Congressman Bob Smith (R-OR), Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, and three key northwest lawmakers today criticized the Three Sovereigns Forum for failing to clearly define it's authority over Columbia Basin water use issues and for excluding a broad range of river use interests from it's decision making process. In a February 27th letter to Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber, Rep. Bob Sm... Read more »
By a unanimous voice vote, the U.S. House of Representatives today voted to send the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reauthorization Act of 1997 (H.R. 2534) to conference committee, moving the first major overhaul of agricultural research programs one step closer to fruition. In November of last year, the House approved H.R. 2534 by a vote of 291-125, but a rare parliamentary maneu... Read more »
Congressman Bob Smith (R-OR), Chairman of the House Committee of Agriculture, today praised the U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR) newly-announced pork and poultry trade agreement with the Philippines, just months after the Chairman led an Agriculture Committee delegation to the East Asian nation to protest the Philippine government's failure to implement the Uruguay Round's pork and poultry provi... Read more »
Congressman Bob Smith (R-OR), Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, and Congressman Charles Stenholm (D-TX), the Committee's Ranking Member, today pledged to support adequate U.S. assitance to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and released a letter from majority agriculture producer groups calling for increased IMF funding, in the wake of an IMF Asia rescue package that will cushion ... Read more »
At a hearing to evaluate the impact of the Asian financial crisis on U.S. agricultural exports, Congressman Bill Barrett (R-NE), Chairman of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, today called upon the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to consider an extension of additional GSM credit guarantees and P.L. 480 commodity sales to East Asain countries, pledging to continue... Read more »
Goodlatte Opposed President's Proposal to Abandon Food Stamp Reform: Subcommittee Chairman Criticizes President's Call for New Spending Program Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Chairman of the House Subcommittee with jurisdiction over the federal food stamp program, today announced his opposition to President Clinton's proposal to extend food stamps to non-citizens, criticizing the President's pr... Read more »
Congressman Bob Smith (R-OR), Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, and Congressman Joe Skeen (R-NM), Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee for Agriculture, today criticized President Clinton's FY99 budget for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), questioning the President's allocation of $573 million in non-existent user fees. This morning, President Clinton released hi... Read more »
Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Chairman of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Department Operations, Nutrition, and Foreign Agriculture with jurisdiction over the federal food stamp program, today rejected a reported proposal by President Clinton to give food stamps to non-citizens, criticizing the President's proposal to expand federal welfare beenfits at a time when Congress' welfare progr... Read more »
Smith, Agriculture Committee members push open markets in New Zealand, Australia: Trade Mission Works With Eye Toward 1999 WTO Agriculture Negotiations With new world agriculture trade talks on the horizon in 1999, the House Committee on Agriculture, led by Chairman Bob Smith (R-OR), has reaffirmed the importance of reducing trade barriers and ecouraging U.S. agricultural exports in trade talks wi... Read more »
Oregon Congressman Bob Smith, Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, has asked that the United States Army not to award a contract to breach southern Oregon's Elk Creek Dam, arguing that Congress needs time to provide further direction regarding the project and requesting that an Enviornmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the project be performed. Smith, who convened a hearing of the House A... Read more »
