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U.S. SENATOR PATRICK
LEAHY
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CONTACT: Office of Senator
Leahy, 202-224-4242 |
VERMONT |
Agriculture Secretary Designate Clears Panel
…Tells Leahy
He Will Support Bush Promise
To Renew MILC Program
WASHINGTON (Thurs., Jan. 6) –
President Bush’s choice to head the United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA), Gov. Michael Johanns (R-Neb.), pledged to U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy
(D-Vt.) Thursday that he would support extending the Milk Income Loss
Compensation (MILC) Program, a nationwide dairy safety net implemented by
Congress in the 2002 Farm Bill. The Senate Agriculture Committee Thursday
cleared the nomination for a vote by the full Senate.
The MILC program, which the
members of the Vermont Congressional Delegation -- Leahy, Sen. Jim Jeffords
and Rep. Bernie Sanders – had led in including in the Farm Bill of 2002, is
due to expire in September of this year. MILC has brought more than $45
million to
Vermont dairy farmers in
the last three years.
During Johanns’ confirmation
hearing Thursday in the Senate Agriculture Committee, Leahy asked Johanns
if he would support extending the MILC program and if the USDA would work
with Congress to hold the President to a campaign promise he made in
Wisconsin last year to
renew the MILC program.
“I do know what the
President’s statement was in
Wisconsin last year, and
I’m committed to that statement,” Johanns told Leahy, a senior member of
the Agriculture Committee and a former chairman of the body.
“We now have the President and
the likely new head of the Department of Agriculture on record in support
of extending the MILC program,” Leahy said after the hearing. “I’m
hopeful these pledges will turn into real support when we bring it to a
vote early this year.”
Last fall, Leahy and Jeffords
successfully gained bipartisan support for extending the program in the
Senate. A last minute move by House Republican leadership halted progress
on the provision during negotiations between the House and the Senate.
The Johanns nomination now goes
to the Senate floor where it will likely soon be approved by a majority of
the Senate.
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