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 »
With one-third of approximately 9,700 food tolerances to be reviewed by August of this year, Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), chairman of the Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition, and Forestry, at a hearing today sharply criticized the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for not establishing policies based on sound science and adequately considering transition periods fo... Read more »
CHAIRIMAN, RANKING MEMBER COMMENT ON CHINA BILATERAL TRADE AGREEMENT, U.S. AGRICULTURE'S MARKET ACCESS House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Larry Combest (R-TX) and Ranking Member Charlie Stenholm (D-TX) issued the following statement following a briefing of Agriculture Committee Members by Ambassador Charlene Barshefsky, Office of the United States Trade Representative. "We are pleased that a ... Read more »
At a hearing today, the House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Resource Conservation, and Credit led by Chairman Bill Barrett (R-NE) reviewed a proposal to improve a watershed project in Texas and considered legislation responding to the maintenance and improvement issues involving a large number of similar projects originally funded by the federal government. In November of ... Read more »
Today Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) along with members of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition, and Forestry, questioned representatives of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) on the lack of priority in implementation in the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program by the USFS. The FIA program has the enthusiastic support of professional foresters, enviro... Read more »
While pleased that USDA is making some loan money available to producers, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest (R-TX) questioned why the Administration is acting only now to cover a funding gap that has existed for well over a month. Anticipating $1.1 billion in loan funds with House and Senate passage on Thursday of H.R. 1141, the president on Friday directed USDA to shift $30 milli... Read more »
REPUBLICAN, DEMOCRAT COMMITTEE LEADERS URGE ZERO FUNDING INCREASE FOR FOREST SERVICE, EXPRESS STRONG CONCERN OVER FOREST HEALTH AND MAINTENANCE In a letter sent to House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bill Young (R-FL) and Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Ralph Regula (R-OH), Agriculture Committee leaders from both sides of the aisle urged appropriators to provide no increase for n... Read more »
