WASHINGTON-
The House has passed legislation that would provide billions of dollars for farmers and ranchers hurt by weather-related disasters—the third time that chamber has approved the farm money in the last two months.
Farm-state lawmakers are struggling to find a way to help farmers who have been hurt by flooding, drought and Colorado’s devastating blizzards. They are attempting to include the aid money as part of a must-pass war spending bill in an effort to get President Bush to sign it.
“That’s likely the only way we are going to get it,” said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which oversees spending measures.
While increasing the bill’s chances of success, linking the farm aid with the controversial war funding measure has also complicated its passage.
The House bill that would provide $3.5 billion for farm disaster recovery actually was passed separately from the war spending legislation Thursday night, but leaders have promised farm-state members that it will be combined with the war money in a House-Senate conference. Bush issued veto threats against both bills Thursday.
Bush vetoed the first version of the war legislation, which also included the farm aid, because it included a deadline for withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Members of both the House and Senate are now working to get a second bill to the president’s desk so the flow of money to the troops is not interrupted.
Colorado Republican Rep. Marilyn Musgrave has urged Bush to reconsider his veto threat. She also called on Democratic leaders to not tie the agriculture funding to any Iraq war funding.
“This is a breakthrough and I am pleased we were able to finally move legislation in the House that has significant support from both Democrats and Republicans,” Musgrave said in a statement Friday. “Natural disasters, be it drought or blizzard, are no less damaging than other kinds of severe storms.”
Musgrave said the bill provides much-needed compensation and indemnity payments to farmers who lost livestock in the blizzards this winter.
Some farm-state lawmakers say the agriculture money belongs in the Iraq bill because it is designated for emergency spending, and many farmers are in danger of losing their livelihoods.
“People’s economic lives are on the line,” said Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D. “This needs to be dealt with as quickly as possible.”
Conrad and Dorgan said they expect the Senate to include the farm money with the war money in their version of the legislation.
In his veto threat against the farm spending, Bush said the “proposed assistance is unnecessary and unwarranted.”
“The farm economy is strong,” he said. “The 2002 Farm Bill, when coupled with federally subsidized crop insurance, already provides a generous safety net that was designed to eliminate the need for ad hoc disaster assistance.”
It is unclear what form the final war spending bill will take. The House bill that Bush opposed this week would provide war money in two installments. The first portion would cover costs until Aug. 1—$42.8 billion to buy equipment and train Iraqi and Afghan security forces. It would take a summertime vote by Congress to free an additional $52.8 billion, the money needed to cover costs through the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year.
Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was cool to that approach and is seeking a compromise with the White House and Republicans.
Under growing political pressure from Republicans, Bush coupled his veto threat Thursday with a sign of flexibility. Visiting the Pentagon, he said he was willing to sign a military money bill that includes political and military goals for the Iraqi government.
