U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge, a Lillington Democrat, wants to help 46 poultry farmers in his district who have lost their contracts with a major chicken processing company.

When Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation filed for bankruptcy last year, its growing contracts with farmers were terminated. Etheridge today introduced legislation that gives temporary financial help to poultry farmers who lose contracts through no fault of their own, reports Barb Barrett.

He estimates the bill would help nearly four dozen poultry farmers in Chatham, Lee, Cumberland and Harnett counties. Etheridge said many are in danger of losing their farms.

"I introduced this legislation because these farmers should immediately be eligible for disaster assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture,” Etheridge said in a statement.

“I will not stand by as rural America’s poultry producers are left abandoned by this economic downturn. We have a tool to help them and this legislation would give them a strong chance to get back on their feet.”

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan spoke against FDA regulation of tobacco this afternoon.

In a five-minute speech on the Senate floor, she noted that North Carolina has 12,000 tobacco farmers and over 65,000 jobs tied to the tobacco industry with a $7 billion economic impact on the state.

She said the Kennedy bill would put thousands out of work and worsen the current recession in North Carolina. 

"This broad, sweeping legislation will have a devastating impact on the economy in my state, North Carolina, and on the lives of many of my constituents," she said. 

Hagan argued the bill would give the FDA "extremely broad authority" to regulate cigarettes, allowing the agency to order changes to the makeup of cigarettes.

"This legislation puts the FDA in an impossible situation," she said. 

She closed by saying that she had many friends in North Carolina whose families have grown tobacco for generations. 

Industry and farming groups are protesting a plan to force large water users to apply for permits.

The measure marks a major shift in state policies on water. Sponsored by Sen. Dan Clodfelter, a Mecklenburg County Democrat, the bill aims to head off conflicts and use science to allocate the resource.

Under current law, private companies may legally pump so much water that downstream users or nearby farmers' wells go dry, according to a legislative report. 

Towns sometimes don't know the limits of their water supplies until they have to turn down a new development.

But critics say the measure goes too far, stepping on property rights and adding needless regulations. (Char-O) 

Tobacco growers told Congress their industry is under siege.

State Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler joined a chorus of North Carolina farmers who said that tobacco manufacturing jobs are "under siege" from tax increases at a hearing in the House agriculture committee.

"The last thing North Carolina, or any state, needs right now is more lost jobs," Troxler said.

The state's tobacco crop was worth $686 million last year, and the industry pumped $24 billion into the economy with more than 10,000 jobs.

The farmers oppose a bill that would give the Food and Drug Administration oversight over tobacco. They back an alternative proposed by Sens. Kay Hagan and Richard Burr that would create a new agency. 

Rep. Mike McIntyre said the goal is to keep regulators off farms.

"The last thing we want is for government bureaucrats to be coming on the farm," he said. (Char-O)

A liberal group is running TV ads urging Sen. Kay Hagan to support President Obama's budget.

Americans United for Change, a liberal advocacy group that receives backing from labor unions, will spend at least $700,000 on ads in nine states, including North Carolina.

The states "just happen to be represented by some of the more conservative Democratic senators," MSNBC's First Read reports. 

The ad is one of at least three TV and radio ads in North Carolina. The other two target U.S. Reps. Bob Etheridge and Mike McIntyre, two conservative Democrats.

Hagan recently joined a group of moderate Democrats and has written a letter to the Senate Budget Committee protesting Obama's proposed cuts in farm funding.

After the jump, the script. 

Hat Tip: Mark Binker

   Comments (0)

Steve Troxler will speak to Congress Thursday.

The Republican state agriculture commissioner will testify before the House Subcommittee on Rural Development about the potential impact of federal regulation of tobacco on farmers.

He was invited by U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre, a Lumberton Democrat who chairs the subcommittee.

Congress is considering a bill to allow the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco. An alternative proposed by Sens. Richard Burr and Kay Hagan would create a new agency.

Troxler will speak at 10 a.m.

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge has been appointed to a powerful House committee.

The Lillington Democrat was appointed late Wednesday night to the Committee on Ways and Means, which plays a key role in federal legislation on taxes and health care.

He will be the first North Carolinian to serve on the committee since 1984, and the first Democrat since Rep. Robert Doughton's stint ended in 1953.

"Serving on the Committee on Ways and Means will allow me to work closely on the issues that are directly affecting North Carolina families during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression," Etheridge said in a statement.

The committee oversees issues as diverse as Social Security, unemployment benefits and Medicare and has sole jurisdiction over tariffs and other methods of raising revenue. It played a key role in the 2008 Farm Bill.

Etheridge, a former state schools superintendent, says he will work on providing federal support for local school construction, keeping taxes low, expanding health care and ensuring trade agreements are fair.

President Bush signed into law an effort by Rep. Bob Etheridge to protect small farms in North Carolina.

The 2008 Farm Bill included a provision that required farms to at least 10 base acres in order to receive certain subsidy payments in a few programs, Barb Barrett reports.

But the interpretation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture was for only farms with 10 base acres — a trait not found as often in small-farm states such as North Carolina.

Etheridge's office said Congress attended for those who own several small farms to be able to aggregate their land to get to the 10-base-acre requirement. His office says 16,000 farms in the state could be affected.

Etheridge, a Lillington Democrat, filed a bill suspending the rule. Congress will need a more permanent fix by the end of next year, according to Etheridge's office.

The campaign of Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Wednesday it was making a major effort in North Carolina because of the alignment of the issues and because of an unprecedented get-out the vote effort.

"The people want out of this war and they want some changes in the econony," Democratic Gov. Mike Easley said during an Obama campaign teleconference. "It's going to be very difficult for the people of North Carolina to vote for the status quo rather than change, which is where we are right now."

The Obama campaign said they have so far opened 16 offices across the state, spent more than $2 million in TV ads, and registered thousands of new voters, Rob Christensen reports.

"We are in striking distance," said Patrick Gaspard, the Obama national political director said of North Carolina.

The Obama campaign seemed to be reaching out to blue collar workers, who tended to vote for Hillary Clinton in the May primary.

The Obama campaign said it would emphasize rising gas prices, manufacuring jobs lost through unfavorable trade deals and John McCain's opposition to the Farm Bill.

The Obama campaign said it planned to organize every precinct in the state. The campaign said it would focus on voter registration between now and the Oct. 10 deadline.

They noted that since January, Democrats had picked up 169,635 new voters, while Republicans had gained over 51,542.

Barack Obama is still courting those Hillary Clinton voters.

A campaign blueprint for North Carolina released today indicates that Obama is working to expand his base of supporters here to include many of the blue-collar white voters he didn't win in the primary.

On the issues, the presentation leans heavily on effects of the poor economy on the textile industry and farming, attacking John McCain over a farm bill and support for free trade. 

Rising gas prices, the other major issue listed, are a more generic Obama issue that amplifies the economic attack.

Free trade has been a major theme for Democratic challenger Larry Kissell, although it hasn't gotten traction in other parts of the state in large part because of the largely Republican makeup of other textile-heavy districts.