Farm, nutrition groups put hopes in conference for bill that includes food stamps and permanent law
July 12, 2013 | 03:04 PM
Farm and nutrition groups said they are hoping a farm bill conference between the House and Senate will be productive, even if they did not like the bill that the House passed.
Here is a selection of statements issued reacting to the House bill.
“The American Farm Bureau Federation looks forward to moving ahead with fundamental farm policy legislation, following House passage today of H.R. 2642,” said Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman.
“While we don’t yet know what the next steps will be, we will be working with both sides of the aisle and both chambers of Congress to ensure passage of a new five-year farm bill,” he said. “While we were hopeful the farm bill would not be split, nor permanent law repealed, we will now focus our efforts on working with lawmakers to deliver a farm bill to the president’s desk for his signature by September.”
“Today’s strictly partisan vote to pass the farm bill apart from the nutrition title undermines the long-time coalition of support for a unified, comprehensive farm bill which has historically been written on a bipartisan basis,” said NFU President Roger Johnson.
“NFU will continue to do all it can to get a reasonable bill through the conference process,” Johnson continued. “Any final legislation must continue existing permanent law provisions and include meaningful safety net protections for both family farmers facing difficult times and the food insecure.”
The group called the decision to exclude nutrition programs “a major departure” from past farm bills, but said it was pleased the bill included livestock disaster assistance and measures to “rein in” the Environmental Protection Agency and stop implementation of the GIPSA rule from the 2008 farm bill.
“It is unfortunate that the House passed this partial farm bill,” said FRAC President Jim Weill, who lobbies for food stamps. “The nutrition title was not included, and the path that the House majority leadership is pursuing is one that does not bode well for SNAP [the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] in the House.”
“Over the past year, the House majority leadership has used every opportunity to try to cut and weaken SNAP,” Weill said. “The bad committee farm bill, the adoption of the Southerland amendment and others on the House floor, and the Ryan budget proposal all portend a new assault on SNAP after today’s action. FRAC will continue to work towards a farm bill that protects SNAP and the nation’s children, seniors, and working families.”
“America’s sugar producers are pleased that the House passed a bill that continues U.S. sugar policy, just as the Senate did weeks earlier. While the process wasn't the preferred route, time is of the essence and we urge swift action by a farm bill conference. Sugar farmers, like other farmers, need the certainty of a five-year farm bill right now.”
The organization supported by candy companies and other industrial users of sugar said it “condemns” the House bill for “marking sugar subsidies permanent.” The coalition noted that it is part of a “chorus of a wide range of groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Heritage Action, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste and the National Farmers Union, all opposed to the passage of this ill-conceived bill.”
“We are deeply disappointed that members of the House voted to make permanent law the most egregious example of government waste and excessive spending — the sugar program — and call on President Obama to veto the bill in the unlikely event it reaches his desk in this form, and likewise urge Senate conferees to reject permanent law for sugar.”
The IDFA, a member of the Coalition of Sugar Reform, issued a separate statement praising the bill for the dairy title, which includes an amendment offered by Reps. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and David Scott, D-Ga., that made changes to the dairy title written by House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., and the National Milk Producers Federation.
“Today’s passage of the farm bill by the House of Representatives brings us one step closer to historic dairy policy reform and proves that we can help dairy farmers without raising the prices of dairy products for consumers and for government programs,” said IDFA Senior Vice President of Legislative and Economic Affairs Jerry Slominski.
“We support the aid to dairy farmers in the House bill, but we oppose the Senate dairy package.”
The organization said the House had passed a “seriously flawed bill” that contains the Goodlatte-Scott amendment and the repeal of permanent law “on a “purely partisan vote.”
“Neither of these measures serves the best long-term interests of dairy farmers,” National Milk President and CEO Jerry Kozak said.
The Senate, by contrast, overwhelmingly passed the complete Dairy Security Act, Kozak noted, adding that National Milk will urge the conference committee to include it in the final bill.
A broad range of community groups expressed “outrage” that the farm bill did not include the nutrition title and said it also did not make reforms in the farm program. (See link)
The statement was distributed by the Rural Coalition, the Community Food and Justice Coalition, the National Family Farm Coalition and the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, all of which represent a long list of locally-based groups.
The EWG called the bill “the most fiscally irresponsible farm legislation in history.”
“After repeatedly voting to deny health insurance to kids, the Republicans overwhelmingly turned their backs on hungry kids and voted to increase unlimited insurance subsidies for the most profitable farmers,” said Scott Faber, EWG senior vice president for government affairs.
“This bill not only increases unlimited insurance subsidies, but also increases price guarantees for major crops and creates new subsidy programs for farm businesses,” Faber said. “This bill locks in these new income subsidies for eternity under the guise of ‘reform.’ No one who voted for this terrible farm bill can reasonably claim to be fiscally conservative.”
