Clinton Gets Bill to Speed Aid to Farmers

Responding to a severe drop in farm income, Congress sent President Clinton a bill Monday to accelerate $5.5 billion in payments already due farmers in the year ahead.

The lawmakers also voted to extend the Department of Veterans Affairs’ authority to provide health care to Persian Gulf War veterans and establish an advisory committee to help the government cope with the health consequences of Gulf War illnesses.

Under current law, farmers who had been receiving subsidies before the 1996 Freedom to Farm law would get transition payments in two installments next year. The payments, which are gradually declining and would end in 2002, are intended to wean farmers from the old subsidies.

The bill, given voice vote approval Monday in the House and in the Senate on Thursday, would let those farmers receive all or part of their transition payments Oct. 1, the first day of the new federal fiscal year. Clinton has indicated he will sign it.

“It is a sound step that we can take today that can reassure producers and their bankers that the farmers’ entire assets can be available to address the current situation,” said Rep. Robert F. Smith (R-Ore.), chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.

The money would speed some ready cash to farmers who are enduring a projected $7.5-billion decline in income this year compared to last year because of flagging Asian exports and huge worldwide crop production. In this year’s first quarter, farm income was down 35% from the same period in 1996--a time of high commodity prices.

Because the farmers were due to get the money anyway, some lawmakers said it shouldn’t be seen as a permanent answer to the downturn, especially in regions hit by disasters, such as the drought-stricken Southwest or the overly wet northern Plains.

Some officials worry that accelerating the payments could trigger unwanted side effects.

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman warned Congress last week that some farmers might restructure their operations in a way that makes them ineligible for the transition payments and others could be wrongly denied theirs.

But with the November elections approaching, Congress was in no mood to delay the measure and is readying several other bills addressing farm income problems. The Senate has approved $500 million in emergency aid for farmers suffering crop and livestock losses; many lawmakers and Glickman say that amount may have to be doubled.

The veterans bill, passed by voice, gives the VA special authority to treat illnesses that may have resulted from service in any combat period after the Vietnam War or any future war, and states that this treatment will be available for five years after a veteran’s discharge.

The measure also extends through 2001 the VA’s authority to provide care to Gulf War veterans and gives them higher access priority to VA health care.

In other action, the House agreed with the Senate to rename the Central Intelligence Agency’s headquarters after George Bush, the only president whose resume includes a stint as CIA director.