Senate Approves Farm Bill Without Secrecy Provision

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The Senate approved a new farm appropriations bill without a controversial provision that would have kept secret records in the National Animal Identification System, set up to track diseased livestock. In its place, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-IA, substituted an amendment that requires the Agriculture Department to write new regulations that brings the records under the protections in the Freedom of Information Act for proprietary information. (11/17/07)