Price, Trade Concerns Derail Farm Subsidy Bill

Senate Democrats on Wednesday abandoned their efforts to pass a $73.5-billion farm subsidy bill before the end of the year in the face of stiff opposition from Republicans who regard the measure as too costly and contrary to free trade.

The Senate’s Democratic leaders raised the white flag after failing for the third time in as many weeks to secure the 60 votes they needed to cut off debate and bring the measure to a final vote. The House has passed its own version of the legislation, which would authorize crop subsidies--most for traditional row crops such as wheat and corn--as well as conservation and nutrition programs.

Farm groups had been clamoring for action by the end of the year, fearing that the next round of budget estimates due in January or February may be less favorable to their interests.

But Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) warned before Wednesday’s vote that failure to cut off debate would force him to postpone further action on the measure until next month, given the need to finish other business before Congress leaves town for the holidays. The motion failed, 54 to 43.

“This is really a sad day and not a very bright Christmas next week for farmers and ranchers and people who live in rural America,” Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman of the Agriculture Committee, said after the vote. “What we basically said to them is, ‘You don’t count.’ ”

The Senate action was a victory for the Bush administration, which argued that the Democratic bill would overstimulate production and thereby depress prices, exacerbating the very problems it seeks to correct. Administration officials and Senate GOP leaders contend there’s no need for haste because current farm programs aren’t due to expire until next year.

“This bill was crafted to benefit a fairly small number of farmers,” Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), the ranking minority member of the agriculture panel, said of legislation whose subsidy benefits would flow primarily to the biggest farm operations in the Midwest and South.

The administration favors a GOP alternative that seeks to weave a safety net for farmers out of fixed annual payments and IRA-style savings accounts. The measure failed Tuesday night, 55 to 40.