WASHINGTON - A broad array of groups from across the political spectrum today strongly opposed Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Saxby Chambliss’ (R-GA) proposal to extend the widely criticized farm subsidy programs from 2007 until 2011 while slashing the budget in ways that will harm disadvantaged children, U.S. farmers and the environment, and further jeopardize America’s international trade relations.

The Chambliss proposal would make disproportionately deep cuts to nutrition programs for poor children and conservation payments for farmers while enacting a modest cut to commodity subsidies overall and doing nothing to cap excessive taxpayer support to some of the nation’s largest farming operations.

Federal records show that just one-third of America’s farmers receive farm aid, and of those who do, the largest 10 percent rake in 72 percent of taxpayers’ money.

Extending the existing Farm Bill by four years will dramatically set back efforts to reach a global trade deal to open overseas markets to our farm exports and invite even more retaliatory tariffs on all American exports, including farm exports.

Twenty-one groups, listed below, opposed the proposal. Comments from several of their spokespeople follow:

"Senator Chambliss' proposal to extend subsidy programs and to cut or eliminate most conservation programs would be a devastating blow to most farmers and the environment," said Scott Faber, farm policy campaign director for Environmental Defense. "We should reward, not reject, farmers when they offer to help the environment."

Ken Cook, president of Environmental Working Group, said, “They are extending for five years the very worst of the 2002 Farm Bill, and by doing so they have severely undermined the White House and the U.S. Trade Representative. We might as well quit the World Trade Organization.”

Franz A. Matzner of Taxpayers for Common Sense said, “The nation is mired in budget deficits for as far as the eye can see and faced with hundreds of billions of dollars in Katrina relief. Chairman Chambliss was asked to come up with a few billion dollars in cuts to help reduce the deficit. Instead he came back with hundreds of billions of dollars in new agricultural subsidies that will only dig the budgetary hole deeper.”

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