[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 71 (Monday, May 20, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3610-S3611]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE FARM BILL
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, last week, the Senate Agriculture Committee
once again reported to the full Senate a bipartisan farm bill, and I am
pleased the Senate has turned to its consideration this week. I
compliment the distinguished chair, Senator Stabenow, who has done
Herculean duties. The bill before us represents nearly 2 years of hard
work to satisfy the widely varied agricultural interests of this
country, while supporting food assistance programs for those in need.
The Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act will save $23 billion over 10
years, which is remarkable given the fiscal restraints we face, and was
overwhelmingly supported by the members of the agriculture committee by
a vote of 15-5.
Unfortunately, due to the House's inaction on the Senate-passed bill
last year, many farm bill programs expired, while others were
temporarily extended at the end of the year, making it all the more
imperative that we work together now to ensure we move ahead with a
bill in the next few months. I was glad that in December we were able
to delay and prevent the ``dairy cliff'' from roiling markets worldwide
and inflating dairy prices, which would have wreaked havoc in the
marketplace and on our farms. But the short-term extension of the Farm
Bill is no rational way to legislate, and the last-minute extension
left dozens of critical agriculture programs stranded without funding.
We must not repeat that process.
The bill before us contains many of the same improvements included in
the 2012 Senate-passed bill, while making important updates to reflect
new fiscal realities and maintaining the integrity of the policies we
worked so hard to pass last year. The Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs
Act makes an investment in American agriculture that will benefit our
producers, our dairy farmers, our rural communities, our Main Street
businesses, taxpayers, and consumers, all while reducing the deficit by
$23 billion.
Every Farm Bill is important to the Green Mountain State and to all
the states of our nation as a matter of national security. Very few
countries can boast that they can feed themselves. We have the ability
to nourish 320-plus million Americans. This represents an important
part of our national security.
Agriculture is a pillar of Vermont's economy and of our Nation's
economy. So it is with this farm bill that we have produced in the
Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. One of many
key components of this bill, in terms of Vermont and Vermont's economy,
is a significant dairy reform proposal that offers the best hope in
decades of helping producers and consumers step off the dangerous
rollercoaster of wild price swings in the markets in which dairy
farmers must sell their time-sensitive products. I believe this is key
to our consideration of a farm bill, and I know it is what farmers in
Vermont are watching closely; I have been hearing from them regularly
in strong support of stabilization and margin insurance working in
tandem. We simply must protect our dairy farmers from the volatility of
turbulent price swings with a financially sound risk management program
to help farmers manage risk and margin volatility, and do so without
driving up the cost to the government.
As the author of the Organic Foods Production Act, I am extremely
pleased this bill continues to make strong improvements for organic
agriculture. I am also pleased that the bill once again includes a
policy to give the National Organic Program much-needed authority to
effectively protect and enforce organic integrity. In addition to
enforcing the integrity of the organic brand, I am committed to seeing
that this bill treats all farmers fairly. We made great strides last
year in making improvements to crop insurance so that it will
adequately compensate organic producers for their losses. Similar
changes are needed in the Environmental Quality Incentive Program to
eliminate the unfair lower payment limit applied solely to organic
farmers seeking to enroll in the program's Organic Initiative.
Another important compromise in this bill is found in the trade
title, where the proposal expands the success of the Local and Regional
Food Aid Procurement pilot program from the 2008 farm bill, and also
increases the funds available to support strategic prepositioning,
which brings food aid commodities to at-risk regions before food
emergencies strike. I look forward to working with Senators to find
further improvements in how we can best provide emergency food aid and
international development programs that have the flexibility to react
quickly in times of emergency, avoid disrupting local markets, and
increase efficiency so we can save money and feed more people.
This legislation also includes support for vital anti-hunger programs
such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, and the
Emergency Food Assistance Program. Unfortunately, with so many
Americans still struggling to put food on the table, nutrition
assistance and emergency feeding programs have become even more
crucial. The bill also contains initiatives to encourage better health,
increased access to local foods, nutrition for children and seniors,
and to support self-sufficiency and food security in our Nation's low-
income communities while tackling the difficult problem of ``food
deserts.'' I am also pleased that Chairwoman Stabenow included language
I offered as an amendment in committee last year to make it easier for
SNAP participants to buy local foods through a Community Supported
Agriculture Share, CSA, membership.
But at a time when more Americans than ever before are at risk of
going hungry and food pantry shelves across the country are bare, these
programs could be made even stronger by dedicating more resources to
help the neediest among us. I hope during our consideration of this
bill we can work to increase support for the Emergency Food Assistance
Program, SNAP employment and training programs, and community food
projects to the level included in last year's farm bill. These programs
are essential in our communities, and I hope we can invest as much in
these programs this year as we did last year.
I am disappointed, however, that the bill before the Senate today
once again includes $4 billion in cuts to the SNAP program, which will
predominately come from northeastern States. I understand this cut is
part of a larger compromise on behalf of Chairwoman Stabenow, who has
been a strong supporter of these nutrition assistance programs.
Ensuring these programs can continue to serve Vermonters and all
Americans in need is a key part to enacting a strong farm bill for this
country.
This is why I am particularly concerned about the bill the House will
consider which includes five times the cuts to nutrition assistance as
the Senate bill, and $4 billion more than the House included in their
committee bill last year. These cuts will needlessly eliminate millions
of low-income Americans from this program. The House bill would mean
that several thousand children would lose eligibility for free school
lunches. In Vermont, one in five children lives in food insecure homes
and I know that number is even higher in some other States. It is
shameful for any child in this country to go hungry and I hope the
Senate will continue to oppose these draconian cuts to nutrition
assistance.
The Senate agriculture committee's chairwoman and ranking member, and
both of their staffs, should be applauded for the great work they have
done to swiftly move this bipartisan bill through committee and now
onto the Senate floor in record speed. I hope the Senate can once again
move forward in a bipartisan way to pass the farm bill this week, and I
hope the
[[Page S3611]]
House moves forward as well so we might reconcile our differences
before the expiration in September of the current short-term extension.
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