With only three days left in Fiscal Year 1998, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Smith (R-OR) sharply criticized President Clinton for failing to use $150 million in funds authorized by Congress for the Export Enhancement Program (EEP) to help ease the devastating burden on farmers caused by the Administration's absence of leadership in agricultural trade. President Clinton promised farmers... Read more »
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Smith (R-OR) announced that the House of Representatives passed an extensive tax relief plan (H.R. 4579) for U.S. farmers and ranchers today by a vote of 229-195 calling the legislation one of the most important actions Congress could take for the long term prosperity of the agricultural industry. "Many farmers and ranchers struggle each year to keep their ... Read more »
With preliminary environmental reports indicate that 20-50 percent of the juvenile salmon entering the lower Columbia River Estuary are consumed by birds, Congressman Bob Smith (R-OR) today sent a letter signed by nine Pacific Northwest colleagues to Regional Director Anne Badgely urging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to take action to reduce avian predation. "The regional electric ratepayers,... Read more »
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Smith (R-OR), today announced that beginning Wednesday, September 23 in the Subcommittee on Department Operations, Nutrition, and Foreign Agriculture, all committee and subcommittee hearings will be made available to the public through a live audio feed over the internet. "For the first time ever, people will be able to hear the Committee's proceedings as t... Read more »
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... Read more »
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... Read more »
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... Read more »
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... Read more »
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... Read more »
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... Read more »
