On the recordOctober 17, 2011
I am pleased today to support the 2012 Agriculture appropriations bill. This is a very austere measure. Almost every category of funding is lower than last year and much lower than the year before. Setting aside disaster and security items that we dealt with in debt limit negotiations, discretionary spending in this bill is $200 million below 2011. Compared to 2010, it is $3.2 billion lower. That is equal to a 15- percent reduction compared to 2010. In total, discretionary spending is $20.046 billion. That figure includes nearly $300 million in disaster for hurricanes, tornados, floods, droughts, and other natural disasters. All together, discretionary spending is nearly $2 billion below the President's request and is consistent with our 302(b) allocation. To achieve savings and develop a balanced bill, Senator Blunt and I had to set priorities. Among them was a goal to protect public health and safety, including food safety. We made sure these activities are protected. We provided more than $1 billion for the Food Safety and Inspection Service so they can maintain current levels of inspection for meat and poultry. The bill includes almost $2.2 billion for the FDA, which is an increase of $50 million. Most of this increase is for food safety, and FDA is the only agency or office funded by this bill at a higher level than last year. An equally high priority is protecting the most vulnerable Americans from hunger.…
