Bond on the Farm; Slams Bush on Water Development

Sen. Kit Bond toured Pennington Seed, a seed and wood pellet plant in Greenfield Wednesday and met with farmers about the 2007 farm bill.

"It's getting harder to call this a farm bill when less than 15 percent of the current law addresses hardships faced by the American farmer," said Bond. "A new farm bill should include a safety net for our Missouri fruit and vegetable producers, grants for more energy incentives, and encourage new research initiatives."

Bond also took a shot at President Bush for his possible veto of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). Bond said "this bill is too important to be trumped by an administration that has a six year legacy of hindering water progress and looks forward to a veto override."

The Bush administration has argued the package is much too costly. "It seems a $14 billion Senate bill went into conference with the House's $15 billion bill and somehow a bill emerged costing approximately $20 billion," a letter from the White House Office of Management and Budget said. "This is not how most Americans would expect their representatives in Washington to reach agreement, especially when it is their tax dollars that are being spent."

Bond said the WRDA bill includes his lock and dam provision, which provides $2 billion dollars in funds for seven new locks and $1.7 billion for environmental restoration. He said those provisions are critical to Missouri farmers who depend on rivers to get their products to market.

(Above, Pennington Seed General Manager shows Sen. Kit Bond a portion of the Greenfield plant that produces wood pellets.)