Agriculture, Rural Development

About this title: Original publisher: Washington: U.S. G.P.O.: For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O., 2003. OCLC Number: (OCoLC)53401820 Subject: United States -- Appropriations and expenditures, 2004. Excerpt: ... 7 providing unprecedented funding for our food and nutrition safety net, expanding agricultural trade, expanding housing for rural citi-zens, investing in America's rural sector, and improving USDA's programs delivering customer service. The 2004 budget calls for $ 74 billion in spending, an increase of $ 1.4 billion or about 2 percent above the level that was requested in 2003. This is approximately $ 5.4 billion higher than the actual level in 2001 and represents a growth of 8 percent since this Ad-ministration took office. Discretionary outlays are estimated at $ 20.2 billion, about a 1 percent change or $ 300 million below the 2003 requested level. The request before this committee for fiscal year 2004 amounts to $ 15.5 billion. The budget seeks record level support for USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, or FSIS as we refer to it, our meat and poultry food safety programs, as well as increases to strengthen our agriculture protection programs. These areas of our budget have been top priorities for this Administration since we came into office and particularly since the tragic events of Sep-tember 11th. FSIS funding will increase to a program level of $ 899 million, an increase of nearly $ 42 million over the 2003 requested level. This represents $ 117 million or a 15 percent increase in these food safe-ty programs since 2001 when the Bush Administration came into office.e Th $ 899 million for FSIS is comprised of $ 797 million in appro-priated funds and new fees for inspection services provided beyond an approved primary inspection shift. Existing user fees are ex-pected to generate approximately $ 102 million. This will fund 7,680 food safety inspectors, an increase of 80 inspectors, and provide specialized training for the inspector workforce, i...

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