Bennet calls on House to schedule vote on farm bill

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) berated House leadership Tuesday for adjourning until after the November elections without passing the farm bill.

Bennet said the farm bill would provide much-needed assistance to farmers and ranchers around the country who are experiencing severe drought conditions. He also urged the House to schedule a vote on the legislation for when it returns.

“Colorado farmers, ranchers, and rural communities deserve far better than having the farm bill languish in Congress,” Bennet said Tuesday. “Producers in my state and all across the country have suffered through one of the worst droughts in decades while Congress has failed to pass this bipartisan bill that would offer immediate assistance.

The current farm bill expires at the end of the month. The Senate passed a bipartisan farm bill in June that would have reduced the deficit. The House Agriculture Committee passed its own version, but Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) decided not to hold a floor vote before adjourning for the next six weeks.

“The House of Representatives has both the Senate bill and its own bill which passed out of committee, yet the full House adjourned without bringing either up for a vote,” Bennet said. “I urge the House to schedule a vote on the farm bill as soon as it returns to Washington.”

Bennet is a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. Toward the end of the last work period, several Senate Democrats from the committee begged Boehner to allow a vote on either version of the farm bill, saying at least a conference committee could then be formed to work out the differences.

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