Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack recently released a statement condemning the House of Representatives for defeating the 2013 Farm Bill and leaving many American farmers completely directionless for the coming year.
After last year’s farm bill fiasco, rural politicians on both sides of the aisle promised to put their backs into passing a new five-year farm bill. In addition, farm advocacy groups like the Farm Bureau renewed their lobbying efforts in Congress, hoping to convince wavering politicians.
While the Senate once again passed a five-year bill, the House’s recent defeat of the vital farm legislation (in a decisive 238-195 vote) has disillusioned many farmers.
In response to the bill’s failure, Secretary Vilsack condemned the House’s partisan bickering and blamed the failure of the bill on Republican efforts to seriously reduce funding for nutritional aid programs.
“The failure by the House leadership, for the second year in a row, to reach consensus on a Food, Farm and Jobs Bill is a tremendous disappointment for all Americans,” Vilsack said. “Twice now, the U.S. Senate has done its job and passed balanced, comprehensive legislation with overwhelming bipartisan support. Unfortunately, the House version of this bill would have unfairly denied food assistance for millions of struggling families and their children, while failing to achieve needed reforms or critical investments to continue economic growth in rural America. As a result, the House was unable to achieve bipartisan consensus.”
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Written by: Justin Ellison / Farm Plus Staff Writer