In a significant victory for the floriculture industry, the House and the Senate passed the conference report on House Resolution 2419, commonly known as the "Farm Bill." 

However, as anticipated, President Bush today vetoed the measure saying it was wasteful and contained too many subsidies for wealthy farmers.

Congress is expected to override the president's veto because the bill was approved in the House and Senate by majorities larger than the two-thirds necessary to defeat a veto.

The passage marks the first time specialty crops have been included as a major component in the Farm Bill. The bill includes mandatory funding for new research to meet the needs of specialty crop producers in the areas of plant breeding, pests and diseases management, food safety and mechanization.

"The passage of this bill represents a real first for the specialty crops industry including floriculture growers," says Lin Schmale, senior director of government relations for SAF. "We've worked hard to insure that Congress overrides the unfortunate presidential veto."

After more than  a year of heated debate, contentious hearings and numerous delays, the House and the Senate cleared the bill by wide margins, despite vehement protests from the White House. The Senate voted late last Thursday to adopt the conference report 81-15, which came one day after the House adopted the report by a vote of 318-106. 

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-5-Md.) plans to bring to the floor a vote to override the president's veto before the Memorial Day recess.

--Morgan Schimminger
mschimminger@safnow.org

  

Previous Article    Next Article