The Nation : Reagan Objects to Drought Aid Package

President Reagan, without citing specifics, told farm-state legislators that portions of an agricultural drought-assistance package moving through Congress do not meet his standards for helping farmers. “I am concerned that, due to the undeniable pressure to produce a bill as quickly as possible, some provisions were incorporated . . . without adequate review,” Reagan said in a letter to the chairmen of the House and Senate Agriculture committees. The President reiterated five objectives for drought relief, including his opposition to “windfalls” for some farmers and his concern that Congress might attach “extraneous matters, such as rewriting the existing farm bill.” White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said that during a meeting with the President, Agriculture Secretary Richard E. Lyng reported that the Administration was “fighting Christmas-tree amendments” to the legislation and that he remained optimistic about a bipartisan aid agreement.