Senate leaders have named the Senate members of the conference committee that will resolve differences between the House and Senate versions of the new farm bill.

However, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said Wednesday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., still had not named the House conferees. Until the House members are named, no work can be done on the final bill to be presented to President Bush, he said.

Thune is not among the Senate conferees, who he said were picked strictly according to seniority.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairman of the Senate ag committee, and Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., ranking member of the committee, announced the Senate conferees Monday night. Harkin said he would be chairman of the conference committee.

Democratic senators selected for the conference committee are Max Baucus of Montana, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan.

Republican senators named to the committee are Chambliss, Richard Lugar of Indiana, Charles Grassley of Iowa, Thad Cochran of Mississippi and Pat Roberts of Kansas.

"We've got people who are defending our interests there," Thune said in a conference call with reporters Wednesday. "We've been working closely with Sen. Chambliss and his staff and had conversations with the minority on the House side related to provisions such as renewable energy and FSA office closings," Thune said.

He said staff-level discussions suggest that provisions he got inserted into the Senate bill are likely to remain in the final bill.

Thune said it is crucial to get a final bill to the president before the current farm bill expires March 15.

But Bush has threatened to veto both versions of the bill, saying they are too expensive and don't do enough to limit farm payments to rich farmers.

He said he hoped new Ag Secretary Ed Schafer would soften the administration's opposition, but so far, there is no indication of that.

"The administration has made some harsh statements about the farm bill, and they'll have to back away from those for us to get this passed," Thune said.

"The key is not to draw lines in the sand on anything," he said.

The administration has said the farm bill shouldn't be paid for with a tax increase, as called for in the House bill, Thune said. "If they adopt the funding mechanism in the Senate bill, we ought to be able to get that through."

The Senate bill contains a complicated funding mechanism that includes eliminating tax breaks on property owned by foreign governments and then leased to U.S. investors, and reducing tax breaks on certain types of business deals made primarily to avoid federal income taxes.

Contact Steve Miller at 394-8417 or steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com