Wed, 21 Sep 2022 08:06:34 CDT
At the National Farmers Union Legislative Fly-In this past week in Washington, DC, Radio Oklahoma Ag Network intern, Cheyenne Leach, had the chance to visit with Congressman Frank Lucas about his work with G.T. Thompson on the 2023 Farm Bill and educational priorities for Oklahoma.
“G.T. and I visit regularly,” Lucas said. “When I did the 2014 Farm Bill, G.T. was one of my subcommittee chairmen, and when we did the 2018 Farm Bill, he was Chairman Conaway’s right-hand man. We have always worked closely together. I think the world of G.T. and I expect him to be chairman of the committee and I expect to be sitting right next to him on the ag committee when we do it.”
Title I as written in 2014 and 2018, Lucas said will still be effective in the upcoming Farm Bill.
The farm safety net, Lucas said, is what the farm bill is all about. While there is a large amount of nutrition money in the farm bill as well as a variety of other things such as conservation, rural development and ag research, the programs that make sure producers can deal with weather and price are of importance.
“The overall Farm Bill- and I think we will reauthorize the ’18 Farm Bill in 2023- is hard work,” Lucas said. “There is a whole bunch of my colleagues in congress who don’t have a clue where their dinner comes from, they don’t appreciate the effort it takes to get it on the plate and educating them is something we all have to work on.”
Lucas talked about his agenda for his district and Oklahoma as a whole if he is to become chairman of the Science and Technology Committee. Lucas said rural STEM Education and making sure the younger generation has access to basic curriculum is of utmost importance.
“From a perspective as being chairman of the overall committee, how do we make sure not only that we push STEM forward, but just the basic research programs,” Lucas said.
Click the LISTEN BAR below to listen to Cheyenne Leach and Congressman Frank Lucas talking 2023 Farm Bill and priorities for the 3rd congressional district and Oklahoma as a whole.
