Agricultural News
Lucas, Stabenow Kick Off Final Phase of Farm Bill Effort
Wed, 30 Oct 2013 16:54:00 CDT
Senator Debbi Stabenow, Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, and Frank Lucas, Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, today convened a conference committee made up of Senators and Representatives from both parties and from both chambers of Congress to iron out details on a final bipartisan Farm Bill. This marks the beginning of the final phase in the effort to complete a five-year barm bill.
"Americans want Congress to work together to create jobs and reduce the deficit. The Farm Bill does both," said Stabenow. "I'm looking forward to sitting down around a table with my House colleagues, like we did in the Senate, to develop a final bipartisan Farm Bill that reforms agriculture programs, provides certainty for farmers and saves taxpayers billions. This bill is the most significant reform to agriculture policy in decades, it's critical for the economy and it's long-past time to get it done." (Click here to read a transcript of Stabenow's opening remarks.)
In his opening remarks, Lucas urged conferees to set aside their differences and quickly hammer out a final bill.
"I hope we are keenly aware of our responsibility to put policy in place that is good for our farmers, ranchers, consumers, and those who have hit difficult times. This takes place despite considering a complicated bill in an environment where the political battles can be loud and unhelpful. Consensus has proven to be an elusive goal at times in Congress, but it is a word that underscores the work we do in the agriculture community every day." (You'll find Lucas's full opening remarks by clicking here.)
Stabenow said the the Senate Farm Bill represents major reform of agriculture programs, yielding a total of $24 billion in spending cuts by eliminating unnecessary direct payment subsidies to farmers, consolidating programs to end duplication, and cracking down on fraud and misuse. These reforms save taxpayer dollars overall while allowing for increased investments in initiatives that help Michigan's farmers and small businesses create jobs. Agriculture is Michigan's second largest industry. Nationwide agriculture supports 16 million jobs.
Lucas said the measure of a good farm bill is its provisions for a safety net. "I've said this many times before, but it is worth saying again: a safety net must be written with bad times in mind. A farm bill should not guarantee that the good times are the best, but rather that the bad times are manageable.
"A safety net should provide flexibility and choice to meet the unpredictable nature of farming. We have been working on reauthorizing the farm bill for more than three years now. Let's consider for a moment what has happened during that time."
The Senate passed the Farm Bill Senator Stabenow authored with a bipartisan margin 64-35 last year, but the House never took up the bill. The House then passed a Farm Bill this year, but since the House bill was not identical to the Senate's, the bipartisan conference committee was convened to iron out differences in the bills and develop a final version.
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