At a hearing today of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Risk Management and Specialty Crops, Chairman Thomas Ewing (R-IL) warned of the dangers of reacting haphazardly to concerns by increasing regulation of the OTC market, emphasizing that U.S. firms must remain competitive in the international derivatives business. The Futures Trading Practices Act of 1992 gave the Commodity Futures Trading ... Read more »
Congressman Bob Smith (R-OR), Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, at a full committee hearing today criticized the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) for increasing overhead costs of five off-budget funds while the proportion of funds directed to on-the-ground management have decreased. Earlier this year, the Agriculture Committee requested that the General Accounting Office (GAO) investigate fiv... Read more »
By a vote of 364-50, the House of Representatives today passed the Conference Report to S. 1150, the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998, making final congressional approval of the first major overhaul of agricultural research programs in over twenty years and the restoration of crop insurance for America's farmers. "American farmers and ranchers are breathing a sigh... Read more »
Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Chairman of the House Subcommitte on Department Operations, Nutrition, and Foreign Agriculture, held a hearing today on H.R. 3654, the Selective Agricultural Embargos Act of 1998, sponsered by Cingressman Tim Ewing (R-IL). H.R. 3654 would require approval of the House and Senate if the President decided to impose an agriculture-specific embargo on a foreign countr... Read more »
Congressman Bob Smith (R-OR), Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, and Congressman Charlie Stenholm (D-TX), Ranking Minority Member, in a letter today urged President Clinton to abslove food and agricultural commodities from sanctions against countries conducting nuclear testing, in accordance with the law. On Thursday, President Clinton called for wide-ranging sanctions against Pakista... Read more »
Congressman Bob Smith (R-Or), Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, and Congressman Charlie Stenholm (D-TX), the Committee's Ranking Member, today pledged continued support of International Monetary Fund (IMF) assistance for Asia to aid countries affected by the Asian financial crisis and lessen the potentially devastating impact on America's farmers and ranchers. Today, Federal Reserve ... Read more »
By unanimous vote the House Committee on Resources today passed the Rogue River National Forest Building Conveyance Act (H.R. 3796), Congressman Bob Smith's (R-OR) bill to increase management efficiency of Oregon's public lands. H.R. 3796, which was approved by the Resources Forest and Forest Health Subcommittee on May 7th, would provide for the Medford Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Unit... Read more »
Congressman Bob Smith (R-OR), Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, announced today that he and Ranking Member Charlie Stenholm (D-TX) will hold a hearing Thursday, May 21, 1998 to discuss the effect of the Asian finacial crisis on U.S. Agriculture and the importance of funding the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Immediately following the hearing, Members of the Agriculture Committee and... Read more »
At a joint hearing of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Forestry, Resource Conservation, and Research and the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry, Chairmen Larry Combest (R-TX) and Richard Pombo (R-CA), respectively, questioned the need for new EPA regulations regarding livestock feeding operations and called for more effective enforcement of current rules. Despite significant curren... Read more »
Congressman Bob Smith (R-OR), Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, at a hearing today addressed issues surrounding U.S. agricultural trade with Asia and the Pacific Region in preparation for the 1999 World Trade Organization (WTO) multilateral negotiations. "The major issues between the U.S. and our trading partners in this region include sanitary and phytosanitary measures that are use... Read more »
