Herb Kohl

Mr. KOHL

Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to respond to the Senator from California by saying that I appreciate the value of sound research programs that use a combination of the expertise of the industry involved, the best scientists in our universities, and the outstanding scientific resources within the Department of Agriculture. As Senator Feinstein noted, we have fiscal restraints with which we must abide. I assure the Senator that I will bring an open mind to the conference and will try to craft the best possible legislation. I certainly will do what I can in conference to see that this research continues, and I will carefully consider the $3 million proposed for the Grape Genomics Center at UC Davis.

Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, I would like to make the comment that Senator Bingaman has brought a very important and relevant issue to the floor. I agree with him that the funding level is inadequate, but I agree with Senator Bennett that finding an offset is not yet something we have been able to do. I personally, if Senator Bennett feels the same way, would be willing to work with Senator Bingaman to see if we can't find some way to provide a satisfactory offset and, at any rate, to do everything we can to improve the funding level for this important service, if not this year, in future years.

Mr. KOHL. Yes, Senator Murray, I agree. Thank you for bringing this issue to my attention. I will work in conference to do what I can to support your request and to include language in the final statement of managers.

Mr. KOHL

Mr. KOHL. I thank my colleague for his kind words and would be happy to engage in a colloquy with the Senator from New Jersey.

Mr. KOHL. I share my colleague from New Jersey's interest in this project and also urge the conferees on this bill to include this project in the conference report under the Renewable Energy Program.

Mr. KOHL. I too, appreciate the difficulties facing these farmers, and will work with the chairman to do what we can during conference. eelgrass restoration in rhode island

Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, our subcommittee has a consistent history of supporting this rural development effort and promoting this kind of multi-disciplinary approach. That was the intent of our committee report and, I am sure, will continue to be an important focus of the subcommittee.

Mr. KOHL. It is my understanding that these farmers suffered a devastating loss this spring.

Mr. KOHL. I appreciate the Senator from New York bringing this to my attention, and appreciate the hard work she does on behalf of her constituents. I will keep her concerns under consideration as we work to complete this bill in our conference with the House. Delmarva Conservation Corridor Demonstration Program

Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, I recognize the importance of the above items to the Senator from Louisiana and will be as helpful as I can during conference negotiations to address these issues as she has requested. north carolina agromedicine institute

Mr. KOHL. Yes. I agree with what Chairman Bennett has said regarding the committee's intentions, and will work with him to make sure this is clear in the final bill.

Mr. KOHL. I thank the Senator for making me and the committee aware of Heber Springs' situation and I will work with you to address these issues in conference.

Mr. KOHL. I understand that in previous Agriculture Appropriations bills, the State of New York received a grant to try to curb this problem. What was that funding used for, and what needs remain?

Mr. KOHL. I understand the concerns of the Senator from New York, and I assure her that I will do what I can to be helpful during our conference with the House. farmers' market electronic benefits transfer program

Mr. KOHL. It has recently come to my attention that the Menominee Indian Tribe in Wisconsin is in need of additional assistance from Rural Development. The latest poverty figures indicate 60 percent of rural Americans who are living in poverty reside in census tracks containing or adjacent to Indian reservations. Unfortunately, 50 percent of the members residing on the three reservations of the Menominee Tribe in my State of Wisconsin live below the poverty rate with less than 72 percent of children receiving a high school diploma. Unemployment exceeds 20 percent. The Department of Agriculture needs to consider meritorious applications for water and waste and business development programs which will benefit this tribe. It is my intention that during our upcoming conference deliberations with the House, to include language in the statement of managers to support the consideration of an application in relation to the Mole Lake Water and Sewer System within the Water and Waste Loan and Grant account to address the current sanitary needs and provide opportunities to attract new homeowners. In addition, there is a need to construct a Menominee Mini-Mall Development project and the Forest Enterprises Technology Center to attract new businesses and create a business incubator. I intend to seek recognition that these two projects be included under the Rural Business Enterprise Grant account. Further, the Menominee Tribal Enterprises should receive consideration under the Intermediary Relending account to support small business loans and thereby, to provide sustainability to the community. The last request includes the Menominee Tribal Enterprises to be considered for the Rural Business Opportunity Grant in order to establish a business network including a market analysis. Resource Conservation

Mr. KOHL. I thank the Senator from the State of New Jersey. This program sounds interesting, but tell me, are rural areas being deprived of adequate energy sources?

Mr. KOHL. I thank the Senator for bringing this matter to my attention. I will work to include this provision during conference negotiations of this bill. tree assistance program funding

Mr. KOHL. What assistance is available to these farmers?

