House Republicans question fairness of $3.1 billion drought pac

WASHINGTON -- House Republicans are questioning a Senate-passed plan to pay farmers $3.1 billion for crop losses, citing farm groups' concerns that too much of the money would go to growers who were barely affected by last year's droughts and floods.

"It's our responsibility as a committee to find the best way to make it work as fairly as possible and as expeditiously as possible," House Agriculture Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said Tuesday.

Goodlatte said it may be difficult to get payments to farmers quickly while targeting only those who need them.

Farm organizations have argued that the Senate package would spread payments among too many farmers, leaving growers who need the assistance with too little money.

Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said lawmakers need to adjust the $3.1 billion to help needy farmers more.

The Senate package, written largely by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Thad Cochran, R-Miss., targets the aid to farmers in counties declared disaster areas and growers who lost 35 percent or more of their crops.

Cochran concentrated on the needs of southern farmers, including $50 million for cottonseed growers and $53 million for tobacco producers. He said the plan would get payments quickly to farmers because the disaster areas are already a matter of record and a long signup process wouldn't be needed.

The money is wrapped in a $390 billion package financing every government agency, except the Pentagon, for the federal budget year that began Oct. 1.

Goodlatte said he also wants to investigate potential problems with a program in the 2002 farm bill requiring manufacturers in 2004 to start labeling food with the name of the country in which it was grown. The food industry already has begun setting up a system to voluntarily use the labels over the next year.

Manufacturers argue the country-of-origin labels will cost more than the government's $2 billion estimate. Farm organizations sought the measure, predicting that consumers, given a choice, will prefer American-grown products to imports.

Goodlatte said the labels "may not have the desired effect."