 |
||
| May 5, 2006 | ||
In this Issue
|
House Subcommittee Approves FY2007 USDA, FDA Spending BillThe House Appropriations subcommittee on agriculture and FDA spending this week approved FY2007 discretionary spending of $18.4 billion, $96 million less than FY2006 and $564 million more than the President requested in his proposed budget. Included in the bill is bird flu countermeasure/monitoring money at $80 million, and full funding of the Food Safety & Inspection Service without White House user fees. FDA received $1.5 billion, $54 million more than a year ago, but $16 million below the President’s request. BSE detection and prevention activities are funded at $90 million, the same as a year ago. The Critical Path initiative was given an increase of almost $5 million. In their report, the committee said it “does not approve of the redirection of funds” from FDA’s Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition (CFSAN). Budget Resolution Still PossibleThe House Republican leadership wants to bring the budget resolution to the House floor next week following an impasse in April over increased allocations for Labor-HHS. If the resolution is adopted before May 15, the subcommittee allocations for House appropriators would be made according to the House budget resolution rather than the President's budget numbers. This would benefit NIH and other Labor-HHS programs. House Majority Leader John Boehner (R- OH), Majority Whip Roy Blunt
(R-MO) and Appropriations Chair Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), met with moderate
Republicans, including Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE), who have said they will
not vote for any budget resolution that does not include an increase
in spending for health, education and training comparable to the $7 billion
added to the Senate Budget Resolution in March by Sens. Arlen Specter
(R-PA) and Tom Harkin (D-IA). Opposition to this amendment was one of
the factors that led the leadership to pull the budget resolution from
the House floor in April. NIH Takes Center Stage in Senate HearingSen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) expressed concern over the NIH budget this week during questioning of HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt at the Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on the FY2007 Labor-HHS budget. “There will be a lot of grant applications denied and a lot of existing grant applications denied,” said Specter. “These are not issues that can be handled within the purview of the funds which you are allocated. We are going to have to have a fundamental reassessment as to priorities.” Leavitt said he is committed to maintaining NIH’s research momentum, yet he also acknowledged they are working within a deficit reduction budget. Focusing on new investigators is his priority. According to Leavitt, NIH is reevaluating grants after they have been concluded and requiring investigators to re-compete. In some cases, he said, there are completed research projects that have gone through the peer review process and there is no longer a value to be obtained from continuing the research. Therefore, it is essential to redeploy those funds into new grants. Leavitt also acknowledged NIH Director Elias Zerhouni’s work on cross-institutional research in basic science. He said multi-disciplinary research is “clearly where we’ll find success in the future.” In a separate line of questioning, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) asked if HHS has any plans to take action on the recommendations in the recently published Institute of Medicine (IOM) report “Food Marketing to Children and Youth: Threat or Opportunity?” which recommended appointing a monitoring body on food marketing to children. Leavitt said he has begun to make inquiries on the current status of action and would be in contact with the Senator’s office. Report Criticizes Cuts in NASA Science BudgetThe FY2007 proposed NASA budget lacks the money to support vigorous science, according to a report released Thursday by the National Research Council. According to the report, the budgeting jeopardizes the administration's plan for human exploration of the Moon and Mars, the report said. Yet NASA administrator Michael Griffin said he had no choice but to take money from science and from the new human exploration program to pay to keep the shuttles flying until they were retired in 2010. Leonard A. Fisk, chair of the council's Space Studies Board, which wrote the report at the request of Congress, has called on Congress to become actively involved with NASA. "We not just asking Congress for more money," he said. "We're saying, You, Congress, have an agency you have asked to do a lot of things and then you turn around and say it can't have the resources it needs. It's not just NASA's problem." "It would take about 1 percent of NASA's total budget per year, about $160 million, to ameliorate the damage to research and analysis, and the small missions," Mr. Fisk said in an interview. A similar amount, he said, could also sustain microgravity research exploring weightlessness and its effects on a "life support level" until more money became available. Senate Bill to Extend 2002 Farm Bill IntroducedA bipartisan bill to extend the 2002 Farm Bill until a trade