Division A of P.L. The full House approved the conference agreement on December 8, 2003. The President signed the measure into law( P.L. 108-199 ) on January 23, 2004. The enacted consolidated appropriations measure contains $80.63 billion for USDA and related agencies for FY2004 (excluding the effects of a 0.59%across-the-board rescission in all discretionary, non-defense accounts, as required inthe final law). As originally reported by their respective committees, H.R. 2673 and S. 1427 contained nearly identicalappropriations of $77.49 billion. However, the Senate added $2.2 billion to themandatory food stamp account to reflect more recent projections of programparticipation, and conferees added $1 billion to the food stamp reserve account. Justover three-fourths ($63.7 billion) of the spending in the agriculture portion (DivisionA) of P.L. 108-199 is classified as mandatory spending, including food stamps, childnutrition programs, crop insurance, and the various farm support programs fundedthrough USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation. The balance of spending ($16.9 billion) in Division A is for discretionaryprograms, which is $198 million below the Administration's request and $61 millionbelow both the House- and Senate-passed levels. Discretionary spending in DivisionA of the measure is $963 million below the FY2003 enacted level includingsupplementals. Agriculture appropriators were allocated nearly $1 billion less forFY2004 discretionary accounts than the FY2003 level including supplementals. Tohelp achieve this goal, the conference agreement includes an FY2004 appropriationfor foreign food aid that is $572 million below the FY2003 level (which wasbolstered by supplemental spending). Also, the conference agreement containsprovisions that limit or prohibit spending on certain mandatory conservation, ruraldevelopment, and research programs, which in total reduced spending in theseaccounts by approximately $650 million from authorized levels. The measure did not include a Senate provision that would have relaxed the licensing requirement for travel to Cuba for the sale of agricultural and medicalproducts. Congressional Action on FY2004 Appropriations for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and RelatedAgencies
** = Pending 
(1) Before Senate floor action on the FY2004 appropriations measure, the Senatesubstituted the text of S. 1427 for the text of the House-passed bill( H.R. 108-199 , H.Rept. Division H of P.L.108-199 also includes conservation provisions that are not part of the regular annual funding for conservation programs. For P.L. 108-199 delays most implementation for 2 years. Conferees rejected a House-passed provision that would have blocked FDA from preventing individuals, wholesalers, and pharmacists from importing cheaperFDA-approved prescription drugs from foreign suppliers. (1) FY2003 enacted levels include amounts appropriated for USDA and related agencies in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2003 ( P.L.
On January 23, 2004, the President signed into law an FY2004 consolidated appropriations measure ( P.L. 108-199 , H.R. 2673 ) that includes annual funding for the U.S.Department of Agriculture and Related Agencies. The full House approved the conference agreementof the measure on December 8, 2003. Senate floor action on the conference agreement was delayedfor several weeks until a cloture motion was approved and the conference agreement was adoptedon January 22, 2004. Part of the reason for the delay in Senate consideration of the measure wasopposition to a conference-adopted provision that postpones implementation of country-of-originlabeling (COOL) for fresh fruits and vegetables, and red meats, for two years, until September 30,2006. Until enactment of P.L. 108-199 , FY2004 spending for USDA and related agencies had beengoverned by several continuing resolutions (most recently P.L. 108-135 , H.J.Res. 79 ),which allowed FY2004 spending to continue at the FY2003 level.
The FY2004 consolidated appropriations act contains $80.63 billion for USDA and related agencies for FY2004 (excluding the effects of a 0.59% across-the-board rescission in alldiscretionary, non-defense accounts, as required by the final law). As originally reported by theirrespective committees, H.R. 2673 and S. 1427 contained nearly identicalappropriations of $77.49 billion. However, the Senate added $2.2 billion to the mandatory foodstamp account to reflect more recent projections of program participation, and conferees added $1billion to the food stamp reserve account. Just over three-fourths ($63.7 billion) of the spending inthe agriculture portion (Division A) of P.L. 108-199 is classified as mandatory spending, includingfood stamps, child nutrition programs, crop insurance, and the various farm support programs fundedthrough USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation.
The balance of spending ($16.9 billion) in Division A is for discretionary programs, which is$198 million below the Administration's request and $61 million below both the House- andSenate-passed levels. Discretionary spending in Division A of the measure is $963 million belowthe FY2003 enacted level including supplementals. Agriculture appropriators were allocated nearly$1 billion less for FY2004 discretionary accounts than the FY2003 level including supplementals.To help achieve this goal, P.L. 108-199 includes an FY2004 appropriation for foreign food aid thatis $572 million below the FY2003 level (which was bolstered by supplemental spending). Also, P.L.108-199 contains provisions that limit or prohibit spending on certain mandatory conservation, ruraldevelopment, and research programs, which in total reduced spending in these accounts byapproximately $650 million from authorized levels.
The measure did not include a Senate provision that would have relaxed the licensing requirement for travel to Cuba for the sale of agricultural and medical products. Conferees alsorejected a House provision that would have blocked FDA from preventing individuals fromimporting cheaper FDA-approved prescription drugs from foreign suppliers.
Key Policy Staff
Division abbreviations: RSI = Resources, Science and Industry; DSP = Domestic Social Policy;
G&F = Government and Finance