Senate Approves Complete Version Of Farm Bill

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The Senate passed a complete version of the farm bill late Thursday, three weeks after it first approved the legislation only to find that 34 pages of it had been missing.

Senators voted 77-15 to approve the $289 billion measure that the White House is again expected to veto. President George Bush vetoed the bill last month without Title III, the portion on trade and international food programs.

The House held another vote on the bill on May 22.

The bill provides subsidies to farmers with an income of up to $750,000 and nonfarm income of $500,000. It includes earmarks, such as $400 million to rehabilitate Chesapeake Bay and $170 million to help salmon fishermen in the Pacific Coast, but devotes most of its funds, about 74%, to food aid.

President Bush has said the measure is too costly and that an extension of the current law would be better. The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 expired in September 2007 but was extended by lawmakers until May 23.

Despite the having held a majority vote on Thursday enough to override a veto, senators are expecting the President to veto the legislation again. "In the case of Farm Bill 2, it is just as bad for American taxpayers as the first attempt by Congress," said White House spokesman Scott Stanzel, according to MarketWatch.