Citing declining prices, multiple-year crop losses and adverse weather, Congressman Robert F. Smith (R-OR), Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee and Ranking Member Charlie Stenholm (D-TX) brought USDA Secretary Dan Glickman, farm economists, and producer representatives together at a hearing Thursday on the state of the nation's farm economy. "If we are to be both responsible and responsive... Read more »
Proposing financial and performance reforms for the benefit of national forest users, workers, and taxpayers, Congressman Bob Smith (R-OR), Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, brought his Forest Service Cost Reduction and Fiscal Accountability Act of 1998 (H.R. 4149) before a hearing with the USDA Forest Service officials, taxpayer groups, and constituents of national forests. A General A... Read more »
Today, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee Bob Smith (R-OR) announced his strong support for legislation to consolidate and streamline authority over the Endangered Species Act (ESA) within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Smith is an original cosponsor of House Resources Committee Chairman Don Young's (R-AK) Endangered Species Consolidation Act (H.R. 4335). This legislation wou... Read more »
Appearing before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Smith stressed farmers' and ranchers' increasing reliance on export income and the importance of removing trade barriers to open world markets to agricultural producers. "In 1996, significant reforms were made to U.S. farm programs. These reforms returned control of the farming operation to the pr... Read more »
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Smith (R-OR) today announced that Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairperson Brooksley Born has notified him, in a July 24 letter, that the CFTC will not pursue regulation of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives until Congress has the opportunity to act during CFTC reauthorization in 1999. "As Chairperson Born states, the legal status of these fi... Read more »
With reforms in the 1996 Freedom to Farm Act phasing out support mechanisms for farmers and ranchers, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee Bob Smith (R-OR), Speaker of the House Newt Gringrich (R-GA), Ranking Committee Member Charlie Stenholm (D-TX), and others at a news conference today announced bipartisan plans to ensure the future of American agriculture through various trade initiative... Read more »
Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Smith (R-OR) today announced that yesterday the House passed the Interior Appropriations Bill (H.R. 4193) which contains vital provisions originally proposed in his Forest Recovery and Protection Act while soundly beating back amendments to cut the Timber Sale Program and continue the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project (ICBEMP). According to For... Read more »
Congressman Bob Smith (R-OR), Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, yesterday voted to support continued normal trading relations with China, citing the importance of China trade to America's farmers and ranchers. Yesterday, by a vote of 166 — 264, the House of Representatives soundly rejected a resolution (H.J. Res. 121) revoking normal trade relations with China. This trade status, whi... Read more »
With economic growth and trade liberalization dramatically increasing opportunities for American farmers and ranchers, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Smith (R-OR), at a hearing today, stressed the importance of building on past successes while continuing to remove barriers to U.S. trade. Today's hearing regarding trade in the Western Hemisphere was the final in a series of four hearings ... Read more »
At a press conference today, Congressman Bob Smith (R-OR) Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, voiced his strong support for legislation introduced by a bipartisan group of senators led by Gordon Smith (R-OR) to reform the Guest Worker Program (H2-A). A recent study by the General Accounting Office (GAO) reported that more than 40 percent of the nation's agriculture labor pool consists ... Read more »
