The first public meeting of the Farm Bill conference committee will be held next Wednesday afternoon and will be chaired by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.). (By tradition, responsibility for chairing Farm Bill conference committees alternates between the two chambers, and the House is up this time around.) The Senate passed its comprehensive Farm Bill in the early summer, while the House passed its farm policy and food aid proposals in two separate measures after a large bloc of conservative lawmakers insisted on splitting the legislation apart. The legislation will be stitched together for the sake of a House-Senate compromise. The biggest issue of contention will be funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program -- more commonly known as food stamps. The Senate measure would cut about $4 billion in funding for the program over the next decade, while the House version would slash nearly $40 billion. Forty-one House and Senate lawmakers have been assigned to the conference committee, a group that represents myriad partisan, ideological, geographic, and political turf priorities. Most of the members are from the House and Senate Agriculture committees, with others appointed by party leaders. A handful of the House members also come from the Ways and Means and Foreign Affairs committees, because the far-reaching Farm Bill deals in part with tax policy and foreign aid. (See the full list below.) Public conference committees are rare, making next weeks event notable. But the first day of hearings is expected to focus primarily on permitting all 41 lawmakers to make an opening statement, if they so choose. Deeper discussion of the differences in the two measures is expected to occur in the coming weeks. Congress has until Jan. 1 to pass a new Farm Bill otherwise parts of federal agricultural policy will begin reverting back to 1940s-era laws and price levels. Heres the full list of members, as provided by the Senate Agriculture Committee: Democrats: Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) Republicans: Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) From the House: Republicans: Rep. Frank D. Lucas (R-Okla.), Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Tex.) Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) Rep. K. Michael Conaway (R-Tex.) Rep. Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson (R-Pa.) Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) Rep. Martha Roby (R-Ala.) Rep. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) Rep. Steve Southerland (R-Fla.) Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.) Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Tex.) Democrats: Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), Ranking Member of House Agriculture Committee Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.) Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.) Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) Rep. Gloria Negrete McLeod (D-Calif.) Rep. Filemon Vela (D-Tex.) Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), ranking member on House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Sandy Levin (D-MI), ranking member on House Ways and Means Committee washingtonpost/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/10/23/farm-bill-negotiations-to-begin-next-week/
Posted on: Wed, 23 Oct 2013 18:14:55 +0000
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