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House passes CR with meat inspector provision, Vilsack will implement

The House of Representatives today passed an appropriations bill to fund the government through September 30, which includes additional funds to pay meat inspectors so that the Agriculture Department will not need to furlough them to comply with the sequestration provisions of the Budget Control Act.

The House bill vote was 318-109. The Senate passed it on Wednesday. President Barack Obama is traveling in Israel, but he is expected to sign the bill before March 27, when the current continuing resolution expires.

The bill preserves most of the sequestration cuts, but also contains more money for the Special Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children known as WIC, so that all applicants to that program can be served.

The inclusion of the Agriculture appropriations bill in the measure also means that farmers can enroll in the Conservation Stewardship Program.

The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition noted that the first government funding bill for fiscal year 2013 shut off funding for the CSP and that farmers can enroll approximately 12 million acres of agricultural land in the program this year, an amount that will bring the program to a total of 62 million acres by year’s end.

CSP is a working lands conservation program that rewards farmers and ranchers for the environmental benefits they produce. Assistance is provided for actively managing and improving existing conservation systems and for implementing new conservation activities on land in agricultural production.

The total discretionary spending level in the bill to $984 billion.
Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky.

Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky.

“This legislation provides funding for essential federal programs and services, helps maintain our national security, and takes a potential shutdown off the table,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky.

“I’m proud that we were able to reach across the aisle — and across Capitol Hill — to produce a meaningful, bipartisan bill that funds the government responsibly,” Rogers said.

“With the approval of this measure, we have laid the foundation for thoughtful and responsible consideration of appropriations bills, and can now focus our attention on next year’s work. I encourage the president to sign this bill into law without delay.”

House Appropriations Committee ranking member Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., also praised passage of the bill because it will avoid a shutdown and shows bipartisan cooperation. But Lowey said she also agreed with Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who in a floor statement early today criticized the bill for cutting social programs.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack early today praised the meat inspectors’ provision, which originated in the Senate through an amendment sponsored by Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and ranking member Roy Blunt, R-Mo.

The Pryor-Blunt provision transfers $55 million to the Food Safety and Inspection Service from funding for school equipment grants and maintenance on buildings and facilities.

“Yesterday's action in the Senate is an acknowledgment that sequestration left USDA with no other option but to furlough meat inspectors,” Vilsack noted.

“The Senate has now voted to provide us with funding to help address those furloughs, but this action does not eliminate the critical need for Congress to find a responsible solution to sequestration through balanced deficit reduction.”

Vilsack was apparently referring to the fact that the Budget Control Act calls for similar cuts in future years.
Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala.

Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala.

House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., also praised passage of the bill and the meat inspector amendment.

“While continuing resolutions are not an ideal way to operate, the legislation passed today cuts wasteful Washington spending and avoids a government shutdown,” said Aderholt.

“Further, the bill includes important language from Sen. Pryor and Sen. Blunt that transfers $55 million in existing agriculture funds to the Food Safety and Inspection Service to ensure food inspectors are not furloughed.”

“Though I am disappointed that once again it has taken an act of Congress to get this administration to do the right thing, I am grateful to Sens. Pryor and Blunt for offering a common-sense solution to this funding gap and helping us protect American families and producers,” he added.

Aderholt was referring to the Republican view that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack could have found a way to keep meat inspectors on the job without congressional action. Vilsack has said that the way Congress wrote the law, he had no choice but to furlough the inspectors and told reporters earlier this week that the Pryor-Blunt amendment proved that USDA lawyers had interpreted the law correctly.
Scott George

Scott George

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association said it “applauds” passage of the continuing resolution with the meat inspector amendment, but also maintained that USDA should have used other legal authority to keep inspectors on the job.

“This is great news for every segment of American agriculture,” said NCBA President Scott George, a cattleman from Cody, Wyo.

“With this shift of finances, Congress was able to avoid the crisis created by the administration and keep FSIS inspectors in the plants where they belong. While cattlemen and women were disappointed Secretary Vilsack threw in the towel on his agency’s 107-year-old duty to provide federal food safety inspections, we sincerely thank Sens. Blunt and Pryor for ensuring the nation’s food supply will not be limited by politics.”
Mike Brown

Mike Brown

The National Chicken Council lauded the Senate’s inclusion of the amendment on Wednesday.

“NCC and our members recognize that sequestration presents significant challenges that require USDA and all other federal government agencies to make difficult decisions to prioritize resources,” said NCC President Mike Brown. “But cutting an essential, legally mandated program such as food safety inspection is not the way to address the government’s budget deficit.”

Through this process, NCC has contended that furloughing FSIS inspectors would be inconsistent with the mandates of the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act and the Egg Products Inspection Act, which prohibit the production, processing, or interstate distribution of meat, poultry and egg products without federal inspection.

“The amendment that passed today puts a fine point on the requirements of these mandates,” Brown added.