madam chairman , i rise to speak on the measure before us , providing budget authority for programming by the u.s. department of agriculture and others . 
it provides for about 20 percent of total usda budget authority . 
as chairman of the budget committee , i am pleased to note that this bill is consistent with the levels established in h. con . 
res. 95 , the house concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2006 . 
overall spending in the bill is $ 29 million more than the 2005 enacted level and $ 22 million above the president 's request . 
in most areas within usda , appropriators ended up somewhere between the president 's request and the 2005 enacted level . 
none of the president 's initiatives to collect $ 178 million in new or increased user fees was taken up , making up the difference through spending reductions in some discretionary programs and through $ 1.4 billion in reductions in some mandatory programs authorized for the first time in the 2002 farm bill . 
the bill makes changes in various mandatory programs that reduce net budget authority by $ 1.4 billion . 
specifically , it reduces budget authority by about 25 percent for a number of mandatory conservation programs and eliminates funding for a subset of agricultural research and rural development programs . 
while the use of one-year savers in mandatory programs to stay within the subcommittee 's 302 ( b ) allocation has become routine , the agriculture committee could change some of these same mandatory programs themselves in order to comply with the reconciliation instructions in the fiscal year 2006 budget resolution . 
h.r. 2744 provides $ 1.8 billion for the salaries and expenses of the food and drug administration [ fda ] , an increase of $ 55.3 million , or 3.1 percent , above the 2005 enacted level and a decrease of $ 17.7 million below the president 's request . 
of the appropriated funds , $ 357 million is financed from on-going drug , device and animal drug user fees . 
under provisions of the prescription drug user fee act , the fda will collect $ 305 million as user fees to offset part of the costs of prescription drug approval . 
this bill provides an increase of $ 12.4 million for food safety and counter-terrorism activities to ensure consumers are protected against intentional and accidental risks that threaten our food supply . 
h.r. 2744 does not contain any emergency-designated ba , which is exempt from budget limits . 
the bill does rescind $ 32 million in the unobligated balances of the special supplemental nutrition program for women , infants , and children . 
i am particularly pleased that this legislation contains critical funding for ag and food safety programs in my home state of iowa . 
specifically , i would like to commend the committee for funding the completion of the national centers for animal health in ames , iowa , where vital research to keep our nation 's food supply safe is being done everyday . 
in addition , this bill continues funding for the agriculture-based industrial lubricants ( abil ) program at the university of northern iowa in my congressional district . 
the abil program continues to promote value-added and environmentally safe agriculture products . 
as we continue the appropriations season , i commend chairman lewis and our colleagues on the appropriations committee for meeting the needs of the american public within the framework established by the budget resolution . 
in conclusion , i express my support for h.r. 2744 . 
