false

Press Releases

Boozman Seeks to Enhance Farm Bill

Introduces four amendments to bill currently under Senate consideration

Jun 03 2013

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, has offered four amendments to enhance the bill currently under consideration by the Senate. 

“We have crafted a farm bill that takes a fair approach to providing a safety net for all crops and regions of the country this time around. However, we can still make it better. The amendments I have offered will help protect the rights of farmers, ranchers and loggers while increasing access to affordable food and protecting taxpayer interests. I hope they will be considered,” said Boozman.

Boozman’s amendments seek to:

  • Enable the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide rent-free rights-of-way for water projects that are federally-financed;
  • Increase transparency at USDA;
  • Prohibit eminent domain abuse against farm, ranch and forest lands; and
  • Provide extra scrutiny of major regulations that drive up the cost of food.

Boozman Amendment #1052: This Amendment enables USDA to provide rent-free rights-of-way for water projects that are federally-financed, including projects financed through USDA Rural Development Loans and Grants or projects funded through State Revolving Loan Funds.

Boozman Amendment #1053: This Amendment would require the Secretary of Agriculture to develop a system to track and report to Congress attorney fee payment information for all cases to which the Secretary or the Department of Agriculture is a party. 

Boozman Amendment #1054: This Amendment would prohibit eminent domain abuse against farm, ranch, and forest lands, whereby the government confiscates the land and transfers it to another private party for private economic development. States and local governments that violate the act and fail to remedy the situation within a set period of time would be subject to the loss of federal economic development assistance for up to two years.

Boozman Amendment #1098: This Amendment would empower the Secretary of Agriculture to determine whether a major regulation proposed by any federal agency could have any negative impact on access to affordable food.  If such a determination is made, Congressional review of the regulation would be required before implementation.

During the Committee mark-up, Boozman’s amendment to allow water and wastewater treatments plants to be eligible to participate in the regional conservational partnership program was included in a broad group of improvements to the legislation that were submitted by Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).