What’s Next For the Farm Bill

May 22nd, 2018

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Category: Commentary, Farm Bill, Miscellaneous

(AGWeb) – The House Farm Bill fell just a handful of votes shy of passing on Friday, failing to get the 206 votes it needed. That was, in large part, due to a battle that started within the GOP over immigration and a desire by a group of members to see immigration taken care of before the Farm Bill.

“At the end of the day I was fairly angry with what happened…I happen to believe that we need to deal with immigration, but it’s like mixing apples and oranges,” Rep. GT Thompson (R-PA) told AgriTalk Host Chip Flory.

Thompson says that there is still a window of opportunity for the particular  legislation to pass, but he is not sure when or if that vote will happen.

“It was a temporary setback…we actually made the motion to proceed with consideration which means a chance to re-vote this bill, and we are going to get there,” said Thompson, “There are some benefits that may come out of this temporary pushback that will help our farmers and ranchers in the long run.”

Thompson also told Flory that he hopes that U.S. trade representatives will reach a deal on the new NAFTA.

“I have staff that are younger than NAFTA which tells me that modernizing it is a very responsible thing to do, we are manufacturing things today that we had never even dreamed of when NAFTA was passed,” said Thompson.

 

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