NICOLE HESLIP
Brownfield Ag Network
Members of the U.S. House have been dismissed for the August recess a week early without passing 12 annual funding bills including USDA’s budget or taking further action on the farm bill.
House Ag Committee Ranking Member David Scott says Chairman Thompson wanted the House to pass the farm bill in September after the appropriations process, but now the month will be used to debate funding the government. Scott says the failure to provide time and resources for a farm bill is a slap in the face to rural America, farmers, and the families they feed.
House Republicans say change is partly because of Texas Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee’s funeral who died unexpectedly last week. Jackson Lee spent nearly 30 years as a Congresswomen and recently announced she was being treated for pancreatic cancer.
A coalition of more than 500 agricultural groups and others are pressing Congress to pass a farm bill this year.
American Farm Bureau says the farm safety net, help for dairy farmers, ag sustainability, research, and food security efforts will be lost if the House and Senate aren’t able to finalize the legislation.
