National Farmers Union News Release / For Immediate Release: November 24, 1999 / Contact: Erika Batcheller (202) 314-3104
WASHINGTON -- The 1999 congressional legislative session reflects a growing concern among lawmakers for the challenges facing family farm agriculture in the United States, the National Farmers Union (NFU) said today.
"We are very pleased that many lawmakers recognized and responded to the worsening conditions in the farm and rural economy," said NFU President Leland Swenson. "The record shows that many of NFU's top priorities to alleviate the farm crisis over the short and long-term saw action during the year. While we have had many victories, Congress still has a lot of work to do when they return in 2000."
Congress addressed several of NFU's major priorities in 1999, including: Passage of emergency farm relief. NFU was the first group to call for an emergency measure early last year and led the charge for the $8.7 billion relief package approved by Congress. The organization hosted in April a national agricultural summit that brought together the leadership of nearly 30 farm and commodity groups to forge common ground for the relief and other proposals. Passage of mandatory price reporting. NFU for years has spearheaded the drive to require packers to publicly disclose the prices they pay for livestock, leading to passage in October of the historic mandatory price reporting law. A review of Freedom to Farm. NFU has called on lawmakers since the earliest days of the farm crisis to correct fundamental flaws in the Freedom to Farm program. Just two days after the organization brought 300 producers to Washington, D.C., to lobby lawmakers on the issue, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest, R-Texas, announced he would hold hearings on the program in early 2000. Senate passage of trade adjustment assistance. NFU proposed in late 1998 extending the trade adjustment assistance program to producers undermined by unfair import surges. The Senate in late October passed the measure, which will compensate farmers and ranchers for their losses. Examination of concentration in agriculture. NFU for years has worked to call attention to the issue of consolidation in agricultural markets and its impact on farmers. Both the Senate and House Agriculture Committees held comprehensive hearings on the issue early this year and an NFU-backed measure, a moratorium on large agricultural mergers, came up for a vote in the Senate. The Senate Judiciary Committee also recently announced plans to hold hearings on agricultural concentration next year.
As for unfinished business, NFU will work to ensure Congress addresses the following items next year: an overhaul of the Freedom to Farm program to strengthen the farm safety net, completion of crop insurance reform, measures to improve competition in all agricultural sectors, strengthening of the dairy safety net, and oversight of the World Trade Organization negotiations.:
