MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) -
Alabama's Representatives are releasing statements regarding the U.S. House's passage Thursday of a scaled-down Farm Bill that does not include any provisions regarding food stamp funding. Read more about the bill's passage by clicking here.
The bill passed 216-208 with 11 not voting.
[ROLL CALL - How each representative voted]
MARTHA ROBY (R-District 2)
Rep. Martha Roby responded to passage saying that while the legislation moves agriculture policy in the right direction, it represents a missed opportunity to enact badly-needed reforms to the federal food stamp program.
Rep. Roby, who serves on the House Committee on Agriculture, voted in favor of H.R. 2642, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013, better known as the Farm Bill. The bill retains the agriculture components of the original Farm Bill that failed to pass last month, but does not include the components that reformed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps.
Because food stamp spending is mandatory in nature and does not require reauthorization, without reform the status quo will continue unabated.
"The revised Farm Bill is a positive step for agriculture policy," Rep Roby said. "This bill contains many reforms we've been working on for two years, including ending direct payments, consolidating more than 100 duplicative programs and several regulatory relief measures. It offers parity for Alabama farmers and restricts the increasingly-frequent practice of paying landowners to let fertile cropland go unplanted – a reform I proposed originally.
"However, by removing the nutrition components of the bill, we have missed a unique opportunity to reform government and rein in spending. The original Farm Bill contained reforms that would have saved taxpayers $20 billion by reducing waste, fraud and abuse in the food stamp program. Without these badly-needed reforms, the unrestrained food stamp spending policies left over from the Pelosi Congress will continue.
"I voted for the revised Farm Bill because it protects Alabama farmers and moves federal agriculture policy in the right direction. But, I fear that we missed a rare opportunity to reform a mandatory government spending program. I've made it a priority during my time in Congress to find ways to rein in reckless government spending through responsible reforms, and that will remain my priority despite this setback."
MIKE ROGERS (R-District 3)
Rep. Rogers serves as Chairman of the Strategic Forces subcommittee on the Armed Services Committee and is a senior member of the Homeland Security and Agriculture committees.
He said, "The House's passage of this Farm Bill is an important step towards helping support our Farmers, and ensuring America's food is grown in America."
TERRI SEWELL (D- District 7)
Rep. Sewell offered a motion to adjourn in opposition to the removal from SNAP funding from the farm bill.
Speaking on the House floor, Rep. Sewell said, "When I joined this great august body, I was a member of the Agriculture Committee, and the Agriculture Committee time and time again reauthorized the Farm Bill. Bipartisanship was always the hallmark..."
Sewell said that, "If we are to truly help, mean something to America, we must take care of our working families, our needy families, our children, in addition to our farmers."
"We cannot provide government subsidies to farmers without providing government assistance to people in poverty. It is not what we as Americans stand for."
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