Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, in an interview with The Hill this
week, said demands by the House GOP for deep cuts especially for food
stamps now constitute the top obstacle for passage of a 2012 farm bill
by September when current farm programs expire.
Vilsack offered some praise for the version of the farm bill that passed out of the Senate Agriculture Committee last week, even though it contains about $9 billion less in deficit reduction than President Obama had sought in his latest budget.
He said the differences with the president pale in comparison to the differences with the House.
“This is still a long way from where it needs to be,” he said. “It isn’t so much what I want to see different as what you need to get the votes you need to get it through the process.”
Vilsack noted that southern senators on the committee had voted against the committee bill, authored by Chairman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and ranking member Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) because they felt the safety net for rice, peanuts and cotton were not enough.
“So obviously there is still a little work needed there,” he said, before turning to the key problem.
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/224879-vilsack-house-gop-food-stamp-cuts-top-obstacle-for-farm-bill
Vilsack offered some praise for the version of the farm bill that passed out of the Senate Agriculture Committee last week, even though it contains about $9 billion less in deficit reduction than President Obama had sought in his latest budget.
He said the differences with the president pale in comparison to the differences with the House.
“This is still a long way from where it needs to be,” he said. “It isn’t so much what I want to see different as what you need to get the votes you need to get it through the process.”
Vilsack noted that southern senators on the committee had voted against the committee bill, authored by Chairman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and ranking member Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) because they felt the safety net for rice, peanuts and cotton were not enough.
“So obviously there is still a little work needed there,” he said, before turning to the key problem.
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/224879-vilsack-house-gop-food-stamp-cuts-top-obstacle-for-farm-bill
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