Baldwin Supports Farm Bill, but Wants More Reform
Press Release
Baldwin Supports Farm Bill, but Wants More Reform
Following a contentious floor fight over the direction of U.S. agriculture policy, Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin voted for, and the House passed, the 2007 Farm Bill (H.R. 2419, the Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act), but called it more modest reform than she would like.
Baldwin strongly supported an amendment which would have made substantial reforms to the current system. That alternative, sponsored by Reps. Ron Kind (D-WI), Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Paul Ryan (R-WI), entitled The Fairness in Farm and Food Policy Amendment, failed to be adopted by a vote of 117-309.
"I supported the Kind-Flake-Ryan amendment because it called for meaningful reform with regard to direct payments and other farm subsidies while still retaining a safety net for those small farmers who need it the most," Baldwin said.
The Kind amendment would have:
* significantly reduced the maximum adjusted gross income (AGI) eligibility limits for receiving direct and other farm payments, and placing a hard cap on the amount of those payments a farmer could receive;
* reinvested the savings from AGI and payment limits in conservation, rural development, and food stamp and nutrition programs;
* reauthorized the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program for five years, the life of the 2007 Farm Bill.
When the Kind-Flake-Ryan amendment failed, Baldwin voted for H.R. 2419 which passed 231-191. Baldwin said she voted for that bill, "because it, too, represents reform, although more modest, and makes progress on several issues I have long-supported." These include:
* modest subsidy reforms, and modest increases in the funding levels for select conservation, rural development, nutrition, and energy programs;
* levying the Dairy Import Assessment against companies that import dairy products into the U.S., an issue that Congresswoman Baldwin has long championed;
* implementing mandatory Country Of Origin Labeling (COOL) for all meats.
Baldwin said, "In a country as vast as ours, crafting legislation that addresses vastly different regional and industrial priorities is painstaking, and often contentious, work. I will continue to press for a final bill that is in the best interest of Wisconsin farmers and the nation."
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