McCain attacks agricultural spending

WASHINGTON — Cows were a tempting punchline Monday for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., as he picked on an agriculture spending bill moving through the Senate.

Railing against millions of dollars in pork-barrel spending, Mr. McCain zeroed in on a $372,000 study of dairy profitability in Pennsylvania — one of a few items in the bill related to the milk business.

If farmers haven't figured out how to make a profit from milk, Mr. McCain said, they might want to look for another way to make a living, considering Congress has directed $3.8 million at the effort over the past decade.

Of course, thousands of farmers across the country may be forced to look for other ways to make a living this year if economists' predictions of the effect of a milk price crisis become reality. But Mr. McCain's objections reflect his long-standing opposition to such spending as well as the flavor of the debate as multiple spending bills move through Congress this summer. He is the Senate's leading critic of home-state earmarks.

Mr. McCain tried but failed to strike tens of millions of dollars from the bill, including from programs the Obama administration wants to eliminate.

Other items related to the dairy industry that Mr. McCain did not mention were sponsored by Sens. Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten E. Gillibrand, Democrats of New York.

The two New York senators backed $200,000 for The Cornell University Program on Dairy Markets and Policy, which evaluates dairy policy proposals of national significance to the dairy and livestock industries.

Separately, Mr. Schumer sponsored $200,000 for genetic research for cattle. That project, an effort of Cornell, Colorado State University and the University of Georgia, helps beef producers breed cattle for specific traits, which can result in a higher-quality product at lower cost, the senator's office reported.

The spending bill covers most programs through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The House passed its version in July, and the Senate was moving toward passage Monday night or today.

Also on the bill, the Senate agreed to scale back — but not eliminate — funding for a National Animal Identification System. Senators slashed funding from $14.6 million to $7.3 million and directed that money be devoted only to proposed rule making, rather than to implementation.

The House eliminated all funding for the program for the next fiscal year, following lawmakers complaints that the proposed system is ineffective and needs to be re-evaluated.