John Block Reports from Washington

I talked last week about the farm bill and the criticism it has received. The Washington Post called it "The Mother of all Pork." Let me lead off by complimenting Secretary Veneman for her strong and effective defense of the bill. I know how hard it is to give birth to a farm bill. I know that with all of the different ag interest fighting for their special provisions that you cannot satisfy everyone. You cannot completely satisfy anyone.

Let me point out the first interest group that we have no obligation to satisfy is the European Union. The European Union's criticism of the cost of our farm bill was the most outrageous complaint raised. As Secretary Veneman points out, "The farm bill continues with roughly the same amount of support as we've been providing our farm sector over the past four years," that's 19.1 billion dollars per year compared to 62 billion in Europe and 31 billion in Japan. Here's a message to our trade partners and competitors, "Don't throw stones while living in glass houses."

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest made an important point. We don't want to go into the next round of trade negotiation with a weak farm bill. If we all give up something, that's fair. If we have already given up too much, we won't have anything to bargain with.

Of course it remains to be seen how the bill works in the real world. There are so many unknowns. The fact is that no farm bill ever works exactly as planned. The glue that holds this bill together is the commitment to conservation.

According to the Secretary, "This farm bill represents the single most significant commitment of resources toward conservation on private lands in our nation's history."

Who can be against that? Finally, President Bush gives the bill his vote of confidence. Let's give it a chance. Until next week, I am John Block reporting from Washington.