Pork Producers: Livestock reporting won’t be ‘essential service‘
September 18, 2015 |06:11 AM
When Congress finalizes reauthorization of the Mandatory Livestock Report Act, the program won’t be identified as an “essential service,” members of the National Pork Producers Council told reporters today.
The Senate Agriculture Committee approved a bill containing the reauthorization Thursday. That bill did not make the program an essential service, as the House-passed bill proposed.
Programs deemed an essential service by Congress would continue to operate even if the government shuts down. When the government shut down in 2013, livestock producers complained bitterly when they weren’t able to get market information.
But NPPC members who visited Capitol Hill this week said they found that members of Congress did not want to declare the program essential because increasing the number of essential programs lessens the impact of a government shutdown. Democrats in particular said that continuing livestock reporting during a shutdown would reduce the likelihood that pork producers would put pressure on Congress to end the shutdown.
“They want the shutdown to hurt, they want pork producers screaming bloody murder,” said one pork producer.
In a general briefing, the pork producers said they:
However, they found that at present Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., does not have the votes for a full repeal and that Senate Agriculture ranking member Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., do not have the votes for a bill to establish a voluntary labeling program.
Pork Producers trade lobbyist Nick Giordano said that World Trade Organization arbitrators are expected to announce on November 27 the allowed levels of retaliation that Canada and Mexico can impose on the United States.
The Senate Agriculture Committee approved a bill containing the reauthorization Thursday. That bill did not make the program an essential service, as the House-passed bill proposed.
Programs deemed an essential service by Congress would continue to operate even if the government shuts down. When the government shut down in 2013, livestock producers complained bitterly when they weren’t able to get market information.
But NPPC members who visited Capitol Hill this week said they found that members of Congress did not want to declare the program essential because increasing the number of essential programs lessens the impact of a government shutdown. Democrats in particular said that continuing livestock reporting during a shutdown would reduce the likelihood that pork producers would put pressure on Congress to end the shutdown.
“They want the shutdown to hurt, they want pork producers screaming bloody murder,” said one pork producer.
In a general briefing, the pork producers said they:
- Are concerned that the dietary guidelines recommendations did not include meat.
- Remain hopeful that Congress will pass a bill directing the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to stop implementation of the Clean Water Rule, also known as the Waters of the United States rule
- Want the repeal of country-of-origin labeling for beef and pork to avoid retaliation from Canada and Mexico.
However, they found that at present Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., does not have the votes for a full repeal and that Senate Agriculture ranking member Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., do not have the votes for a bill to establish a voluntary labeling program.
Pork Producers trade lobbyist Nick Giordano said that World Trade Organization arbitrators are expected to announce on November 27 the allowed levels of retaliation that Canada and Mexico can impose on the United States.
