House has sent combined farm bill to Senate, Stabenow says
October 01, 2013 | 03:40 PM
The House of Representatives sent the bill that combined the farm program and nutrition bills to the Senate on Monday, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said today.
After a speech to the United Fresh Produce Association, Stabenow said she hopes the Senate can go through the procedural motions of moving to conference “today and tomorrow.”
That means, she explained, getting unanimous consent to reject the House bill, call for a conference and reappoint the conferees the Senate already appointed when the House sent the farm-program-only bill to the it. Although questions have been raised about whether any senators would object to the process, Stabenow said it is her feeling that “everybody” feels they have already gone through that exercise.
In her speech, Stabenow said the conference should occur quickly. If crops are ready to be harvested, the farmer can’t take a month before harvesting and people in business can’t wait to make decisions, she said, adding that Congress should treat the farm bill the same way.
“There is no reason we cannot sit down this month and get it done,” she said. “There is no excuse not to get this done.”
She also repeated a statement from a speech on the Senate floor on Monday that without a current farm bill, “We essentially begin to operate on fumes.”
Stabenow said once again that Congress is not going to pass another extension and noted that 20 senators have signed a letter that they will not support an extension that reauthorizes the direct payments that farmers get whether prices are high or low. “That option of continuing direct payments is not there.”
After a speech to the United Fresh Produce Association, Stabenow said she hopes the Senate can go through the procedural motions of moving to conference “today and tomorrow.”
That means, she explained, getting unanimous consent to reject the House bill, call for a conference and reappoint the conferees the Senate already appointed when the House sent the farm-program-only bill to the it. Although questions have been raised about whether any senators would object to the process, Stabenow said it is her feeling that “everybody” feels they have already gone through that exercise.
In her speech, Stabenow said the conference should occur quickly. If crops are ready to be harvested, the farmer can’t take a month before harvesting and people in business can’t wait to make decisions, she said, adding that Congress should treat the farm bill the same way.
“There is no reason we cannot sit down this month and get it done,” she said. “There is no excuse not to get this done.”
She also repeated a statement from a speech on the Senate floor on Monday that without a current farm bill, “We essentially begin to operate on fumes.”
Stabenow said once again that Congress is not going to pass another extension and noted that 20 senators have signed a letter that they will not support an extension that reauthorizes the direct payments that farmers get whether prices are high or low. “That option of continuing direct payments is not there.”
