An accidental release of this infectious virus could have grave implications for the livestock industry and for the national economy.  This issue is highly controversial, yet it has not been the subject of hearings nor open debate.  I  believe that it is a mistake to proceed with this until Congress has fully examined whether USDA and DHS have adequately assessed the health and economic risks, environmental impacts, and cost-benefit of this proposal.

“Madam Speaker, this bill is not a perfect one, however, it has bipartisan support.  I know from my years in this institution that compromise is necessary in order to be successful, and I know the conferees worked night and day to come to this agreement.  I feel confident Michigan farmers and producers will benefit from this final bill, as will the folks in Michigan who have fallen on hard times, which is why I stand today to lend my support.”