08/03/07 Hastings on Farm Bill & Immigration

Hastings on Farm Bill & Immigration. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. Congressman Doc Hasting has been scrutinizing the Farm Bill and its many parts as it has been making its way through the House and he has found some of it very disturbing. HASTINGS: As we are debating the Agriculture Appropriations bill, I discovered in the bill, one of the primary components that is desired by our mix of agriculture is research dollars. This agriculture bill reduces the amount of research that goes into research for agriculture by 50-million dollars over last year. I find that ironic because the Farm Bill that authorizes programs on one hand increases it and yet on the other hand in a bill that actually funds it, it's deceased. I think that's contrary to what we've been trying to do with the wide mix of specialty crops in our area where those research dollars are important. For that reason I simply can't support that bill when it comes to a final vote. Of course the Immigration bill suffered a grim defeat in the Senate last month and Hastings isn't optimistic that it will be revived any time soon. HASTINGS: There has been some talk but nothing has come up at all regarding a much more narrowly drawn bill that would deal with agriculture but nothing at all. Obviously that will be re-looked at in September and frankly by then it's too late. I would say right now that any immigration reform is probably gone for this Congress. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.