Recently in Washington 

This week the House passed H.R. 3254, the Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act, H.R. 3342, the Aamodt Litigation Settlement Act, and H.R. 1065, the White Mountain Apache Tribe Water Rights Quantification Act.

House Encourages Charitable Giving to Haitians
Congressman Simpson joined an overwhelming majority of his colleagues in supporting legislation to accelerate the tax benefits for charitable cash contributions for the relief of the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.  H.R. 4462 was passed by the House of Representatives today without objection.

“Like all Idahoans, my deepest sympathies go out to the victims of this catastrophe,” said Simpson.  “Tragedy tends to bring out the best in Americans, and it is clear that this situation is no different, as Haiti has been flooded with vital assistance from individual citizens in the past week. I am hopeful that this legislation will provide an incentive for Americans to continue to give to rescue and recovery efforts in Haiti.”

The earthquake on January 12, 2010, has devastated the already-impoverished country, killing at least 65,000 people and directly affecting millions.  H.R. 4462 would allow individuals who make qualifying charitable donations between January 11, 2010, and March 1, 2010, to take their tax deduction for the 2009 tax year instead of waiting until the end of 2010.  Similar legislation was passed in the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.

If you would like to learn more about how to help or make a donation, please visit http://www.usaid.gov/helphaiti/. 
 

House Legislative Business This Week 

MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 2010
On Monday, the House is not in session.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2010
On Tuesday, the House will meet at 12:30 p.m. for morning hour debate and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m.

Suspensions (6 Bills):

1. H.Res. 583 - Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Lester Flatt has made an invaluable contribution to American art (Sponsored by Rep. Davis (TN) / Education and Labor Committee)
2. H.Res. 990 - Expressing support for designation of January 2010 as "National Mentoring Month" (Sponsored by Rep. McCollum / Education and Labor Committee)
3. H.Res. 1030 - Congratulating Messiah College men's and women's soccer teams (Sponsored by Rep. Platts / Education and Labor Committee)
4. H.Res. 1029 - Expressing support for designation of the week of February 1 through February 5, 2010, as "National School Counseling Week" (Sponsored by Rep. Linda Sanchez / Education and Labor Committee)
5. H.Res. 1024 - Expressing support for designation of January as Poverty in America Awareness Month (Sponsored by Rep. McDermott / Ways and Means Committee)
6. H.R. __ - Emergency Aid to American Survivors of the Haiti Earthquake Act (Sponsored by Rep. Rangel / Ways and Means Committee)

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2010
On Wednesday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for legislative business. At approximately 5:00 p.m., the House will recess to allow for a security sweep of the House Chamber prior to the President’s address. The House will meet again at approximately 8:35 p.m. in a joint session with the Senate for the purpose of receiving an address from the President of the United States.

Suspensions (2 Bills):

1. H.R. __ - To provide for an additional temporary extension of programs under the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (Sponsored by Rep. Velazquez / Small Business Committee) 
2. H.Res. 1020 - Honoring the 95th anniversary of the signing of the Rocky Mountain National Park Act (Sponsored by Rep. Markey (CO) / Natural Resources Committee)

H.R. 4474 - Idaho Wilderness Water Facilities Act (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Minnick / Natural Resources Committee)

H.R. 3726 - Castle Nugent National Historic Site Establishment Act of 2010 (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Christensen / Natural Resources Committee)

THURSDAY, JANUARY 28 AND FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2009
On Thursday and Friday, no votes are expected in the House.

In the News

Lawmakers seek aid for spud growers

USDA asked to buy surplus for food banks, school lunches
By Dave Wilkins, Capital Press http://www.capitalpress.com/idaho/dw-spud-aid-p-17-012210
January 21, 2010

Idaho's congressional delegation wants the USDA to assist U.S. potato farmers by buying up surplus spuds for domestic food programs.

U.S. growers produced an estimated 394 million hundredweight of fall-crop potatoes last year, up 4 percent from 2008. Production in Idaho was up 12 percent to 131 million hundredweight -- one-third of the total U.S. fall crop.

With a big crop and sluggish demand, prices have declined sharply.

"Without action, the combination of a high supply and low prices will drive many growers in the state of Idaho and throughout the country to go out of business," the Idaho delegation wrote in a letter to USDA Agricultural Marketing Service Administrator Rayne Pegg.

Average fresh-market grower returns in Idaho in early January were about $3.36 per hundredweight for Russet Burbank potatoes, according to market analysts. That's about half what it costs to produce potatoes in Idaho, according to University of Idaho ag economists.

The delegation urged AMS to purchase fresh potatoes under USDA's Section 32 domestic food procurement program.

Surplus commodities purchased under the program may be used in national school lunch programs, child care or special need adult care centers, food banks or disaster feeding programs.
Without better prices, it may be hard for many potato farmers to convince their bankers to loan them money for another year, delegation members said.

"In today's financial market, trying to get financing for next year's crops could be quite difficult when producers present the returns for this year's crop," lawmakers said in the letter.
Idaho potato stocks are up nearly 13.5 percent from last year, despite shipping volumes that are about 4.5 percent higher.

Demand has been sluggish for both fresh and processed product.
Processors in Idaho and Malheur County, Ore., used about 6 million hundredweight of 2009 crop raw potatoes during December, down 8 percent from December 2008, according to USDA.
Nationwide, growers harvested about 919,000 acres of fall-crop spuds last year, down slightly from 2008.

However, producers got the most out of every acre as yields hit a record 429 hundredweight per acre, up 4 percent from the previous year. It was the sixth consecutive year that U.S. potato production has hit record per-acre yields.

Idaho's congressional delegation is comprised of Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch and Reps. Mike Simpson and Walt Minnick.