WASHINGTON— U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Ranking Member John Boozman (R-AR) and U.S. House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) issued the following statement on negotiations on the farm bill extension and economic assistance to producers:
“America’s farmers have lost over $30 billion this year. And for the last few months we have led many of our colleagues in raising the concerns of the farm community in meetings, in hearings, on the House and Senate floors, and in private conversations with other Republicans and Democrats. We are deeply disappointed to learn that congressional leadership is failing to provide our farmers with the economic assistance they need to weather the crisis they are currently facing. Last night Republican leaders offered Leader Schumer and Leader Jefferies a $12 billion economic aid package for our nation’s farmers, which they rejected. It appears that congressional Democrats have not learned the lessons of the most recent election and continue to neglect the needs of rural America.
“The failure to include economic assistance will have devastating and lasting consequences on our farm families, the rural communities in which they live and American agriculture. For that reason, we intend to oppose any supplemental spending package that does not provide meaningful assistance to our farmers. Our farmers work too hard and risk it all each year so we can have the safest, most abundant, and most affordable food supply in the world. They deserve our help now.”