A bill to make technical corrections to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 2571) to make technical corrections to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Senate bill 2571 provides a technical correction to the reauthorization of the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act approved by the House and the Senate and that was signed by the President on October 9, 2007.

As my colleagues know, EPA is currently responsible for regulating the sale, use, and distribution of pesticides. In order to facilitate and expedite the approval process, pesticide manufacturers and other registrants have supplemented EPA's annual budget for a number of years. It's a win-win process for both the manufacturer and the end user and a clear example of good government at its best.

Unfortunately, EPA has interpreted the PRIA reauthorization approved by Congress to collect fees for chemicals that are not part of the Interregional Project Number 4, a popular research program that assesses tolerance levels for pest management chemicals applied on specialty crops. These IR-4 chemicals have historically been exempt from fees prior to the enactment of the PRIA reauthorization, and it was not the intention of the House nor the Senate to suddenly assess fees on all these chemicals.

This bill will simply restore the status quo for these particular products and reassert congressional intent.

Because the program fees are being assessed on IR-4 chemicals as we speak, it is vitally important to address this situation immediately. While the farm bill would be the natural vehicle to make this technical correction, EPA is currently unable to process any registration applications without these fees being paid. Therefore, while this fix is not controversial, it is extremely time sensitive, and the uncertainty of the farm bill process dictates that Congress must take action now.

Restoring congressional intent by passing this technical correction to PRIA will prevent delays and backups of applications and stop EPA from collecting and then reimbursing the fees for these chemicals.

It is important that we continue to encourage the type of public- private partnerships envisioned in PRIA. I urge my colleagues to support this technical fix and the underlying goals of the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I just want to thank my colleague, the

very capable and wise gentleman from Oklahoma who has been a great friend throughout the years that I have been here and thank him for his assistance in this legislation.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise today in support of S. 2571. Madam Speaker, last fall we passed Senate bill 1983, which reauthorized the highly successful Pesticide Registration Improvement Act. That act had been worked on by a number of Members in the House and Senate, including the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees as well as the chairman and ranking member of the Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture. In developing this legislation, we sought the advice and counsel of the administration, the affected industry, and the environmental community. I was very happy to have the unanimous endorsement of all interested parties as we moved forward with that bill.

As is not uncommon in working on complex legislation, language is included that is subject to interpretation, and in this particular case we included language intending to maintain an existing fee exemption for certain chemicals that have limited uses on specialty crops. Unfortunately, the EPA has interpreted the final language to mean that they would not be able to continue to offer this exemption. This bill that we are considering today would simply restore the status quo for these chemicals, as was the congressional intent.

I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district I will miss votes on February 14, 2008. Had I been present, the Record would reflect the following votes:

H. Res. 982, providing for the adoption of H. Res. 979 and H. Res. 980, contempt of Congress resolutions, ``yea.''

H. Res. 966, honoring African-American inventors, past and present, for their leadership, courage, and significant contributions to our national competitiveness, ``yea.''

H.R. 1834, National Ocean Exploration Program Act, ``yea.''

S. 2571, to make technical corrections to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, ``yea.''

H. Con. Res. 289, honoring and praising the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on the occasion of its 99th anniversary, ``yea.''

H.R. 4169, American Braille Flag Memorial Act, ``yea.''

H. Res. 790, commending the people of the State of Washington for showing their support for the needs of the State of Washington's veterans and encouraging residents of the other States to pursue creative ways to show their own support for veterans, ``yea.''

H. Res. 963, supporting the goals and ideals of National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans Week, ``yea.''

H. Res. 972, supporting the goals and ideals of American Heart Month and National Wear Red Day, ``yea.''

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. 2571.

I ask unanimous consent the bill be read three times and passed; the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table; that there be no intervening action or debate; that any statements be printed in the Record.

Madam Speaker, during rollcall vote No. 63, on motion to suspend and pass S. 2571, FIFRA Amendments, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''