Sen. Salazar's Family Likely To Benefit From Farm Bill

The Daily Sentinel, Mike Saccone
Published November 9, 2007

The family of Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., likely will benefit from the 2007 Farm Bill, an analysis of previously awarded farm subsidies shows. Salazar has criticized President Bush’s warning that he will veto the bill, which will cost $288 billion over the next five years, as “immoral.” Stephanie Valencia, spokeswoman for the senator, said this week that Salazar’s comments were based on his history as a rancher and not the likelihood that his family will receive thousands of dollars in subsidies from the Farm Bill. “Being a rancher gives him a better sense of the issues that are facing farmers and ranchers in rural America,” Valencia said. According to the Environmental Working Group’s farm subsidy database, the senator’s potato farming brothers, 3rd Congressional District Congressman John Salazar, D-Colo., and LeRoy Salazar, received a total of $48,738 in farm subsidies from 2003 to 2005. The senator himself has not received any farm subsidies, according to the database. During that same time period, Coloradans and Colorado companies received nearly $890 million in farm subsidies. Mesa County residents and companies received more than $1.1 million in farm subsidies. According to the farm subsidy database, the only congressional district to receive more subsidies than western and southern Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District was northern and eastern Colorado’s 4th Congressional District. The database shows land owned by 4th Congressional District Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo., netted her $1,262 in subsidies between 2003 and 2005. According to the Library of Congress, the 2007 Farm Bill is pending in the Senate.