WASHINGTON, June 20, 2013 – The House stunningly rejected today, by a 195-234 vote, its five-year farm bill (H.R. 1947), blowing up prospects for new long-term agricultural policy any time in the near future.
Voting against the bill were 172 Democrats and 62 Republicans. Supporting the bill were 171 Republicans and 24 Democrats.
After the vote, a Republican congressional aide said House Democrats promised 40 votes for the farm bill. However, the aide said, House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., told Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., “at the very last minute that he could not produce what he promised (because he was) under pressure from both the White House and House Democratic leadership.”
“Republicans delivered the exact number of votes we had promised, per our very accurate whip count,” the aide said. “Today, good faith bipartisanship is trumped by bad faith politics.”
Before the vote, Lucas essentially begged other lawmakers to approve the bill despite their distastes in several of its provisions.
“I have tried and I hope you acknowledge that,” Lucas said. “If it fails today, I can’t promise you’ll see another bill this session.”
House Democrats were incensed that the House approved an amendment from Rep. Steve Southerland that would require recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to either have a job or attend job training.
The proposed $20.5 billion cut to SNAP had already angered many Democrats who said the reduction was too deep, and many Republicans who said the cut did not go far enough.
Before rejecting the underlying bill, the House debated and voted on several amendments, including one that would change U.S. dairy policy and one that would preserve current sugar policy.
Over the course of two days, the House considered more than 100 amendments. Now, that is all moot.
The House approved, with a 291-135 vote, an amendment offered by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., which would strike the Dairy Market Stabilization Program and replace it with a stand-alone margin insurance program for dairy producers.
“The reforms in the amendment will give farmers the necessary tools to manage their risk without requiring them to participate in yet another government program, keeping dairy prices affordable for consumers and businesses,” Goodlatte said. “Furthermore, our amendment, without supply management, would save taxpayers money as certified by [the Congressional Budget Office].”
The House turned away an amendment, with a 206-221 vote, offered by Rep. Joseph Pitts, R-Penn., that sought to end U.S. sugar policy. Pitts argued that artificially high price for U.S. sugar has caused many candy manufacturers to move out of the country.
The House rejected, with a 208-217 vote, an amendment from Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., to limit premium crop insurance subsidies to producers with an adjusted gross income of less than $250,000.
Also, the amendment sought to limit per person premium subsidies to $50,000 and cap crop insurance providers’ reimbursement of administrative and operating costs at $900 million. Further, the amendment would have reduced the guaranteed loan profit from 14 percent to 12 percent.
Notably, the House approved, with a 225-200 vote, an amendment from Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., that would allow higher education institutions to cultivate hemp for agricultural or academic research.
The House also voted on the following amendments:
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