House Ag Committee Making Progress on Farm Bill
Joe Gilson
Director, Government Affairs
Micheal Clements
News Service Editor, NAFB
photo credit: AFBF Photo, Philip Gerlach
The House Agriculture Committee held a mark-up session for the farm bill Thursday. Micheal Clements shares more on the future of the legislation.
Clements: Lawmakers in the House of Representatives began the first major steps to reaching the finish line for a new farm bill. However, Joe Gilson, American Farm Bureau Federation Government Affairs Director, says the bill needs bipartisan support to move forward.
Gilson: With the tight margins in the House--Republicans have a majority of five--we need the bill to be a bipartisan bill, otherwise, this will not make it to the House floor. We know that there are some Republicans who will vote against any new spending. And so, this bill, if it has a chance to make it in this Congress, needs to be done with bipartisanship, and that's what we hope to see.
Clements: Gilson says history shows the farm bill has always been a bipartisan effort, bringing broad swaths of food and agriculture together.
Gilson: The Farm Bill has always been done in a bipartisan basis with a coalition of nutrition, environmental and farm commodity organizations, and constituents from across the country supporting this. We need to keep that coalition together to get the bill across the finish line, and farmers and ranchers across the country need to see investments made in the farm safety net.
Clements: Gilson says Farm Bureau supports the bill presented by House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn "GT" Thompson.
Gilson: His mark has some huge investments made to the farm safety net in Title I, he also has a provision in there to maintain interstate commerce for agricultural products, which deals with what California has done with Proposition 12. Chairman Thompson also has improvements to the dairy program and there's more conservation resources to help farmers protect resources they've been entrusted with.
Clements: Learn more at fb.org/farmbill. Micheal Clements, Washington.
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