12/07/06 Congress sits, no appropriations

It looks like the lame duck Congress is going to leave the nine remaining spending bills to the new Democratic controlled Congress. So don't look for any action on that until mid-January. There was supposed to be action this week on the agriculture disaster relief bill. The Senate tried but failed to get the 60 needed votes to attach a 4.8-billion dollar ag disaster aid package for 2005 and 2006 crop losses to an ag spending bill. North Dakota Democrat Kent Conrad fought for a year to get the Senate vote. CONRAD "It's not just my state. There are many states that have been affected. Literally tens of thousands of farm and ranch families will not be able to go on without disaster assistance." The disaster assistance package wasn`t the only amendment offered to the Ag Appropriations bill this week. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa introduced an amendment that would ensure the Environmental Protection Agency would not receive funds for regulating agricultural dust. He says it`s really about the future. Grassley has taken issue with an EPA rule on coarse particulate matter since it was issued. He says the rule would set a bad precedent for agriculture and have a devastating impact on the industry. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott