169 



However, the bill that became Section 1624 of the 1990 

 farm bill (PL 100-624) differs in one very significant way 

 from the military base closing commission. The Agriculture 

 Research Facilities Commission is a study commission only. 

 It is empowered to make recommendations to the Congress and 

 the Administration — recommendations that could be ignored. 

 As you know Mr. Chairman, the military base closing 

 commission recommendations carry more weight as they require 

 the Congress to vote yea or nay on them in their entirety 

 without amendment. 



I should also tell you that the legislation originally 

 proposed by Senator Leahy in Committee deliberations did 

 include the "teeth" of the military base closing commission- 

 -forcing the Congress to act on a package of recommendations 

 identical to the military base closing commission process. 

 However, this bill version did not prevail in Committee. In 

 the end, the legislation was, in my view, watered-down. 



If I had a magic wand, I would certainly amend the 

 Facilities Commission legislation so that the Commission 

 recommendations carried the force of law as originally 

 drafted. I would also alter the membership so to give the 

 Chairmen and the Ranking Minority Members of the House and 

 Senate appropriations committees Commission appointments in 

 addition to those of the Secretary of Agriculture and the 

 Chairmen and Ranking Minority Members of the House and 

 Senate agriculture committees. 



3 . What would it take to get this Commission up and running? 

 Would it have to be funded or could the Secretary do it on his 

 own? I expect that there is no shortage of information already 

 in place about this issue. 



I do not believe it would take much energy or resources 

 to get this Commission up and running. As I noted in my 

 testimony, there are numerous reports that exist that tell 

 much of the facilities story. In fact, as I failed to 

 include a bibliography with my original paper, I submit such 

 now at the close of these questions in order to provide a 

 resource for any person, agency, or (hopefully) commission 

 studying this issue. 



I have been told that, in response to Senator Leahy's 

 request to Secretary Madigan for a review of research 

 facilities, a USDA SWAT Team did develop a ranked list of 

 facilities for possible closure. As far as I know, that 

 list has not been shared with Senator Leahy or distributed 

 publicly. However, such a list would surely be of interest 

 to this Subcommittee and provide some groundwork if the 

 Facilities Commission is appointed. 



Allow me explain what little I know about the 

 appropriations process as it pertains to the Facilities 



