House Agriculture Chairman Peterson said even though Congress would find many of the administration's proposed offsets and policy demands unacceptable, he said its letter from Saturday and his meetings with Senate leaders over the weekend represented progress. He said he believes a farm bill deal can be struck before Congress leaves March 14 for its two-week spring recess. Peterson added that if an agreement can not be reached with the administration, he would favor writing a bill with enough Republican support to override a veto.
Peterson said he, House Agriculture ranking member Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and Republican members of the committee "are in total sync. They are almost as frustrated with the White House as I am." Peterson said if Congress passes a farm bill with large enough majorities in both chambers to override a veto, "I can't imagine they'd be dumb enough to veto the bill under those circumstances, but they might be." He added that he believes his attempt to reach out to the White House has strengthened his support among House Republicans for Congress to take unilateral action if the White House will not compromise. Peterson said while he believes a deal can be done by March 14, since that is the day before the existing farm bill expires another extension may be needed through April 15. Considering all the conflicts over the use of tax provisions to pay for the bill, "maybe April 15 is an appropriate date," he concluded.
Peterson told the National Farmers Union at its convention in Las Vegas that the final bill will contain a permanent farm disaster program and revise the country-of-origin labeling measure from the 2002 farm bill, both of which the group supports. But he said the bill will not contain a ban on packer ownership of livestock close to slaughter dates, something the group has been pushing, because there are "not even close" to enough votes in the House to pass it. The bill will establish a livestock competition commission that would not include industry representatives. Peterson also said the bill will contain a measure to make livestock price reporting more timely and transparent.National Journal's CongressDaily
