[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 7209-7210]
[From the U.S. 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

[[Page 7210]]

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 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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