Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 2883 - Rural Development, Agriculture, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, FY 1990

The Administration has several reservations with respect to the FY 1990 Rural Development, Agriculture, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill.

The discretionary spending levels provided by the bill are consistent with the respective 302(b) allocations for discretionary budget authority and outlays. However, the bill provides $5,045 billion more than requested by the President in discretionary budget authority and $2,138 billion more in discretionary outlays.

The President's request included a number of loan program reforms and other funding proposals intended to stretch scarce Federal resources. The request lowers the cost of direct Federal assistance to the agriculture community by encouraging the use of more cost effective lending programs. By disregarding nearly all of these proposals, the Committee maintained the status ouo.

We hope that the House will reevaluate the funding proposals in the Committee bill and work with the Administration to arrive at a more appropriate distribution of our scarce resources. The attachment to this statement addresses various concerns we have with the bill.

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