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Speaker Gingrich, Chairman Smith, Farm State Legislators Unveil $3.9 Billion Farm Relief Package

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As thousands of farmers and ranchers face economic ruin due to adverse weather conditions and low crop prices, House Speaker Newt Gingrich and House Agriculture Chairman Bob Smith (R-OR) joined farm state legislators today to unveil a farm relief legislative package that will help alleviate the crisis currently facing American farmers and ranchers. "American farmers and ranchers are facing the har...

Administration Delivers Shell of a Proposal

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After months of requests for an Administration proposal to alleviate the current farm crisis, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman today presented general guidelines to the House Agriculture Committee, but failed to provide the necessary details and funding estimates that would contribute meaningfully to Congressional efforts. "We, in Congress, could develop an economic assistance program to...

Smith Blasts Democrats for Playing Politics with Farm Crises

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As thousands of American farmers and ranchers face economic ruin, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Smith (R-OR) took House Democrats to task today for using the current farm crisis for political gain, while wasting time that could be spent finding real solutions. Today, Representative Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) offered a motion to instruct House Conferees to accept Senate-passed language providin...

Smith Calls on President to Make Good on Promises to Farmers

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After President Clinton spoke to farmers about the crisis they currently face, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Smith (R-OR) called on President Clinton to begin matching his actions to his rhetoric by submitting to Congress the Farm Disaster Assistance Agenda he promised American farmers and ranchers in August. "The President talks a good game when it comes to the farm crisis, but the fac...

Smith Leads Northwest Delegation Members in Fight to Save Bonneville Power

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Congressman Bob Smith (R-OR), Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, sent a letter Friday signed by sixteen members of the Pacific Northwest Congressional Delegation urging House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Joe McDade (R-PA) to remove language from the Energy and Water Appropriations Act repealing the current ban on studying the possibility of selling power marketin...

Smith, Agriculture Committee Members Urge Tax Reforms to Protect Farmers, Ranchers

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With U.S. farmers and ranchers facing severe economic stress, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Smith (R-OR), in a letter signed by 22 Republican House members, urged House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Archer (R-TX) to pursue several items of tax policy to help America's farmers and ranchers. In their letter, the Members urged Chairman Archer to pursue immediate, full deductibilit...

Egypt Purchases an Additional 440,000 Tons of U.S. Wheat, Spain Buys 112,000 Tons of U.S. Corn Following Committee Trade Mission

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House Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Smith (R-OR) today announced that Egypt and Spain have both made large purchases of U.S. grain on the heels of the Committee's August trade mission to Egypt and Spain. Continuing the Agriculture Committee's efforts to open up foreign markets for U.S. farmers and ranchers, Smith led an agricultural trade delegation, consisting of 6 Members of Congress, to Eg...

European Union Corn Tender Follows Committee Trade Mission to Spain

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House Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Smith (R-OR) today announced that U.S. corn growers will have an opportunity to sell up to 200,000 tons of corn to the European Union (EU) in a tender which follows on the heels of a committee's August trade mission to Spain. Continuing the Agriculture Committee's efforts to open up foreign markets for U.S. farmers and ranchers, Smith led an agricultural tr...

Smith, Agriculture Committee Members Urge Reduction in Trade Restrictions in Egypt, Spain

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As world agriculture trade talks approach in 1999 and with agriculture constituting the largest positive item in the United States' Balance of Trade, the House Committee on Agriculture, led by Chairman Bob Smith (R-OR), pressed for reductions of tariff and non-tariff trade barriers while securing additional purchases of U.S. wheat in talks with officials in Egypt and laying the foundation for addi...

Canada Changes Regulations to Imporve Access to the Northwest Cattle Pilot Project

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Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, Bob Smith (R-OR), announced today that Canada has enacted a series of regulatory changes that ease restrictions of the Northwest Cattle Pilot Project (NWCPP). Since leading an Agriculture Committee trade mission to Canada in March 1997, Smith has been working on the NWCCP with Canadian and U.S. officials to streamline import and inspection requiremen...