In a recent interview, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack continued to harp on Congress, criticizing the body’s failure to pass a new five-year farm bill. In addition to stumping for farm legislation, Vilsack pointed out that the farm bill will also affect US jobs and trade, making it all the more important for Congress to take action.
For nearly two years, the farm bill has been stalled in Congress. With Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate fighting over food stamps and nutritional funding, once uncontroversial farm legislation has ground to a halt, unable to move past Washington gridlock.
While most of the focus has been on crop insurance and food stamps, the farm bill also addresses employment and international trade, making it one of the more important bills that Congress has taken up this session.
In a recent interview, Secretary Vilsack pointed out the importance of the farm bill. “It’s more than a farm bill,” Vilsack said. “It’s a jobs bill, it’s the opportunity for us to invest in business development in rural America to take advantage of our natural resources. … It’s an energy bill … it’s a trade bill, it’s a reform bill … and it will help to reduce the deficit.”
He also criticized members of Congress who were seeking to use the farm bill to repeal controversial US Department of Agriculture policies requiring food imported into the United States to be labelled (a policy that critics say is protectionist). According to Vilsack It would set a bad precedent if “every time there is a trade discussion, folks can run to Congress and get the rules changed in the middle of the game.”
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Written by: Justin Ellison / Farm Plus Staff Writer