Legislation

On June 18, Congress overrode the President's veto on H.R. 6124, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, ensuring that all parts of the Farm Bill are enacted into law. Previously, Congress had passed H.R. 2419 over the President's veto, containing 14 of 15 Farm Bill titles.

  • The bipartisan House vote on H.R. 6124 was 317-109. The Committee press release can be read here.
  • The House vote on H.R. 2419, which took place on May 21, was 316-108. The Senate vote of May 22 was 82-13. The Committee press release can be read here.
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  • On May 20, 2008, Congress sent H.R. 2419, the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 to President Bush. The bill passed the House of Representatives with a vote of 318-106 on May 14, and passed the Senate with a vote of 81-15 the following day. You can read the Committee press release here. (Correction: Previously listed as May 21)
  • A letter from more than 1,000 farm, conservation, nutrition, consumer and religious groups urging a YES vote to override the President’s veto.



H.R. 2419, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008

Title-by-Title Fact Sheets for the Conference Report:

(All documents are in .pdf format)

Farm Bill Conference

  • Archived May 14, 2008, Farm Bill press conference: On Wednesday, May 14, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson and Ranking Member Bob Goodlatte were joined by members of the Farm Bill Conference Committee and members of the House Agriculture Committee to discuss passage of the 2008 Farm Bill conference report.

  • Archived May 8, 2008, Farm Bill press conference:Congressional negotiators announced a final farm bill conference agreement at a press conference on May 8, 2008.  A bipartisan, bicameral group discussed the details of the final bill, which makes investments in conservation, energy, nutrition and rural development while continuing and strengthening farm income protection. (Over 70 minutes in length)
  • On Thursday, May 1, the House of Representatives and the Senate each passed by unanimous consent, S. 2954, a bill to temporarily extend farm programs through May 16, 2008. Additional details on this extension and previous extensions can be found on the Library of Congress Legislative Information page.
  • On Friday, April 25, the President signed into law S. 2903, a bill to temporarily extend farm programs through May 2, 2008.
  • On April 16, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5813, a bill to extend farm programs until April 25, 2008, in order to give conferees time to resolve remaining issues.
  • House Framework presented to conferees at the April 10, 2008, Farm Bill conference meeting. (.pdf format)
  • On April 9, the Speaker of the House of Representatives appointed conferees to participate in the conference committee to negotiate the 2008 Farm Bill. You can read the news release with the full list of conferees here.
  • On March 12, the House and Senate both approved S. 2745, a bill to extend agricultural programs to April 18, 2008.

 

House-Senate Conference Side-by-Side Documents:

Title I - Commodity Programs Section-by-Section
Title II - Conservation Section-by-Section
Title III - Trade Section-by-Section
Title IV - Nutrition Programs Section-by-Section
Title V - Credit Section-by-Section
Title VI - Rural Development Section-by-Section
Title VII - Research Section-by-Section
Title VIII - Forestry Section-by-Section
Title IX - Energy Section-by-Section
Title X - Horticulture and Organic Agriculture (House Bill) and applicable Senate Amendment provisions Section-by-Section
Title XI - Miscellaneous Provisions Section-by-Section
Title XII and House Title XIII - Tax & Disaster Provisions Section-by-Section
Senate Amendment Title XIII - CEA Reauthorization and applicable House provisions Section-by-Section

 

Farm Bill Framework released by Chairman Peterson and Ranking Member Goodlatte - Feb. 14, 2008

Peterson-Goodlatte Letter to the Senate - Feb. 12, 2008

Open Letter to the Farm Bill Community - Feb. 9, 2008

(All documents are in .pdf format)

 

House Passage

On July 27, 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a Farm Bill that makes historic investments in fruit and vegetable production, conservation, nutrition and renewable energy while maintaining a strong safety net for America's farmers. The bill passed by a vote of 231-191.

You can read the House Agriculture Committee news release about House passage here.

The legislative progress of the 2007 Farm Bill from Subcommittee consideration to the House floor is below, with the most recent legislative activity placed at the top. You can keep track of the status of H.R. 2419, as passed by the House, at the Library of Congress website here.

This page will be updated as necessary.

