Thune Reacts to Farm Bill Veto Override Vote

Statement

Thune Reacts to Farm Bill Veto Override Vote

Senator Thune today released the below statement after the Senate voted to override President Bush's Farm Bill veto by a count of 82 to 13. Prior to the override vote in the Senate, the House of Representatives voted 306 to 110 to override the President's veto. Under the Constitution, a two-thirds majority vote is necessary in both legislative chambers to enact a bill into law after a Presidential veto.

"In vetoing the Farm Bill, President Bush overlooked the substantial gains we made in promoting second-generation biofuels, protecting the farm safety net, creating a permanent disaster program, and funding and adding important conservation programs," said Thune. "There will never be a perfect Farm Bill, but the 2008 bill is a major victory for South Dakota. Although the President has stated that this bill was too expensive, we need to keep in mind that 73 percent of the funding is directed to food stamps and nutrition programs - only 11 percent actually funds commodity payments for farmers and seven percent to conservation programs."

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