Lucas: Farm bill conferees unlikely to be appointed until next week
September 23, 2013 | 10:44 AM
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, is unlikely to appoint farm bill conferees until next week, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., told the Red River Farm Network on Friday.
Lucas noted that the House will not return to Washington until Wednesday and that it must pass a procedural measure to put the farm program and nutrition bills in one and then send that bill to the Senate and get back a message from the Senate asking for a conference before the House conferees are appointed.
But Lucas said he feels confident the conference will begin shortly.
“The hurdles have been cleared. It's just procedural stuff,” Lucas said in the interview. Lucas also said that the considered the debate over “really dramatic changes” to have been “sincere, not over the top” and set the stage for a serious conference.
Lucas also noted that in addition to settling differences over nutrition the House and the Senate, conferees will have to deal with differences over the “shallow-loss”-focused Senate commodity title and the “price protection”-focused House commodity title.
Lucas noted that the House will not return to Washington until Wednesday and that it must pass a procedural measure to put the farm program and nutrition bills in one and then send that bill to the Senate and get back a message from the Senate asking for a conference before the House conferees are appointed.
But Lucas said he feels confident the conference will begin shortly.
“The hurdles have been cleared. It's just procedural stuff,” Lucas said in the interview. Lucas also said that the considered the debate over “really dramatic changes” to have been “sincere, not over the top” and set the stage for a serious conference.
Lucas also noted that in addition to settling differences over nutrition the House and the Senate, conferees will have to deal with differences over the “shallow-loss”-focused Senate commodity title and the “price protection”-focused House commodity title.
