Senate passes CR with meat inspection amendment, without Toomey biofuels amendment
March 20, 2013 | 06:27 PM
The Senate today approved the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations to fund the government through September 30.
The bill includes an amendment to pay the salaries of meat inspectors who would have been furloughed under the Budget Control Act if it had not been included.
The amendment offered earlier today by Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and ranking member Roy Blunt, R-Mo., was passed on a voice vote. The Pryor-Blunt amendment would transfer $55 million to the Food Safety and Inspection Service from funding for school equipment grants and maintenance on buildings and facilities.
The Senate approved the overall measure by a vote of 73 to 26. It goes immediately to the House of Representatives, where it is expected to go to the floor on Thursday without amendment for quick approval. The current continuing resolution expires on March 27, and the government would shut down if a new measure were not passed.
Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.
Although it took days for the Senate to reach agreement on what amendments to bring up, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and ranking member Richard Shelby, R-Ark., praised the action.
“Working across the aisle and across the dome, the Senate has come together to prevent a government shutdown,” said Mikulski.
“This is an important step in breaking from crisis mode in Washington,” said Shelby.
The original House CR contained two full bills, for Defense and for Military Construction and Veterans Affairs.
Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.
The Senate bill expands on the House bill, adding three domestic bills, including: Agriculture; Commerce, Justice and Science; and Homeland Security.
In a joint news release, Mikulski and Shelby noted that the Agriculture section of the bill also funds implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act with an additional $12.8 million not included in the House bill.
They also noted that the bill improves access to clean water in rural communities with an additional $250 million not included in the House measure. This funding will provide an additional 165 rural communities, and 330,000 rural residents, with clean water and waste disposal.
Joel Brandenberger
The National Turkey Federation praised the Senate bill, including the Pryor-Blunt amendment.
“The Senate’s bipartisan action today was an important step in ensuring the nation’s turkey plants continue to operate on a full schedule for the rest of the year,” said NTF President Joel Brandenberger. “The threat of furloughs is not completely gone, but we are hopeful the House will concur in the Senate’s action, and USDA then will take the steps necessary to cancel the planned furloughs.”
Wenonah Hauter
Food & Water Watch also praised the funding the meat inspectors.
“One thing that the Senate got right was finding a solution for funding meat and poultry inspection that would avoid USDA inspector furloughs," said Wenonah Hauter, Food & Water Watch executive director.
“The funding cuts triggered by sequestration would have required USDA to furlough its meat and poultry inspectors for up to two weeks this summer, causing the plants they inspect to stop operating. The House should maintain this funding for USDA meat and poultry inspection to ensure that this critical consumer protection program can continue to operate.”
But Hauter also said the measure is “a stale spending bill from last year that is loaded with special legislative giveaways to big agribusiness companies. The heavy-handed and undemocratic process used to force the Senate to accept a deeply flawed proposal allowed votes on only nine amendments.”
Hauter criticized the Senate for not taking up amendments offered by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., that would have removed policy riders related to biotechnology and implementation of the Packers and Stockyards Act.
Michael Breen
Earlier, the Senate rejected an amendment offered by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., that would have stripped $60 million in funding for military biofuels testing. The vote was 59 to 40.
Mike Breen, Truman Project executive director and spokesman for Operation Free, praised the Senate action.
“DOD’s clean energy investments are about strengthening our economic and national security,” Breen said. “Military leaders and national security experts have identified our single-source dependence on oil as a threat to our national security and military readiness.”
The bill includes an amendment to pay the salaries of meat inspectors who would have been furloughed under the Budget Control Act if it had not been included.
The amendment offered earlier today by Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and ranking member Roy Blunt, R-Mo., was passed on a voice vote. The Pryor-Blunt amendment would transfer $55 million to the Food Safety and Inspection Service from funding for school equipment grants and maintenance on buildings and facilities.
The Senate approved the overall measure by a vote of 73 to 26. It goes immediately to the House of Representatives, where it is expected to go to the floor on Thursday without amendment for quick approval. The current continuing resolution expires on March 27, and the government would shut down if a new measure were not passed.
Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.
Although it took days for the Senate to reach agreement on what amendments to bring up, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and ranking member Richard Shelby, R-Ark., praised the action.
“Working across the aisle and across the dome, the Senate has come together to prevent a government shutdown,” said Mikulski.
“This is an important step in breaking from crisis mode in Washington,” said Shelby.
The original House CR contained two full bills, for Defense and for Military Construction and Veterans Affairs.
Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.
The Senate bill expands on the House bill, adding three domestic bills, including: Agriculture; Commerce, Justice and Science; and Homeland Security.
In a joint news release, Mikulski and Shelby noted that the Agriculture section of the bill also funds implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act with an additional $12.8 million not included in the House bill.
They also noted that the bill improves access to clean water in rural communities with an additional $250 million not included in the House measure. This funding will provide an additional 165 rural communities, and 330,000 rural residents, with clean water and waste disposal.
Joel Brandenberger
The National Turkey Federation praised the Senate bill, including the Pryor-Blunt amendment.
“The Senate’s bipartisan action today was an important step in ensuring the nation’s turkey plants continue to operate on a full schedule for the rest of the year,” said NTF President Joel Brandenberger. “The threat of furloughs is not completely gone, but we are hopeful the House will concur in the Senate’s action, and USDA then will take the steps necessary to cancel the planned furloughs.”
Wenonah Hauter
Food & Water Watch also praised the funding the meat inspectors.
“One thing that the Senate got right was finding a solution for funding meat and poultry inspection that would avoid USDA inspector furloughs," said Wenonah Hauter, Food & Water Watch executive director.
“The funding cuts triggered by sequestration would have required USDA to furlough its meat and poultry inspectors for up to two weeks this summer, causing the plants they inspect to stop operating. The House should maintain this funding for USDA meat and poultry inspection to ensure that this critical consumer protection program can continue to operate.”
But Hauter also said the measure is “a stale spending bill from last year that is loaded with special legislative giveaways to big agribusiness companies. The heavy-handed and undemocratic process used to force the Senate to accept a deeply flawed proposal allowed votes on only nine amendments.”
Hauter criticized the Senate for not taking up amendments offered by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., that would have removed policy riders related to biotechnology and implementation of the Packers and Stockyards Act.
Michael Breen
Earlier, the Senate rejected an amendment offered by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., that would have stripped $60 million in funding for military biofuels testing. The vote was 59 to 40.
Mike Breen, Truman Project executive director and spokesman for Operation Free, praised the Senate action.
“DOD’s clean energy investments are about strengthening our economic and national security,” Breen said. “Military leaders and national security experts have identified our single-source dependence on oil as a threat to our national security and military readiness.”
