Page 25 - Farm Bill Series_The 7 Things You Should Know

“It’s a jobs bill… it’s a trade bill… it’s a reform bill… it’s a conservation bill… and it’s a
kitchen table bill,” said Stabenow at the start of the debate. The White House pledged to
support the measure but asked for more savings in the crop insurance program before Obama
could sign it.

The first amendment offered, by Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and John McCain, R-Ariz.,
aimed to eliminate taxpayer-subsidized crop insurance for tobacco production. But more
attempts to cut crop insurance – capping subsidies for the wealthiest producers and capping
premium support – were on the way. The Senate approved its five-year farm bill (S. 954) on June
10 with a strong bipartisan 66-27 vote, ending the two-week debate and moving the focus to the
House floor.

“We’ve done our part again,” Stabenow said in what seemed like a familiar refrain. “We’ve
worked closely together. …We’ll get this done.” Ranking member Cochran also applauded
passage of the bill, which he said “reflects fiscal responsibility but provides a workable and
strong safety net for families and producers of food and fiber that we hope they never need.”

Roberts said he was concerned that the measure was “a return to trade and market-distorting
policies of the past, does not represent reforms achieved in last year’s Senate-passed bill and
does not cut enough wasteful spending.”
“I do not believe this is a reform bill,” he continued. “I believe it is a rear-view mirror bill.
Target prices under any name – whether counter-cyclical payments, adverse market payments or
government subsidies – are proven to be trade- and market- distorting.”

The commodity title now included the price-based Adverse Market Program (AMP), which set
target prices at a percentage of recent average prices and provided that support levels be updated
annually.

House horrors
Back on the House side, GOP leaders finally seemed ready to give Lucas his wish – a vote for
his farm bill on the House floor in late June. But emotions and influence-peddling were running
on overtime. GOP leaders thought they might have the votes, but the whip count was uncertain.

Groups like Heritage Action pushed hard to split the “farm” portion of the bill from its “food”
portion and were tracking the action for their “key vote” scorecard.

Heritage Action Fund was also using a round of radio ads to attack three Republicans and a
Democrat in agriculture-heavy districts over the farm bill. The advertisements, complete with the
sound of squealing pigs in the background, targeted Lucas; Republicans Rick Crawford of
Arkansas and Martha Roby of Alabama; and North Carolina’s Mike McIntyre, one of the
remaining “Blue Dog” Democrats. Heritage accused McIntyre of trying to push a “food-stamp
bill” through Congress.

The members, the ads said, were “putting a tuxedo on a pig” by backing the bill.

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