News In Brief

Congress OKs legislation to lower farm prop prices

Congress approved an administration-backed bill Tuesday to lower the prices the government guarantees wheat, corn, cotton, and rice farmers for their crops. Under the law, if the market price falls below the minimums set in the bill, the government makes up the difference. The House passed the bill on a vote of 379 to 11 after the Senate passed it on a voice vote.

President Reagan is expected to sign it into law quickly in order to give farmers more time to enlist for the government support programs enacted in the legislation. This new program will pump millions of dollars into financially pressed rural areas of the Midwest just before the November election.