Feedstuffs | Jan. 19, 2004 | Issue 3 | Volume 76
Senate to deliberate on omnibus bill
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Senate will take up the omnibus 2004 spending bill on
its first day back in session on Tuesday, and the mandatory country-of-origin
labeling (COOL) will move from an arcane - but heated agricultural debate to the
national spotlight.
In an uncommon political development, COOL may become a major obstacle for
Senate passage of the $328 billion omnibus spending package, which includes
funding for a host of federal agencies, domestic programs and home state
projects dear to their Congressional delegations.
Sen. Tom Daschle (D., S.D.) promised he would filibuster the conference report
on the bill, which includes House language to delay COOL implementation for two
years.
Daschle's insistence that COOL be implemented on schedule, particularly in the
wake of the discovery that the first case of bovine spongiform, encephalopathy (BSE)
in the U.S. was in a cow imported from Canada, means that 60 votes will be
needed to block the filibuster and move the bill to a vote.
Meanwhile, in a quirky coincidence that pairs the interests of COOL proponents
with those of many political conservatives, six conservative organizations also
publicly opposed the omnibus bill last week on the grounds its price tag and
pork barrel projects are budget busters.
The omnibus spending bill contains funding for the U.S. Department of
Agriculture and 10 other federal agencies and funds numerous domestic programs
for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1,2003,
With no spending yet approved for fiscal 2004, those departments have been
running on "continuing resolutions" that expire on deadlines - but allow them to
continue paying their bills based on fiscal 2003 spending limits. USDA budget
officials liken the system to a family budget that is "just getting by paycheck
to paycheck."
The Senate's Republican leadership has threatened to simply fund fiscal 2004
spending at 2003 levels and move on - if the omnibus bill faces further delays.
Senate Appropriation Committee chairman Ted Steven (R., Alaska) has sent each
senator a letter listing the projects in home states that would be funded by the
omnibus bill as a friendly reminder of what's at stake in voting against it.
Meanwhile, in an apparent last-minute attempt to sway support for a
Congressional delay of the mandatory COOL language, which was included in the
2002 farm bill, major livestock and food trade organizations floated a new
proposal for a voluntary COOL program last Friday.
In a statement, the groups said they would hold a summit soon "to develop a
consensus voluntary labeling program. Producers and retailers are committed to
developing a cost-effective replacement to the program mandated in the 2002 farm
bill." They said they aim "to finalize a labeling program by this spring,
involving as many segments of the food industry as possible." Next, they want to
work with Congress "to codify the program into legislation that replaces the
mandatory labeling law."
Friday's statement was issued by some of the most powerful lobbying groups in
Washington, including: the United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Assn., National
Cattlemen's Beef Assn., National Pork Producers Council, National Fisheries
Institute, Food Marketing Institute and National Grocers Assn.
It was in sharp contrast to a letter sent to President Bush last week by Sens.
Daschle and Mike Enzi (R., Wyo.). The Senators requested that Bush instruct
Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman "to issue emergency COOL regulations that will
immediately certify as 100% U.S. beef meat products that satisfy the law's
'born, raised and slaughtered' requirement."
Copyright Feedstuffs, Miller Publishing Company