agreement is reached by the World Trade Organization (WTO) was introduced this week by a group of southern Senators led by Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Jim Talent (R-MO). The legislation mirrors a House bill introduced this year by House Agriculture Committee ranking member Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN) and 15 colleagues. However, critics of the extension say it could be a year or more before a WTO agreement is reached, and it would still have to be approved by Congress. Insiders say the list of Senators reflects concerns by southern crop producers, particularly cotton, rice and sugar farmers, that absent a WTO agreement as a road map, Congress will begin to cut federal farm programs if only to control a spiraling deficit. Some national organizations, notably the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and the National Farmers Union (NFU), support extension of current programs to maintain current spending levels. Talent said U.S. Special Trade Representative Rob Portman should be pleased with the move since it allows “Congress to play the bad cop” in negotiating with WTO ag ministers. He said it sends a signal the U.S. will not unilaterally give up parts of the 2002 farm law. Supplemental Spending Bill Passes Senate With Ag Disaster Aid; Bush Renews Veto ThreatThe Senate this week approved a $108.9-billion supplemental spending bill, and while the base of the bill is money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as disaster relief for the Gulf region, pet projects inserted in the bill drew broad bipartisan criticism and a veto threat from the White House. Included in the Senate package is $3.94 billion in farm disaster aid, money not supported by the Bush Administration. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) unsuccessfully tried to cut $75 million in specialty crop, livestock and dairy grant programs tucked into the farm disaster package, also not part of the Administration’s request. McCain said the spending violated rules against authorizing on appropriations bills and is “far more expansive than merely offering help” to hurricane and drought areas. Interestingly, “specialty crop” is defined in the bill as any crop but “wheat, feed grains, oilseeds, cotton, rice or peanuts.” Nineteen Senators challenged the Administration’s opposition to ag disaster spending as part of the supplemental package, sending a letter to Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns this week that said, “We know of no families in this country who wish to have their crops destroyed or their production costs dramatically increased because they believe, as you suggest, the federal government will make them more than whole through assistance programs.” President Bush said he will veto any supplemental spending package costing more than $94.5 billion, and House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) said the House will not consider any bill that exceeds that amount. The House version of the bill carries a price tag of about $92 billion. Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) said there will be heavy pressure to cut the bill’s cost when it reaches conference with the House. Johanns Announces May 17 Signup for Hurricane Assistance ProgramsBeginning May 17, USDA will accept sign-ups for four crop and livestock disaster assistance programs to provide aid to producers affected by 2005 hurricanes. The four indemnity programs are for livestock, feed, hurricane and trees, and all are funded using Sec. 32 spending authority. To be eligible, a producer must have losses in one of 261 counties that received a primary presidential or secretarial disaster designation following Hurricanes Dennis, Katrina, Ophelia, Rita or Wilma. Assistance will not be available to losses in contiguous counties, USDA said. A list of eligible counties is available at www.usda.gov/HurricaneInfo.xml. Details of the feed indemnity program can be found at www.fsa.usda.gov/pas/publications/facts/html/fip06.htm. Go to www.usda.gov/2006/05/0150.xml, to find details not only of the hurricane disaster program, but other USDA disaster assistance, emergency loans and crop insurance for prevented plantings. White House Unveils Bird Flu Plan; USDA Details Its RoleWhile the White House announced its plan to handle a bird flu pandemic should the disease mutate to where it can pass from human to human, USDA detailed its role this week. Thus far USDA exercised its authority including trade restrictions, wild bird monitoring, federal-state-industry bird testing, slaughter and processing detection and rapid response plans. The full plan is available at www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/pandemicflu/. The White House plan shows USDA with either leadership or coordinating roles in 98 “critical action areas.” Part of the expanded USDA role will be training veterinarians in foreign countries to use diagnostic tests; assisting the United Nation’s Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) with a new Crisis Management Center; a National Veterinary Stockpile that is storing “strike packs” containing protective equipment and which can be deployed within 24 hours of a U.S. outbreak; intelligence gathering activities to detect illegal bird imports, and a USDA-state-industry