Reagan Orders Farm Relief; Meese Filibuster Goes On : Justice Dept. Position Up in the Air

As filibustering farm-state senators kept Atty. Gen.-designate Edwin Meese III’s nomination in limbo, President Reagan today ordered his agriculture secretary to rewrite a program aimed at easing the farm credit crisis.

In the Senate, GOP leaders tried to halt the filibuster, now in its third day, by threatening to keep the Senate in session over the weekend, if necessary, to force a vote on Meese.

The White House, which on Thursday offered to alter slightly its farm credit-aid program and was turned down unanimously by Democrats, today followed Senate Majority Leader Robert J. Dole’s advice to implement the measures unilaterally.

Protesters Left in Cold

Dole said the action would leave the filibusterers “standing out there naked.”

There were no new funds in the revised Administration package, which totaled $650 million or more in loan guarantees.

“I honestly can’t tell you how many (more farmers) will come under this program,” Agriculture Secretary John R. Block said in making the announcement. “I don’t think any of us knows.”

Block assured Farm Belt senators the Administration would “make certain adequate funds (are) immediately available to qualified farmers.”

Sen. David L. Boren (D-Okla.) said farm state legislators were satisfied with the commitment, but had some procedural details to work out before breaking off their filibuster.

Filibuster Goes On

Meanwhile, the filibuster continued as negotiations between Senate leaders and the Democrats went on.

Democratic leader Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia told reporters that the two sides had edged closer, but said he wanted assurances that the full Senate would be able to vote next week on a more liberal Democratic credit-aid package moving through the House.

“Until we can get that nailed down, we’re not in a position to say we’ve got an agreement,” Byrd said.

The changes in the credit-aid package are aimed at opening the door slightly wider to rural lenders seeking federal guarantees for shaky farm loans. They permit such guarantees for farmers whose income is barely enough to cover expenses, rather than requiring a 10% cash cushion as stipulated in the program’s original rules, and offer assurances that both guarantee funds and direct loan money will be adequate to meet demand.

Proportion Rises

They also offer to increase annually the proportion of each guaranteed loan that gets government backing. The guarantees mean that if a farmer defaults on a loan, the federal government will make good on it, up to a maximum of 90%.

Democrats claimed credit for the changes, saying they would not have come about without the talkfest that tied up the Meese nomination and a $7-billion highway bill. They claimed the Administration, despite its action, continued to be insensitive to the plight of farmers caught in a squeeze between high interest rates and low farm prices.

“This Administration has done for farming what Bonnie and Clyde have done for the banks,” said Sen. Edward Zorinsky (D-Neb.).

But Dole insisted that any concessions were minor, and that Democrats were “looking for a way out.”

Presidential spokesman Larry Speakes said Reagan ordered Block “to fully implement expeditiously the policies set forth in the agreement that was presented . . . which the Democrats said last night they would not accept.

“It is the President’s desire that we move quickly on an administrative basis without the necessity of legislation so that we can provide adequate funding for the planting season, which is beginning in many sections of the country.”