Bill Bennett: “we need a little background on this amendment. It may be controversial. I understand there are some Senators who have…”

“we need a little background on this amendment. It may be controversial. I understand there are some Senators who have opposed it and will be coming to the floor. It would allow the producers on the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board to vote to fund or not fund the dairy air emission research required under the Environmental Protection Agency's Air Quality Compliance Agreement. This sounds fairly technical. In fact, the money that is available to the board has always been used for particular purposes, and most dairy producers want to make sure that it stays restricted to those purposes. But something has come up that requires research. It has come not from the Department of Agriculture but from the Environmental Protection Agency in a new agreement that affects dairy farmers. And in order to defend themselves against the position taken by the EPA, they need research. They need it now, and they need it badly. This amendment would allow a one-time use of dairy promotion and research funds to fund the research. Most dairy farmers are in favor of it. Dairy is the only program that does not have an option for funding its own research. The research will be conducted by Purdue University, according to protocols approved by the EPA. This is not in opposition to EPA procedures. The actual research will be performed by land grant universities in the States identified by the U.S. Dairy Environmental Task Force.…”