President Clinton has dashed farm families' financial hopes with a veto that the House Agriculture Committee Chairman says ignores the needs of farmers and ranchers. "The President continues to pass up the opportunity to help rural Americans with this veto to a host of producer tax benefits. Even in this time of critical need, when cash income is scarce, farmers are penalized by a rigid and unfair... Read more »
Today, the House Agriculture Committee passed by voice vote legislation (H.R. 2389) which would provide rural areas with financial stability in revenues used for local schools and roads. Because the Forest Service is the dominant landowner in many rural communities, and localities are powerless to tax the agency, since 1908 the government has shared twenty-five percent of the revenue derived from ... Read more »
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest (R-TX) today announced his intention to convene a series of hearings early next year to evaluate various issues related to current and future American farm policy. "The volatility of markets and the unpredictable nature of weather presents us with constant challenges in writing good agricultural policy," Combest said. "We simply don't need to wait... Read more »
At the first of two hearings this week addressing the crisis facing America's farmers and ranchers, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest (R-TX), brought representatives from major commodity and producer associations together to review difficulties facing their constituents and hear their suggestions on how Congress can help alleviate the current crisis. "We have heard a lot of discus... Read more »
At the request of U.S. Representative Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), the House Agriculture Committee on Saturday, September 18 will convene a field hearing at the Kansas State Fair Grounds in Hutchinson at 10:00 a.m. Central Time in the 4-H Encampment Building. Committee Chairman Larry Combest (R-Texas) said the testimony from producers in Kansas' "Big First" congressional district will help shape the of... Read more »
Media Advisory Combest to Hold Hearing on Farm Crisis (September 9, 1999) With American farmers and ranchers suffering in the midst of the second year of the worst farm crisis in recent memory, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest (R-TX) today announced that he will convene the Committee next Tuesday, September 14, to address the issues facing Congress in its work to alleviate this c... Read more »
During debate of the Interior Appropriations Act (H.R. 2466) today, the Senate voted against an amendment by Senator Chuck Robb (D-VA). The amendment would have removed a provision in the bill which clarifies the authority Congress granted the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to conduct wildlife surveys under the National Forest Management Act (NFMA). "The defeat of this... Read more »
After months of repeated calls from farmers, Representatives and Senators for a proposal from the Clinton Administration, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman has failed to even reply to an invitation to appear before the House Agriculture Committee to review the crisis facing American farmers and ranchers. The complete text of Combest's letter to Secretary Glickman is available upon request. "... Read more »
As Congress readies to reconvene next week with farm emergency relief high on the list of priorities, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest (R-TX) today again called on the Clinton/Gore Administration to end its political campaign and submit to Congress a concrete plan for alleviating the current crisis affecting American farmers and ranchers. "In his budget, the President did not ask... Read more »
Today, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest (R-TX), sent a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman criticizing the Administration for not effectively utilizing the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) to help drought stricken farmers and requested that the Administration submit to Congress an official recommendation addressing the farm crisis. The complete text ... Read more »
