Articles

Would have saved $40 billion, reformed SNAP, strengthened risk management

June 20, 2013
 

U.S. Representative K. Michael Conaway (R-Texas), chairman of the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management, issued the following statement today after the House of Representatives failed to pass the farm bill:

“Democrats torpedoed this important legislation for one reason: because they couldn’t accept a 2 percent cut in food stamps. These Democrats were willing to sacrifice production agriculture and the men and women who feed and clothe our country to prevent modest yet meaningful reforms to this entitlement program. I am disappointed that a discussion on the country’s nutrition and agriculture programs devolved into a spectacle of fearmongering and hyperbole. Our nation’s farmers and ranchers deserve better.

“Today’s vote represents a missed opportunity for real change in Washington. This bill would have cut nearly $40 billion in spending in 10 years, ensured the sustainability of American agriculture, and made the most extensive reforms to food policy since 1996.

“I am pleased, however, that the House did advance two amendments I cosponsored that would have benefited Texans, including the lesser prairie chicken and ensuring Mexico complies with a 1944 water treaty. I will continue to push these issues in the House.”