President Bush on Wednesday vetoed the 2007 Farm Bill as expected, and the House of Representatives quickly utilized its two-thirds majority vote to override the veto.
However, due to an apparent legislative error, a 34-page section of the $290 billion bill was omitted from the version sent to the president. As a result, Bush's veto and the override vote may be nullified and, according to an Associated Press report, an expedited string of new votes may be necessary as early as today.
The mix-up occurred in the House, which approved a final version of the controversial bill last week with a 318-106 vote, enough to override a veto.
The bill contains $170 million in aid for families and businesses affected by closures to Pacific Northwest commercial salmon fisheries; it also charges the U.S. Department of Agriculture with inspecting catfish, both domestic and imported, under the USDA's Federal Meat Inspection Act.
The bill also allows other farmed seafood species groups to petition the Secretary of Agriculture to become part of a voluntary, fee-for-service USDA grading program.
Page Cell Aquaculture shelves Las Vegas project, raises $1.2m Daily Business Alerts (Australia) January 2, 2008 Wednesday
