Cochran calls for farm bill passage as part of ‘sustainable’ budget agreement
October 16, 2013 | 06:11 PM
Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member Thad Cochran, R-Miss., said late this afternoon on the Senate floor that he hopes Congress will pass the farm bill “as part of a sustainable budget plan,” but a spokesman said that Cochran did not mean that the farm bill should necessarily be attached to a budget deal.
Cochran said, “As part of a sustainable budget plan, I hope we can reach a long-term agreement on a farm bill to provide producers and consumers with certainty, and to preserve the security Americans enjoy by our ability to generate independently food and fiber for ourselves and for the world. The farm bill this body adopted earlier this year would help accomplish those goals and save 23 billion dollars over the next five years.”
But a spokesman added in an email to The Hagstrom Report, “The reference of the farm bill in context of the budget is meant in broad terms, as part of an effort to curb government spending by at least $23 billion. The senator is not specifically advocating at this point that the farm bill be added to a budget resolution, as some have suggested might occur.”
Cochran said, “As part of a sustainable budget plan, I hope we can reach a long-term agreement on a farm bill to provide producers and consumers with certainty, and to preserve the security Americans enjoy by our ability to generate independently food and fiber for ourselves and for the world. The farm bill this body adopted earlier this year would help accomplish those goals and save 23 billion dollars over the next five years.”
But a spokesman added in an email to The Hagstrom Report, “The reference of the farm bill in context of the budget is meant in broad terms, as part of an effort to curb government spending by at least $23 billion. The senator is not specifically advocating at this point that the farm bill be added to a budget resolution, as some have suggested might occur.”
