Senate agenda - farm bill debate

From the office of Sen. Tom Harkin

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

• The Senate will convene at 10am.

· Morning business for an hour, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. The first 30 minutes will be under Republican control; the next 30 minutes will be under Democratic control.

· Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of the Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (H.R. 2419).

· There will be up to three hours of debate, equally divided, on the Lugar-Lautenberg amendment to Harkin-Chambliss substitute #3500, relative to traditional payments and loans (#3711).

· The Senate will recess from 12:30pm until 2:15pm for the Weekly Caucus Lunches.

· Upon the use or yielding back of the debate time on the Lugar-Lautenberg amendment #3711, the Senate will proceed to a roll-call vote in relation to the amendment.

· The following amendments are pending to H.R. 2419:

· Harkin-Chambliss-Baucus-Grassley amendment in the nature of a substitute (#3500)

o Dorgan-Grassley amendment to Harkin-Chambliss substitute #3500 to strengthen payment limitations and direct the savings to increase funding for certain programs. (#3695)

o Brown-Sununu amendment to Harkin-Chambliss substitute #3500 to increase funding for critical Farm Bill programs and improve crop insurance (#3819)

o Klobuchar amendment to Harkin-Chambliss substitute #3500 to improve the adjusted gross income limitation and use the savings to provide additional funding for certain programs and reduce the Federal deficit (#3810)

o Lugar-Lautenberg amendment to Harkin-Chambliss substitute #3500 relative to traditional payments and loans (#3711)

o Cornyn amendment to Harkin-Chambliss substitute #3500 to prevent duplicative payments for agricultural disaster assistance already covered by the Agricultural Disaster Relief Trust Fund (#3687)

o Coburn amendment to Harkin-Chambliss #3500 to ensure the priority of the farm bill remains farmers by eliminating wasteful Department of Agriculture spending on casinos, golf courses, junkets, cheese centers, and aging barns (#3807)

o Coburn amendment to Harkin-Chambliss substitute #3500 to limit the distribution to deceased individuals, and estates of those individuals, of certain agricultural payments (#3530)

o Coburn amendment to Harkin-Chambliss substitute #3500 to modify a provision relating to the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (#3632)

o Salazar amendment to Harkin-Chambliss substitute #3500 to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide incentives for the production of all cellulosic biofuels (#3616)

o McConnell amendment to Harkin-Chambliss substitute #3500 to promote the nutritional health of school children, with an offset (#3821)

o Craig amendment to Harkin-Chambliss substitute #3500, to prohibit the involuntary acquisition of farmland and grazing land by Federal, State, and local governments for parks, open space, or similar purposes (#3640)

o Roberts amendment to Harkin-Chambliss substitute #3500, to modify a provision relating to regulations (#3549)

o Domenici amendment to Harkin-Chambliss substitute #3500, to reduce our nation's dependency on foreign oil by investing in clean, renewable, and alternative energy resources (#3614)

o Gregg amendment to Harkin-Chambliss substitute #3500, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude discharges of indebtedness on principal residences from gross income, and for other purposes (#3674)

o Gregg amendment to Harkin-Chambliss substitute #3500, to improve women's access to heath care services in rural areas and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the delivery of obstetrical and gynecological services (#3673)

o Gregg amendment to Harkin-Chambliss substitute #3500, to strike the section requiring the establishment of a Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (#3671)

o Gregg amendment to Harkin-Chambliss substitute #3500, to strike a provision relating to market loss assistance for asparagus producers (#3672)

o Gregg amendment to Harkin-Chambliss substitute #3500, to provide nearly $1,000,000,000 in critical home heating assistance to low-income families and senior citizens for the 2007-2008 winter season, and reduce the Federal deficit by eliminating wasteful farm subsidies (#3822)

o Grassley-Kohl amendment to Harkin-Chambliss substitute #3500, to provide for the review of agricultural mergers and acquisition by the Department of Justice, and for other purposes (#3823)

o Sessions amendment to Harkin-Chambliss substitute #3500, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish a pilot program under which agricultural producers may establish and contribute to tax-exempt farm savings accounts in lieu of obtaining federally subsidized crop insurance or noninsured crop assistance, to provide for contributions to such accounts by the Secretary of Agriculture, to specify the situations in which amounts may be paid to producers from such accounts, and to limit the total amount of such distributions to a producer during a taxable year, and for other purposes (#3596)

o Stevens amendment to Harkin-Chambliss substitute #3500, to make commercial fishermen eligible for certain operating loans (#3569)

o Alexander amendment to Harkin-Chambliss substitute #3500, to increase funding for the Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems, with an offset (#3551)

o Alexander amendment to Harkin-Chambliss substitute #3500, to limit the tax credit for small wind energy property expenditures to property placed in service in connection with a farm or rural small business (#3553)

o Burr amendment to Harkin-Chambliss substitute #3500, to amend title 7, United States Code, to include provisions relating to rulemaking (#3771)

o Durbin amendment to Harkin-Chambliss substitute #3500, to provide a termination date for the conduct of certain inspections and the issuance of certain regulations (#3539)