Glickman Seeks To Shape Farm Bill Ag Secretary Sets Up Hearings To Counter Gop

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman will have plenty of takers for the shadow farm bill hearings he plans to hold next week.

The first reason is simple. All hearings abhor a vacuum. Interest groups exist to make their voice heard, and they’ll use any chance.

But Glickman is not just playing congressman all over again. Nor is he just providing a forum for environmentalists, family farm groups or others who normally consider themselves outcasts when Republicans run the show. He’s learned that even mainstream farm groups feel there’s been too little debate over the Republican farm bill proposals.

Also, observers say Glickman may be equipping President Clinton to take a more forceful, well-armed stance on behalf of farm and conservation issues in negotiations with Congress after he vetoes the budget-balancing bill.

After all, major crop and dairy bills are being jammed into legislation that determines broader, more visible issues like taxes and Medicare. When it comes time for the big fight over money, the agricultural interests, conservationists and others want their voices heard.

“The president will veto reconciliation,” said Maureen Kuwano Hinkle, who specializes in farm and conservation policy at the National Audubon Society. “Whether or not he makes agriculture a part of that and what his request is or what he’s willing to arm wrestle for in agriculture is unknown.”

“Agriculture is not on the short list of things that we’ve heard the president explain concerns over,” said John Gordley, a former top Republican aide to the Senate Ag Committee and now a lobbyist.

Glickman and the farm-state Democrats on Capitol Hill have done most of the complaining about the $13.4 billion in cuts over seven years proposed for agriculture - a 17 percent decline - and major changes in farm policy. Democrats want to cut only $4.2 billion, which is fine with most farm groups, and have offered no objectionable changes to farm policy.

Both House and Senate Republicans contend they have held extensive hearings to support the proposals they’ve made or will be making. Research, rural development, conservation and other issues will be taken up separately from the budget bill.

Glickman and even mainstream commodity groups argue that the hearings all occurred before proposals were written by Agriculture Committee staffs.

Glickman’s three days of hearings are scheduled to begin Oct. 31.