Washington, DC- Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, today released the following statement regarding the Senate moving to go to conference with the House on the 2013 Farm Bill. Majority Leader Harry Reid asked for unanimous consent this afternoon to request a conference with the House, with a conferee ratio of seven Democrats to five Republicans.
“I’m pleased that the Senate has once again agreed to go to conference with the House on the Farm Bill and has re-appointed conferees. The government shutdown and the expiration of the Farm Bill has created a double whammy of uncertainty for the economy and for the 16 million Americans who work in this country because of agriculture. The Senate has twice passed a comprehensive, bipartisan Farm Bill that will create jobs, reform agriculture policy and reduce the deficit by tens of billions of dollars. It’s time to finally get this done.”
The Senate conferees for the majority include: Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Senators Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, Max Baucus, D-Mont., Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. and Michael Bennet, D-Colo.
-30-