Stabenow, Cochran to begin process to send farm bill back to House
July 16, 2013 | 06:57 PM
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich, confirmed today that the House has sent its farm-only farm bill to the Senate and that she and Senate Agriculture ranking member Thad Cochran, R-Miss., will begin the process of sending the Senate farm bill back to the House so that conference can begin.
“I want to congratulate the House for sending their version of the farm bill to us this morning, so now we have it,” Stabenow said on the Senate floor, according to an unofficial transcript.
“Tomorrow it would be our intent — Sen. Cochran and I — to go through the motions that it takes to be able to send back our farm bill and ask for a conference committee.”
In an apparent reference to an attempt to get unanimous consent to send the bill back, Stabenow added, “If there is a concern, I would appreciate members approach me directly or Sen. Cochran directly, because this is an opportunity for us to move forward and to actually put together a bill that affects 16 million people in this country that work in agriculture and everyone who counts on the great work of our farmers in order to have the healthiest, most affordable food system in the world. ... If there are any questions or concerns from members, we'd be happy to work with them.”
A House Republican source told The Hagstrom Report on Monday that the Senate would need to take HR 2642, insert S. 954 (the Senate farm bill) by unanimous consent, and request conference with the House. The reason this process is needed, the source said, is that the Senate bill contains financing measures and all finance measures must originate in the House.
Senate farm leaders will move quickly on asking their colleagues to send the bill back to the House because they want to keep pressure on the House leadership to appoint conferees, a key farm lobbyist said.
“I want to congratulate the House for sending their version of the farm bill to us this morning, so now we have it,” Stabenow said on the Senate floor, according to an unofficial transcript.
“Tomorrow it would be our intent — Sen. Cochran and I — to go through the motions that it takes to be able to send back our farm bill and ask for a conference committee.”
In an apparent reference to an attempt to get unanimous consent to send the bill back, Stabenow added, “If there is a concern, I would appreciate members approach me directly or Sen. Cochran directly, because this is an opportunity for us to move forward and to actually put together a bill that affects 16 million people in this country that work in agriculture and everyone who counts on the great work of our farmers in order to have the healthiest, most affordable food system in the world. ... If there are any questions or concerns from members, we'd be happy to work with them.”
A House Republican source told The Hagstrom Report on Monday that the Senate would need to take HR 2642, insert S. 954 (the Senate farm bill) by unanimous consent, and request conference with the House. The reason this process is needed, the source said, is that the Senate bill contains financing measures and all finance measures must originate in the House.
Senate farm leaders will move quickly on asking their colleagues to send the bill back to the House because they want to keep pressure on the House leadership to appoint conferees, a key farm lobbyist said.