 

Full Committee Passage

 

H.R. 2419 as Reported by the House Agriculture Committee

Chairman's Mark for Full Committee Consideration

      • Adopted Amendments:
        • Conaway Amendment as amended, by voice vote, regarding de minimis payments
        • Graves Amendment, by voice vote, regarding permanent debarment authority
        • Lampson Amendment, by voice vote, regarding the Healthy Oils Incentive Program
        • Costa Amendment, by voice vote, regarding the Federal Milk Marketing Order Review Commission
        • Everett Amendment, by voice vote, amending peanut loan repayments
        • Pomeroy Amendment, by voice vote, on the Federal crop insurance 508(h) process
    • Title II - Conservation
      • Adopted Amendments:
        • Goodlatte Amendments considered en bloc, by voice vote, regarding 1)EQIP and pest management and 2) priorities and evaluation criteria under the Conservation Title
        • Etheridge Amendment, by voice vote, regarding gasifier technology
        • Costa Amendment, by voice vote, regarding the Regional Water Enhancement Program
        • Musgrave Amendment, by voice vote, regarding "in stream flows" under EQIP
        • Walz Amendment, by voice vote, regarding the Conservation Security Program evaluation and ranking process, and application process
        • Holden second-degree Amendment to a Goodlatte Amendment, by voice vote, regarding the Farm and Ranchland Protection Program
        • Moran Amendment, by voice vote, regarding the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program

    • Title III - Trade
      • Adopted Amendments:
        • Etheridge/Hayes Amendment, by division of the question, regarding tobacco leaf eligibility for the Market Access Program
        • Cardoza Amendment, by voice vote, regarding germplasm conservation
        • Moran Amendment, by voice vote, regarding non-emergency food assistance
    • Title IV - Nutrition
      • Adopted Amendments:
        • Kagen/Fortenberry Amendment, by voice vote, regarding geographic preference on food procurement
        • King Amendment, by voice vote, regarding residential drug treatment programs
        • Schmidt Amendment, by voice vote, regarding nutrition education
    • Title V - Credit
      • Adopted Amendment:
        • Goodlatte Amendment regarding rural development and farm loan program sourcing
    • Title VI - Rural Development
      • Adopted Amendments:
        • Peterson Amendment, by voice vote, regarding the manager's amendment language on broadband
        • Boswell Amendment, by voice vote, regarding historic barn preservation
        • Boswell Amendment, by voice vote, regarding the Rural Strategic Investment Program
        • Gillibrand Amendment, by voice vote, regarding local purchase preferences
        • Space Amendment as amended, by voice vote, regarding the USDA broadband loan program
        • Pomeroy Amendment, by voice vote, regarding the Rural Cooperative Development Program
        • Herseth Sandlin Amendment, by voice vote, regarding rural public television stations
        • Walz Amendment as amended, by voice vote, regarding a rail study
    • Title VII - Research
      • Adopted Amendments:
        • Smith Amendment, by voice vote, regarding ethanol by-products
        • Conaway Amendment, by voice vote, regarding the Foreign Agriculture Service Grant overhead limitation
        • Kagen Amendment, by voice vote, expressing the sense of Congress on organic research
    • Title VIII - Forestry
      • Adopted Amendments:
        • Herseth Sandlin Amendment, by voice vote, regarding biomass enzyme research
        • Conaway Amendment, by unanimous consent, expressing a sense of Congress on alternative fuels
        • Barrow Amendment, by voice vote, regarding a Future Farmsteads Program
        • Herseth Sandlin Amendment, by voice vote, regarding the Biomass Advisory Committee
        • Lampson Amendment, by voice vote, regarding biobased procurement guidelines
    • Title X - Horticulture and Organic Agriculture
      • Adopted Amendments:
        • Kagen Amendment, by voice vote, regarding the Farmer's Market Promotion Program
        • Cardoza Amendment, by voice vote, regarding the definition of speciality crops
        • Gillibrand Amendment, by voice vote, regarding organic conversion
    • Title XI - Miscellaneous Provisions
      • Adopted Amendments:
        • Herseth Sandlin Amendment, by voice vote, regarding the closing of Farm Service Agency offices
        • Conaway Amendment, by voice vote, regarding the mandatory Country of Origin Labeling program
        • Herseth Sandlin Amendment, by voice vote, regarding the crop insurance access for native grassland
        • McCarthy Amendment, by voice vote, regarding regulation of exports of plants, plant products, biological control organisms, and noxious weeds
        • Etheridge/Neugebauer Amendment, by voice vote, relating to cotton classification services
        • Boswell Amendment, by voice vote, regarding a methamphetamine inhibitor grant program
        • King Amendment, as amended by unanimous consent, expressing a sense of the Committee regarding the classification of hazardous substances
        • Goodlatte Amendment, by voice vote, regarding the USDA Graduate School
        • Rogers Amendment, by roll call vote (26-Y, 17-N), regarding arbitration clauses contained in livestock and poultry contracts

     

    Reserve Fund En Bloc amendment

    The Congressional Budget Resolution for FY 2008 includes a reserve fund for agriculture.  Under the terms of the resolution, up to $20 billion in additional budget authority over 5 years may be allocated to the farm bill to the extent that other legislation is passed to offset the additional amount.  The Reserve Fund En Bloc amendment includes proposals which will be presented for consideration by the House as offsets are obtained.

Subcommittee Action:

 

  • Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research