partnership plan to respond to a bird flu outbreak. Kucinich Introduces Six Bills to Regulate U.S. BiotechnologySix separate pieces of legislation were introduced this week by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) to regulate biotechnology, including a bill to mandate labeling of any food product containing or developed using biotechnology. Kucinich implied his bills were necessary since the federal government lacks a “comprehensive regulatory framework” for regulated biotechnology. Among the bills is the “Genetically Engineered Food Right to Know Act,” to require companies to label all foods containing or developed using biotechnology. Further, FDA would be required to periodically test foods to ensure compliance. Combined, Kucinich said, his bills will “ensure consumers are protected, increase food safety, protect farmers’ rights, make biotech companies liable for their products, and help developing nations resolve hunger concerns.” Energy Bills to Cut Gas Prices, Curb Oil Company Profits IntroducedWhile President Bush foreclosed on the option of imposing a windfall profits tax on oil companies and the idea of rebating to all but the wealthiest taxpayers $100 from the federal gas tax has fallen on deaf ears, House and Senate members wasted no time introducing various other ways to curb gas prices during an election year. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) dropped a bill to eliminate some oil and gas companies tax credits, a move she says will save taxpayers $10 billion over five years. She would take a portion of that savings and reinvest it in doubling the existing credits for alternative fuel development, promote gas efficient automobiles and to pay down the national debt. Another GOP proposal would suspend the 18.4-cent federal gas tax until September 30, while increasing penalties for gas price gouging. Another plan would increase refinery capacity, while yet another Senate plan would grant an earned income tax credit to address gas prices. An independent plan proposed this week would grant individuals and businesses a tax deduction for fuel expenses through the rest of the year. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) will lead her party’s energy push, saying this week the Democrats will unveil an energy package that will include portions of moderate GOP proposals. Part of the plan will be to require the federal government to save 2.5 million barrels of oil per day by 2016; mandate 10% of electricity come from renewable energy by 2020, and expand tax incentives for renewable energy, energy efficiency and alternative fuels and vehicles. STB Fuel Surcharge Hearing to be Held May 11The Surface Transportation Board (STB) will hold a Washington, DC, hearing May 11 to hear views on how rail carriers are calculating and charging customers fuel surcharges, with many suggesting the recently imposed surcharges are designed to recover amounts higher than the cost incurred by carriers. Witnesses on five panels ranging from shippers to railroads will include North Dakota Grain Dealers Assn., Transportation, Elevator & Grain Merchants Assn. (TEGMA), The Fertilizer Institute, National Grain & Feed Assn., the National Industrial Transportation League, the BNSF, Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and the Union Pacific railroads. USDA Can’t Find Birth Herd for Latest BSE CaseUSDA announced this week it can not determine the birthplace of the Alabama cow that tested positive for BSE in March, but said there’s little risk there are more cattle out there with BSE. USDA Chief Veterinarian Dr. John Clifford said, “Experience worldwide shows it is highly unusual to find BSE in more than one animal in a herd or in an affected animal’s offspring.” The Alabama cow, a cross-bred, was purchased less than a year prior to its testing positive, but is confirmed to be more than 10 years old. Grassley Wants USDA to Change Policy on Private BSE TestingA letter from Senate Finance Committee Chair Charles Grassley (R-IA) was sent to USDA urging the department to change its policy preventing private BSE testing by meat packers and processors. Grassley said the policy shift would allow packers “to go above and beyond” USDA standards. Kansas processor Creekstone Farms has sued USDA for refusing to allow it to voluntarily test all of its cattle. USDA has argued there is no scientific or food safety value in broader BSE testing. New BillsA number of new bills have been introduced. Click here to send a request for a copy of the text or more information about the bill. S.RES.459 S.RES.467 S.2689 S.2691 S.2696 S.2748 H.R.5259 H.R.5261 H.R.5288 H.R.5300 H.R.5301 H.R.5302 Inside Track is produced as a service to
clients of Policy Directions, Inc., a Washington, DC-based government
relations/strategic government communications firm founded in 1995,
specializing in customized advocacy on health care; food; biomedical
research; biotechnology, human drug, and medical device regulation;
federal nutrition policy and programs; and environmental policies and
programs. For more information about PDI, please e-mail mailto:info@poldir.com. |
|
|
Policy Directions Inc | 818 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 950 |
Washington, DC 20006 | (202) 776-0071 www.poldir.com | info@poldir.com | ||
