Lucas tells GOP that conference won’t wait for nutrition bill
July 16, 2013 | 06:57 PM
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., sent all Republican members of the House a memo today that he intends to move forward with conference on the farm bill and will not wait for the House to pass a nutrition bill for the conference to proceed.
The Hagstrom Report obtained a copy of the memo. (See link)
Lucas noted that the vote on the bill had been proceeded Wednesday by 40 hearings, two committee markups with more than 200 amendments considered, and three days of debate on the House floor with another 100 amendments considered.
“The result is a product that we can all be very proud of — and one which saves billions of dollars, eliminates over 100 government programs including direct payments, and provides the certainty and necessary tools for farmers, ranchers and rural America to prosper.”
Lucas acknowledged that sending the Senate a farm-only farm bill broke with tradition, but added, “The simple fact is we now have a vehicle with which we can put in place a formal process to send a final 2013 farm bill to the president for his signature. Any suggestion to the contrary is playing politics with this process and does a disservice to our farmers and ranchers.”
Also noting that the House formally sent H.R. 2642 to the Senate today, Lucas said “The next step is for the Senate to take up H.R. 2642 and either approve as is or amend it and then send it back to the House requesting a conference. Once that happens the House will have to act again by passing a motion to go to conference and formally appoint conferees.”
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, will determine the House conferees, Lucas said.
“Regardless of these procedural steps, and no matter the outcome of future House consideration of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) reform, I am of the opinion that conversations can and will begin immediately with our Senate counterparts on reconciling the agriculture-related titles,” Lucas said
“Virtually all formal conference committees are preceded by informal, but nevertheless significant, discussions on the important issues by the relevant members of the House and Senate,” he said. “I expect this conference to be no different.”
Lucas also said that he would begin meeting with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., and “interested” committee members this week about SNAP reform and that he hopes the House will consider a package of SNAP reforms “in the very near future.”
The Senate bill, Lucas said, does not provide sufficient reforms to SNAP and “fails what has been my fundamental threshold in the development of the next farm bill: it simply does not work for all commodities in all regions of the country and leaves many producers without a viable safety-net while locking in profits for others.”
Lucas also contended that a Senate bill provision that limits crop insurance premium subsidies for high-earning farmers puts the crop insurance system “in jeopardy ... by restricting participation of the most efficient producers and placing unnecessary and burdensome regulations on others.”
He also noted that the Senate bill does not include the “regulatory reforms” in the House bill.
“And lastly, the Senate bill does not include any regulatory reforms to help mitigate some of the most onerous regulatory pressures plaguing our nation’s farmers, ranchers, and rural communities,” Lucas said.
“These will be difficult issues to overcome with our counterparts in the Senate, but I am confident that if we listen to our producers and do what is right, we will reach agreement and send a five-year farm bill to the president in the coming months.”
The Hagstrom Report obtained a copy of the memo. (See link)
Lucas noted that the vote on the bill had been proceeded Wednesday by 40 hearings, two committee markups with more than 200 amendments considered, and three days of debate on the House floor with another 100 amendments considered.
“The result is a product that we can all be very proud of — and one which saves billions of dollars, eliminates over 100 government programs including direct payments, and provides the certainty and necessary tools for farmers, ranchers and rural America to prosper.”
Lucas acknowledged that sending the Senate a farm-only farm bill broke with tradition, but added, “The simple fact is we now have a vehicle with which we can put in place a formal process to send a final 2013 farm bill to the president for his signature. Any suggestion to the contrary is playing politics with this process and does a disservice to our farmers and ranchers.”
Also noting that the House formally sent H.R. 2642 to the Senate today, Lucas said “The next step is for the Senate to take up H.R. 2642 and either approve as is or amend it and then send it back to the House requesting a conference. Once that happens the House will have to act again by passing a motion to go to conference and formally appoint conferees.”
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, will determine the House conferees, Lucas said.
“Regardless of these procedural steps, and no matter the outcome of future House consideration of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) reform, I am of the opinion that conversations can and will begin immediately with our Senate counterparts on reconciling the agriculture-related titles,” Lucas said
“Virtually all formal conference committees are preceded by informal, but nevertheless significant, discussions on the important issues by the relevant members of the House and Senate,” he said. “I expect this conference to be no different.”
Lucas also said that he would begin meeting with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., and “interested” committee members this week about SNAP reform and that he hopes the House will consider a package of SNAP reforms “in the very near future.”
The Senate bill, Lucas said, does not provide sufficient reforms to SNAP and “fails what has been my fundamental threshold in the development of the next farm bill: it simply does not work for all commodities in all regions of the country and leaves many producers without a viable safety-net while locking in profits for others.”
Lucas also contended that a Senate bill provision that limits crop insurance premium subsidies for high-earning farmers puts the crop insurance system “in jeopardy ... by restricting participation of the most efficient producers and placing unnecessary and burdensome regulations on others.”
He also noted that the Senate bill does not include the “regulatory reforms” in the House bill.
“And lastly, the Senate bill does not include any regulatory reforms to help mitigate some of the most onerous regulatory pressures plaguing our nation’s farmers, ranchers, and rural communities,” Lucas said.
“These will be difficult issues to overcome with our counterparts in the Senate, but I am confident that if we listen to our producers and do what is right, we will reach agreement and send a five-year farm bill to the president in the coming months.”
