In reaction to today’s House of Representatives commodity subcommittee text for the Farm Bill, Raymond C. Offenheiser, President of Oxfam America, made the following statement:"The text approved by the Commodity Subcommittee for the 2007 Farm Bill moves US farm policy from bad to worse. The subcommittee bill continues current farm commodity subsidies and makes matters worse by reinstating additional subsidies for cotton farmers that were eliminated by the previous Congress. This cotton program was ruled illegal by the World Trade Organization, but the subcommittee has parsed the language to try to slide the subsidy under the WTO screen.
"The subcommittee’s legislation does little to address trade distorting subsidies and signals to our trading partners that Congress doesn't care about fairness in global trade or the impacts of US farm subsidies abroad. In fact, the legislative language reverses progress in many areas.
"Congress can still reform US farm programs. Reform is essential since most US farmers receive little or no benefit from current farm programs, and farmers overseas continue to be harmed by current policy. “If Congress is to bring more equity to current farm programs and provide more resources to conserve our lands, support rural communities, address the needs of Americans in poverty, and to improve our energy security, changes in the commodity programs are essential. But the action by the Commodities Subcommittee today is a disappointment and is clearly inconsistent with the reform agenda advocated by Congressional leaders”.
