WASHINGTON - A $300 billion farm bill containing several bond provisions cannot be enacted until after June 3 when Congress returns from its Memorial Day recess because of a technical error that appears to have negated President Bush's veto and the subsequent congressional votes to override it.
House and Senate lawmakers thought they had successfully overridden a presidential veto of the farm bill on Thursday. But it was discovered afterwards that in the rush to get the bill to the Bush's desk, a clerk mistakenly left out several pages of the legislation. The president then vetoed the incomplete bill, and both chambers of Congress voted to override that inaccurate veto.
Legislators are scrambling to send a second, complete bill through the legislative process to ensure that the farm bill cannot be called into question, since the version Bush rejected was not the one Congress approved.
Once House members discovered the mistake, they quickly passed a complete version of the bill late Thursday night, and Senate lawmakers have placed that bill on their calendar for consideration. Since Congress began its Memorial Day recess on Friday, the earliest the Senate could take up the bill would be June 3. After that, the bill would have to be resubmitted to the president, who will presumably veto it again, repeating his concerns about the cost of the measure.
The farm bill contains $500 million of timber conservation tax-credit bonds, as well as several improvements to the "aggie bond" program, which helps first-time farmers and ranchers purchase land.
