COMBEST CALLS LIFTING TRADE SANCTIONS BEST FOR FARMING AND RANCHING FAMILIES U.S. House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Larry Combest (R-TX) declared that U.S. foreign policy should not use food as a weapon that backfires on the American farmer and rancher. There are four countries where the president has administrative authority to modify sanctions affecting agricultural goods. Combest on Frida... Read more »
USDA FACES RIGOROUS QUESTIONING OVER CROP DISASTER RELIEF DELAYS At a hearing today of the House Agriculture Committee, members led by Chairman Larry Combest (R-TX) strongly rebuked Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman for the unprecedented delays in delivering crop disaster payments authorized by Congress in October 1998. Five months ago, the President signed into law H.R. 4328, an Omnibus Appro... Read more »
COMBEST ANNOUNCES $6 BILLION IN AGRICULTURE BUDGET AUTHORITY Today, the House Budget Committee will consider its Budget Resolution for Fiscal Years 2000-2004 which contains a total of $6 billion in new agriculture funding authority over four years. House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Larry Combest (R-TX) issued the following statement: "This is nothing less than a triumph for America's farmers... Read more »
OODLATTE CRITICIZES FOREST SERVICE BUDGET REQUEST, CITES LONG HISTORY OF ADMINISTRATIVE, POLICY FAILURES At a hearing today, members of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition, and Forestry, led by Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), catalogued the lack of accountability and policy failures in the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and criticized the agency for its $17... Read more »
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest (R-TX) today announced that at 8:30 a.m. (EST) on March 18, the full Committee will hear USDA Secretary Dan Glickman's account of agricultural disaster assistance delays and the operation of other programs within the Department. "I will be most interested to hear what Secretary Glickman has to tell the Agriculture Committee regarding the eight mon... Read more »
COMBEST SHARPLY CRITICIZES USDA FOR FURTHER DISASTER RELIEF DELAYS, URGES PRESIDENT TO SIGN AGRICULTURE CREDIT LEGISLATION (H.R. 882) U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Dan Glickman today notified Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee Larry Combest (R-TX) that the $2 billion Congress appropriated for farm disaster relief would not be available to producers until at least June — ... Read more »
As the House Committee on Agriculture works to reform federal crop insurance, the program underwent another round of close inspection during this morning's hearing of the Subcommittee on Risk Management, Research and Specialty Crops, led by Representative Tom Ewing (R-IL), the panel's chairman. The subcommittee review brought together USDA Risk Management Agency Administrator Ken Ackerman, and a d... Read more »
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest (R-Texas) expressed renewed concern with new livestock regulations known as the Unified National Strategy for Animal Feeding Operations, announced today by the Vice President. "Last year, we put our concerns on record with the Administration about how difficult it would be for producers to meet extreme regulatory demands," said House Agriculture ... Read more »
Statement on the U.S. Trade Representative announcement regarding the European Union Banana Regime Chairman Larry Combest (R-Texas) and Ranking Minority Member Charles W. Stenholm (D-Texas) jointly issued the following statement after the U.S. Trade Representative announcement regarding the European Union Banana Regime. "We have been advised that the World Trade Organization has delayed its decis... Read more »
To bridge the gap in guaranteed farm loan funds exhausted last month, the U.S. House of Representatives considers H.R. 882 Tuesday afternoon, which would make $470 million available immediately out of other unused USDA farm loan funds. This is a stop gap measure to meet pressing credit needs, while supplemental loan authority is addressed by the President and Congress. The bipartisan measure was ... Read more »
