Senate sends Agriculture spending bill to Obama

The Senate Thursday sent President Obama the final version of the fiscal 2010 Agriculture Appropriations bill after approving it, 76-22.

Action on the measure comes after the House passed the measure Wednesday, 263-162.

The legislation is the second of the 12 appropriations bills to be sent to Obama for his signature. Last week, Congress sent Obama the $4.6 billion, fiscal 2010 Legislative Branch measure. That bill also included a continuing resolution to fund the government through October, as fiscal 2009 ended Sept. 30.

The Agriculture measure provides $121.1 billion, including $23.3 billion in discretionary spending and $97.8 billion in mandatory programs at the Agriculture Department, FDA, Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Farm Credit Administration.

The $23.3 billion in discretionary funding is an increase of $2.7 billion over fiscal 2009.

The bill includes $350 million in aid to dairy farmers, a one-year extension of child nutrition programs and a provision requiring USDA to proceed with a rule that would allow importation of processed chicken products from China.

"This bill funds a range of programs that help improve the lives of Americans every day," including more resources for food and drug safety, Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Herb Kohl, D-Wis., told his colleagues as he urged passage of the measure on the floor.

Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Sam Brownback, R-Kan., who also supported the bill, said he hopes next year that appropriators can keep down the cost of the bill.

"I am always looking at ways that we can hold the budget numbers down because I think we've really got to get the budget under control," Brownback said.

His comments came after CBO reported this week the deficit for fiscal 2009 totaled a record $1.4 trillion, a $950 billion increase over fiscal 2008.

Also Thursday, the Senate inched toward completion of the $64.9 billion, fiscal 2010 Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations measure when it defeated, 65-33, a proposal from Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., that spending in the measure be held at fiscal 2009 levels, excluding funding for the 2010 census.

"In this era of record deficits, uncontrolled Washington spending, we are just trying to say `let's live under last year's spending levels,' " Ensign said.

Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., said she "vigorously opposed" the proposal.

She said the cut would be devastating to federal law enforcement and other important programs, such as NASA.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Thursday night filed cloture motions on the substitute for the C-J-S bill and the bill itself, setting up votes next Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., is holding up consideration of the $33.5 billion, fiscal 2010 Energy and Water Appropriations bill because a Senate-adopted Coburn amendment that would require public disclosure of reports from agencies to Congress called for in appropriations bills, excluding sensitive reports on national security and defense, was not included in the final version of the bill.

The amendment was adopted by voice vote in the Senate and was something Coburn considered noncontroversial.

"The only conclusion I can reach is that there is an intentional desire to withhold information from the public and members of Congress who are not members of the Appropriations Committee," he said in a letter to leaders of the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee.

Reid also filed a cloture motion on the Energy and Water spending bill.