Mr. KOHL. I would concur with my friend from South Carolina. I agree it is important for any federal agency to have the ability to establish the appropriate technology to provide functional, rapidly developed and deployed applications that can be used by the field personal in a reliable, user friendly manner. Given the nationwide interest in their applications, it is time that the USDA seriously consider directly longer-term support with ESRI-USC.

Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, the Senator from Rhode Island is correct. I join him in stating for the record that the Committee urges the Department of Agriculture to make funding available through the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program for eelgrass habitat projects in Rhode Island. heber springs

Mr. KOHL. I agree with both Senator Kennedy and Senator Kerry on the importance of funding food safety initiatives, and I am glad we were able to obtain funding for seafood safety research in Massachusetts. The University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Northeastern University have impressive programs vital to improving marine issues and seafood safety. I will continue to work with both Senator Kennedy and Senator Kerry, as the bill progresses, and do what I can to see that these resources are available to these institutions. Section 306 (a)

Mr. KOHL

Mr. KOHL. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. KOHL. Madam President, I would like to make a brief statement on this amendment. This is a complicated issue.

Mr. KOHL. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. KOHL

Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, I rise today in support of the fiscal year 2004 appropriations bill for Agriculture, Rural Development and Related Agencies. This year, the subcommittee faced a difficult task. The allocation provided to the subcommittee, just over $17 billion in discretionary funding, was a significant decrease from the fiscal year 2003 funding level. Our new chairman, Senator Bennett, worked extremely hard to balance priorities in this bill with limited funding. It has been a pleasure to work with him, and I appreciate the good job that he has done. I would like to briefly mention some of the highlights of this bill. Continued funding has been provided for important research projects ranging from nutrition issues to the control of emerging diseases. As we witnessed the devastating economic effect that one case of mad cow disease had on Canada, the importance of knowing all we can about it and making certain that our borders are protected becomes very clear. Further, outbreaks of Chronic Wasting Disease and West Nile Virus demonstrate how small the world has become, and research funded in this bill plays an integral role in keeping America prepared. Continued funding has also been provided for ongoing conservation projects across the country. The Natural Resources Conservation Service provides basic services to help ensure that agriculture and our natural resources can fully complement each other. Risks from drought and flooding are reduced due to activities carried out by the NRCS. In recent years and recent days, it seems nearly every community in America has been faced with one or the other, and the NRCS, along with the Farm Service Agency, has played a vital role in protecting and assisting affected communities. Funding has been provided to improve food safety, including funding for the Food Safety and Inspection Service to hire an additional 87 food safety inspectors and foreign program auditors. Funding for additional training, to improve the scientific and surveillance skills of these inspectors, as well as improved laboratory capability to ensure that they have access to modern equipment, is also included in this bill. The Food and Drug Administration is provided funding to improve monitoring of the food industry, improve the FDA's laboratory preparedness, and to implement the recently mandated Food Registration System. For rural development, this bill provides adequate resources to continue the important programs that include homeownership, essential community facilities, water and waste assistance, business loan and grant programs. The committee has also provided sufficient funds for farm credit programs, which are essential to farmers who could not obtain funding from the commercial sector for ownership and operating loans. The bill provides sufficient funding for the WIC program to support a monthly participation level of approximately 7.8 million low-income women, infants and children, the same participation level requested in the budget. This level includes funding for several initiatives requested by the President, and includes $25 million for the popular WIC Farmers' Market program and a $125 million contingency fund. Funding for the food stamp program and the commodity supplemental food program is also provided in this bill. Funding for the child nutrition programs, which include school breakfast, school lunch, the child and adult care feeding program, and the summer food service program, is included at the President's request level. In previous years, I have worked to include several provisions in this bill to expand the availability of these important programs. This year, due to the scheduled reauthorization of the child nutrition programs, these provisions are not included. Instead, I have been working with the chairman and ranking member of the Agriculture Committee to have these provisions included permanently in child nutrition reauthorization. The FDA is funded in this bill at sufficient levels to continue its mission of promoting and protecting the public health. Increased funding is provided for the food safety items I previously mentioned, as well as patient safety activities, medical device review, over the counter drugs, generic drugs, and pharmaceuticals for children. Last year, consumers spent nearly $1.5 trillion dollars on FDA-regulated products. The work done there is vital to this country, and the nearly $1.4 billion in funding provided to the agency reflects that importance. I believe that more could be done with additional funding. However, with the dollars available, the chairman has put together a good bill that I fully support. I would like to thank Senator Bennett for his leadership and hard work, as well as the hard work of his staff Pat Raymond, Fitzhugh Elder, Hunter Moorhead, and Dianne Preece. It is hard to believe that this is their first year working on this bill. Their expertise and professionalism would indicate that they had many years experience on this subcommittee. Again, I strongly support this bill, and I urge all Members to vote for its passage.