Senator Debbie Stabenow, Chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, today released the following statement regarding moving forward on the 2013 Farm Bill. Chairwoman Stabenow joined Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid and Neil Young at a news conference today and called on House leadership to announce their conferees and officially begin conferencing the Farm Bill before the current extension expires on Sept. 30.
“It’s time to stop kicking the can down the road and leaving rural America and 16 million jobs hanging in uncertainty. The Senate has agreed to go to conference and appointed conferees, and whenever the House decides to do the same we can move forward and finish the Farm Bill.
“I do not support an extension because it is bad policy that yields no deficit reduction, no reform and does nothing to help American agriculture create jobs. It’s time to do the work we were sent here to do and finally finish this Farm Bill.”