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May 16, 2008
U.S. SENATE PASSES FARM BILL; SPECIALTY CROPS BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM EXTENDED TO THE VIRGIN ISLANDS FOR THE FIRST TIME The U. S. Senate on Thursday passed and sent to the President a multi-billion dollar farm bill that contains several provisions to benefit agricultural and environmental projects in the Virgin Islands. The Senate voted 81-15 following Wednesday’s 318-106 House vote to approve the five year extension of the nation’s farm programs, including a major expansion of the food stamp program. The bill extends the Specialty Crops Block Grant program to the Virgin Islands for the first time. Governor John P. deJongh Jr. said Friday that under this program, the Virgin Islands will receive a minimum allocation of over $800,000 over the next five years to assist V.I. farmers and the production of fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and other-horticultural products in the territory. "This program will provide a significant boost to our efforts to grow our own fruits and vegetables in the Virgin Islands and to lessen our dependence on high cost produce from the mainland and other islands." The federal legislation also provides instructions to the Secretary of Agriculture to give priority consideration to the Virgin Islands and other U.S. Territories for funding environmental projects like court-ordered repairs to the sewer system and landfills in the territory, as well as for projects to strengthen the territory’s infrastructure such as burying WAPA’s electric lines. While the Government will still have to apply to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for funding of these projects, the Conference Report to the Farm Bill takes note of the higher cost of construction in the Virgin Islands and the greater vulnerability of its critical infrastructure to hurricanes and devastating storms. Accordingly, the conference report instructs the Secretary of Agriculture to "fully take into account the higher costs that are involved in infrastructure projects in this region and to provide assistance to allow improvements to infrastructure that will be resilient to storms and less likely to be damaged by them even though those costs of construction are higher." DeJongh expressed his appreciation to Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) who included the V.I. provisions in the Senate bill at his request, and to Delegate Donna Christensen for her efforts on the House side. President Bush has threatened a veto of the Farm Bill, but DeJongh noted that the vote margins in both Houses are large enough to override any veto attempt. |
