The Ear

A federal news roundup for the NCSL Agriculture and Rural Development Committee

The Ear is a periodic federal news update from NCSL's D.C. staff to inform state legislators and legislative staff about federal legislation or rulemaking regarding agriculture. The Ear will be posted weekly.

Updated September 2006

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August 4, 2006 Adobe PDF With Doha Collapse, Farm Bill likely to be "Budget Driven" -- Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), who oversees trade agreement legislation in the Senate as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said Aug. 1 the Doha Round of WTO talks is dead, despite recent comments by President Bush and administration officials that they will seek to revive the round in the next six months or so.

July 28, 2006 Adobe PDF Doha Round Collapses -- On July 24, WTO members suspended the Doha Round of trade talks indefinitely, after top trade and agriculture officials from the Group of 6 (G-6)—the United States, the EU, Australia, Brazil, India, and Japan—were unable to overcome their differences on cuts in agricultural tariffs and subsidies. The blame game began immediately.

May 30, 2006 Adobe PDF House Passes FY07 Agriculture Appropriations Bill -- On Tuesday, May 24, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the FY 07 Agriculture Appropriations bill. The bill provides $18.4 billion in total discretionary resources.

May 12, 2006
House Appropriators Approve Agriculture Budget -- On Tuesday, House appropriators passed an agriculture spending bill for USDA, the Food and Drug Administration and related agencies for FY 2007. This legislation will probably reach the House floor next week. There were several amendments of note offered by the Appropriations Committee.

Staff contact
Lee Posey (202) 624-5400

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