[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 11707]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       FEDERAL AGRICULTURE REFORM AND RISK MANAGEMENT ACT OF 2013

  Ms. STABENOW. Madam President, it is my pleasure to ask unanimous 
consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 
136, H.R. 2642; that all after the enacting clause be stricken and the 
text of S. 954, as passed by the Senate, be printed in lieu thereof; 
that H.R. 2642, as amended, be read a third time and passed; the motion 
to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; that the 
Senate insist upon its amendment, request a conference with the House 
on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses; and the Chair be authorized 
to appoint conferees with the ratio of 7 to 5 on the part of the 
Senate, all with no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is 
so ordered.
  The amendment was ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read a 
third time.
  The bill (H.R. 2642), as amended, was read the third time and passed.
  Ms. STABENOW. Madam President, let me just take a moment to thank my 
ranking member Senator Cochran and to indicate we are in fact now 
officially sending back our Senate bill to the House and requesting a 
conference on the farm bill. This is a very important step this 
evening.
  I thank the senior Senator from North Dakota Mr. Hoeven, who has done 
yeoman work this evening and today, and the senior Senator from Georgia 
Mr. Chambliss, who has been very involved, as well as other members of 
the committee, for working hard to bring us to this point.
  As everyone knows, we have been working very hard on a bipartisan 
basis in the Senate. We have produced a product that is comprehensive, 
bipartisan, balanced; that addresses the agricultural needs and 
concerns of our country in a 5-year farm bill; that addresses food 
security and conservation of our soil and land and water; bioenergy, 
rural development--we could go on and on with all of the pieces of the 
farm bill that are so important.
  We also do this on behalf of the 16 million men and women in America 
who work hard every day in some part of agriculture and the food 
industry, the riskiest business in the world. Nobody else has to worry 
for their products or services, about whether it is going to rain or 
not today or be too hot or too cold. There are folks who do that every 
single day. Because of them we have the safest, most affordable food 
supply in the world.
  On behalf of all of them, I truly thank my committee, our committee 
that has worked incredibly well together. As I said, we have had 
tremendous leadership shown as we have moved to this process to go to 
conference. I could thank every member of our committee, but I do 
believe I need to, one more time, indicate that Senator Hoeven and 
Senator Chambliss have been invaluable in this process. Senator Hoeven 
was spending a lot of time tonight, as everyone else was getting on 
airplanes, to help be able to get to this point.
  I certainly could go down the list. I hate to always not mention 
someone I may have missed because we certainly had a strong committee 
presence and a desire to continue to do great work in the Senate on the 
issue of supporting farmers and ranchers. This is a very important step 
as we move forward in what I am very confident, despite the twists and 
turns, will result in a bipartisan farm bill.
  I commend, despite terrific odds and challenges, the chairman in the 
House and ranking member in the House for their efforts. I am confident 
that working together we will be able to get this done for the American 
people.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REID. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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