Amendment Limits Agriculture Assistance Funding to $5.5 Billion

Washington, D.C. – The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today released the following letter to Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.).

Dear Senator Lugar:

      On behalf of the more than one million members and supporters of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), we endorse the amendment you intend to offer during consideration of H.R. 1246, legislation to provide emergency agricultural assistance for fiscal year 2001, to authorize no more than $5.5 billion.

      CCAGW is well aware that a number of special interest groups have been lobbying for months for massive amounts of additional funding, even billions of dollars beyond the $5.5 billion.  We understand that the Bush Administration believes that $5.5 billion is enough.   

      CCAGW believes that $5.5 billion is not only enough, but is actually more than justified.  In fact, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, the addition of $5.5 billion would boost real farm income for 2001 to $1.2 billion higher than last year.  That income level would exceed or equal five of the last seven years, the only exceptions being the record-high income years of 1996 and 1997.  CCAGW does not believe that it should be the taxpayers’ responsibility to assure that real farm income should always exceed the previous year.    

      Furthermore, it is premature to provide even $5.5 billion, since nobody knows with any certainty what either crop yields or prices will be this year.  At this time, there is no evidence of an emergency even to warrant $5.5 billion in emergency agricultural assistance.  Certainly, there is no real justification to authorize more than that amount.     

                                    Sincerely,

CCAGW is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.