Deep Concerns over USDA Changes to LDP Ag Chairman, Vice Chairman tell Ag Secretary, "First, do no harm House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest (R-TX) and Vice Chairman Bill Barrett (R-NE) have expressed their deep concern to Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman regarding the timing and process for his contemplated changes to the Loan Deficiency Payment (LDP) program. "U.S. farmers and th... Read more »
Congress gave final funding approval Thursday to emergency farm credit needs and Farm Service Agency (FSA) operations, while also addressing immediate shortfalls in the current year's USDA budget. Producers in many states have been unable to receive loans for spring planting while millions of dollars that remained in other USDA loan accounts were held back by USDA Secretary Dan Glickman. House Agr... Read more »
The House Agriculture Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition, and Forestry, led by Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), today held a hearing to review a proposal put forth by a national coalition of school board leaders to resolve the continuing problems facing rural communities under the "twenty-five percent county payment" system. "Our national forests are in desperate need of ma... Read more »
DATE: May 18, 1999 Members React to Court Decision on EPA Air Regs On Friday, May 14th, The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), stating that the EPA overstepped its legal and constitutional authority. Today, Committee leaders expressed their approval and relief with the Court's decision. "The court's d... Read more »
Almost half a billion dollars under the control of the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture can be available in loan funds to help producers unable to line up ownership and operating capital after some USDA-backed loan accounts have run short. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest (R-TX) called on USDA Secretary Dan Glickman to manage the loan accounts by immediately re-pooling unused funds... Read more »
Finding agriculture on the Internet now includes finding the U.S. House Agriculture Committee's web site — republicans-agriculture.house.gov — more quickly with a shortened Internet address that literally puts agriculture first. Under the direction of House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest (R-TX), the Committee's content-driven Internet site alerts producers to current policy concerns... Read more »
At the request of House Agriculture Chairman Larry Combest (R-TX), USDA has tripled the sources for streamlined loans by private lenders. In 1992, Combest championed the Preferred Lender Program enacted by USDA in February of this year. The Preferred Lender Program's main feature is a guaranteed 14-day turn-around on applications. At Combest's insistence, the lending program will now expand the nu... Read more »
The Subcommittee on Livestock and Horticulture, led by Chairman Richard Pombo (R-CA), held a hearing today to review issues surrounding mandatory livestock price reporting and its possible implications and benefits for both producers and packers. In March, Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest (R-TX) joined with Ranking Member Charlie Stenholm (D-TX) in issuing a statement calling on both p... Read more »
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest (R-TX) announced that the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture on June 9 will publicly examine the effect of sanctions on U.S. agriculture and assess the trade opportunities developed as a result of the Clinton Administration's action today that restores the full potential for sales overseas by American farmers and ranchers. USDA Secretary of Agri... Read more »
In letter sent yesterday, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest urged Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman to use his authority to release $150 million in unobligated funds to help bridge the current gap in farm credit while supplemental loan authority is addressed by the President and Congress. "At a time when credit availability can mean the difference between putting a crop in the... Read more »
