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The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (, also known as the 2008 U.S. Farm Bill) was a $288 billion, five-year agricultural policy bill that was passed into law by the United States Congress on June 18, 2008. The bill was a continuation of the 2002 Farm Bill. It continues the United States' long history of agricultural subsidy as well as pursuing areas such as energy, conservation, nutrition, and rural development.〔("Ag Committee Reports 2007 Farm Bill for Senate Consideration" ), Hoosieragtoday.com〕 Some specific initiatives in the bill include increases in Food Stamp benefits, increased support for the production of cellulosic ethanol, and money for the research of pests, diseases and other agricultural problems. On January 1, 2013, Congress passed the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 to avert the fiscal cliff and the next day President Barack Obama signed the Act into law. (Public Law No: 112-240) The "fiscal cliff" deal was primarily enacted to avoid automatic tax hikes and spending cuts, but also included provisions extending portions of the 2008 Farm Bill for nine months through September 30, 2013. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has demonstrated a commitment to working on a new five-year Farm Bill by reintroducing last session's Senate Farm Bill in the new 113th Congress. ==Legislative history== One version of this legislation, the Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 was passed by the United States House of Representatives on July 27, 2007. Despite opposition from some senators, including a failed amendment proposal by Senator Richard Lugar and a veto threat by President Bush, the Senate version of the bill, called the Food and Energy Security Act, was passed by the Senate Agriculture Committee on October 25, 2007, and later by the full Senate on December 14.〔(Senate Approves Farm Bill Over Bush Veto Threat ), bloomberg.com〕〔(ChicagoTribune.com )〕 In late April 2008, congressional negotiators finally reached a deal to reconcile the House and Senate bills. The deal increased spending on food stamps and other food programs while mostly maintaining the current farm subsidies, despite record farm profits.〔(Tentative Deal Reached in Congress on Farm Bill ), nytimes.com〕 On May 15, the House and Senate passed the bill, but President Bush issued a veto on May 21. The House voted to overturn the president's veto shortly thereafter, and with the margins by which the bill was passed, a Senate override also occurred; so the Congress overrode the president's veto, passing the bill into law (Public Law 110-234, the Food and Energy Security Act of 2007).〔(House Votes to Override Bush’s Veto of Farm Bill ), nytimes.com〕〔(P.L. 110-234, The Food and Energy Security Act of 2007 ), washingtonwatch.com〕 However, the veto override was moot, as a 34-page section of the bill was omitted in the version sent to the White House. In effect, the President vetoed a bill Congress never considered. The bill had to be re-passed by Congress.〔(Mixup negates House override of farm bill veto ), cnn.com〕 The House passed the Farm Bill again on May 22, and the Senate shortly thereafter. President Bush again vetoed the measure, but this veto was overridden in both Houses on June 18, so the Farm Bill in its entirety became law. A similar situation occurred in 2005 with the Deficit Reduction Act, where in the enrolling process certain mistakes were made changing the text of the bill. In that case, the bill was considered to be law even with the mistakes since the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tem of the Senate attested that the language sent to the President was indeed the text that was passed by Congress.. The bill originally caused controversy because the "pay-as-you-go" (Clause 10 of Rule XXI of the Rules of the United States House of Representatives) rule was waived. That rule prohibits the consideration of bills that increase the deficit in either a six-year period or an eleven-year period. The bill itself did not cause such an increase if using a "baseline", which is an estimate of future revenue and spending levels of the U.S. government, that was issued in 2007. A more recent baseline, issued in 2008, showed a large increase in the deficit over the applicable time periods. While other points of order are waived under certain circumstances, the paygo point of order is rarely ignored. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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