Here is a selection of statements issued reacting to the House bill.
American Farm Bureau Federation
“The American Farm Bureau Federation looks forward to moving ahead with fundamental farm policy legislation, following House passage today of H.R. 2642,” said Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman.
“While we don’t yet know what the next steps will be, we will be working with both sides of the aisle and both chambers of Congress to ensure passage of a new five-year farm bill,” he said. “While we were hopeful the farm bill would not be split, nor permanent law repealed, we will now focus our efforts on working with lawmakers to deliver a farm bill to the president’s desk for his signature by September.”
National Farmers Union
“Today’s strictly partisan vote to pass the farm bill apart from the nutrition title undermines the long-time coalition of support for a unified, comprehensive farm bill which has historically been written on a bipartisan basis,” said NFU President Roger Johnson.
“NFU will continue to do all it can to get a reasonable bill through the conference process,” Johnson continued. “Any final legislation must continue existing permanent law provisions and include meaningful safety net protections for both family farmers facing difficult times and the food insecure.”
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
The group called the decision to exclude nutrition programs “a major departure” from past farm bills, but said it was pleased the bill included livestock disaster assistance and measures to “rein in” the Environmental Protection Agency and stop implementation of the GIPSA rule from the 2008 farm bill.
Food Research Action Center
“It is unfortunate that the House passed this partial farm bill,” said FRAC President Jim Weill, who lobbies for food stamps. “The nutrition title was not included, and the path that the House majority leadership is pursuing is one that does not bode well for SNAP [the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] in the House.”
“Over the past year, the House majority leadership has used every opportunity to try to cut and weaken SNAP,” Weill said. “The bad committee farm bill, the adoption of the Southerland amendment and others on the House floor, and the Ryan budget proposal all portend a new assault on SNAP after today’s action. FRAC will continue to work towards a farm bill that protects SNAP and the nation’s children, seniors, and working families.”
The American Sugar Alliance
“America’s sugar producers are pleased that the House passed a bill that continues U.S. sugar policy, just as the Senate did weeks earlier. While the process wasn't the preferred route, time is of the essence and we urge swift action by a farm bill conference. Sugar farmers, like other farmers, need the certainty of a five-year farm bill right now.”
Coalition of Sugar Reform
The organization supported by candy companies and other industrial users of sugar said it “condemns” the House bill for “marking sugar subsidies permanent.” The coalition noted that it is part of a “chorus of a wide range of groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Heritage Action, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste and the National Farmers Union, all opposed to the passage of this ill-conceived bill.”
“We are deeply disappointed that members of the House voted to make permanent law the most egregious example of government waste and excessive spending — the sugar program — and call on President Obama to veto the bill in the unlikely event it reaches his desk in this form, and likewise urge Senate conferees to reject permanent law for sugar.”
International Dairy Foods Association
The IDFA, a member of the Coalition of Sugar Reform, issued a separate statement praising the bill for the dairy title, which includes an amendment offered by Reps. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and David Scott, D-Ga., that made changes to the dairy title written by House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., and the National Milk Producers Federation.
“Today’s passage of the farm bill by the House of Representatives brings us one step closer to historic dairy policy reform and proves that we can help dairy farmers without raising the prices of dairy products for consumers and for government programs,” said IDFA Senior Vice President of Legislative and Economic Affairs Jerry Slominski.
“We support the aid to dairy farmers in the House bill, but we oppose the Senate dairy package.”
National Milk Producers Federation
The organization said the House had passed a “seriously flawed bill” that contains the Goodlatte-Scott amendment and the repeal of permanent law “on a “purely partisan vote.”
“Neither of these measures serves the best long-term interests of dairy farmers,” National Milk President and CEO Jerry Kozak said.
The Senate, by contrast, overwhelmingly passed the complete Dairy Security Act, Kozak noted, adding that National Milk will urge the conference committee to include it in the final bill.
Community coalitions
A broad range of community groups expressed “outrage” that the farm bill did not include the nutrition title and said it also did not make reforms in the farm program. (See link)
The statement was distributed by the Rural Coalition, the Community Food and Justice Coalition, the National Family Farm Coalition and the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, all of which represent a long list of locally-based groups.
Environmental Working Group
The EWG called the bill “the most fiscally irresponsible farm legislation in history.”
“After repeatedly voting to deny health insurance to kids, the Republicans overwhelmingly turned their backs on hungry kids and voted to increase unlimited insurance subsidies for the most profitable farmers,” said Scott Faber, EWG senior vice president for government affairs.
“This bill not only increases unlimited insurance subsidies, but also increases price guarantees for major crops and creates new subsidy programs for farm businesses,” Faber said. “This bill locks in these new income subsidies for eternity under the guise of ‘reform.’ No one who voted for this terrible farm bill can reasonably claim to be fiscally conservative.”
