“Down, but not out.” Those were the comments from House Agriculture Committee Chairman Michael Conaway (R-TX) on May 18 after the 2018 Farm Bill was defeated by a 213-198 vote on the House floor.
“We experienced a setback today after a streak of victories all week. We may be down, but we are not out. We will deliver a strong, new farm bill on time as the president of the United States has called on us to do. Our nation’s farmers and ranchers and rural America deserve nothing less,” Conaway said in a written statement.
Opinions on the measure are strongly divided along party lines. There was much debate over
over Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provisions, and as it came to a vote, immigration issues became a point of contention.
In his statement after the vote, House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Collin Peterson said, “It’s unfortunate the Republicans chose to take this path, and it’s clear from their inability to get the necessary votes from within their own caucus that there are internal fractures they have to contend with.” He went on, “But this is a good opportunity for us to return to the table and fix this bill before we move forward. As I said in my remarks Wednesday, this job is too big for one party. Let’s come together and figure out a bill that works for everyone. We don’t have to let this process be held hostage by the demands of the extremes of our parties. We can and should take the time to get the farm bill right.”
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Executive Director of Government Affairs, Allison Rivera, told WLJ the measure formally known as H.R. 2, the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018, is likely to be reconsidered in late June.
When asked if the immigration issues under consideration were specific to agriculture or other concerns in the news recently Rivera said it is yet to be determined. She said there are a lot of things to consider under the immigration umbrella. “We would obviously, while not wanting to pit the farm bill against our immigration needs, we would love to see the [Bob] Goodlatte [R-VA-6] bill that we have been supportive of get a vote on the House floor or whatever it needs to get passed, but we don’t want to pit it against the farm bill like we saw last week.”
An amendment sponsored by Reps. Dave Brat (R-VA) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) to overhaul commodity checkoff programs was pulled from consideration before it could be debated. The measure was opposed by the NCBA and numerous other commodity organizations. Those groups said it would place duplicative and counterproductive burdens on producer-funded program.
American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall called on members of Congress to not use America’s farmers and ranchers as pawns in a political game. “Last week, some in Congress voted against the 2018 Farm Bill. While their goal—forcing the House leadership to have a vote on immigration legislation—is a worthy one, they are playing a dangerous game by using the farm bill as their bargaining chip, he said. “Our nation’s farmers and ranchers are not pawns in a political game. They are the lifeblood of our nation. A nation cannot remain secure and prosperous without food security.”
Duvall’s comments went on to say, “With some in Congress holding the farm bill—and by extension farmers and ranchers themselves—hostage to a separate issue, the future is far from certain for many of our nation’s farms and ranches.
“I think sometimes our politicians forget that the ‘issues’ they debate mean much more to the people affected by them. For us, the farm bill isn’t an issue. It’s about our livelihood, our life’s calling, and the source of our nation’s food security. Be assured that rural Americans will remind them of that every chance we get—including election day.”
Rivera, when asked if NCBA was surprised by the vote said, “Here at NCBA we are wide-eyed optimists and we were expecting it to pass because it is the right thing to do, so we were very disappointed to see that there were members that couldn’t vote yes.”
The current farm bill expires at the end of September, which leaves some time for lawmakers to get their work done. Rivera said Congress will be in session all of June and three weeks in July before leaving town for the summer recess. She said NCBA would like to see both the Senate and House bills in conference—where both chambers work out details—by August so a final package can be passed before the September 30 deadline. — Rae Price, WLJ editor
