Agricultural Act of 2014

Floor Speech

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Farm bill policies touch the lives of all Americans, not just those who work in the agricultural sector. In addition to reauthorizing farm programs, this legislation deals with domestic and international food aid, conservation and the environment, trade, rural development, renewable energy, forestry, and financial markets, among other issues. This year's reauthorization presented an opportunity to enact significant reforms in these areas. While some progress was made, I believe the bill falls short of its potential, and ultimately I could not support it.

The farm bill takes an important step toward reform by ending the longstanding practice of giving direct payments to farmers of certain commodity crops regardless of whether they experienced losses or even planted a crop. It also tightens limits on the amount of farm payments an individual can receive, expands crop insurance opportunities for specialty and organic crops, establishes conservation compliance as a requirement for receiving premium insurance subsidies, and invests in rural broadband.

In spite of these successes, however, the farm bill does not do enough for Rhode Island families.

Of greatest concern to me, it cuts $8.6 billion over 10 years from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, also known as food stamps. These cuts could reduce food stamp benefits for as many as 850,000 households across the country, including tens of thousands in Rhode Island. SNAP is our Nation's most important antihunger program. In this challenging economic climate, it is wrong to cut critical food-assistance funding.

In addition, this farm bill, like its predecessors, fails to provide adequate support for our fishermen in Rhode Island and nationwide. Farm bill programs provide billions of dollars in subsidies and technical assistance to farmers every year. In comparison, fishermen have little access to similar kinds of Federal assistance. Despite attempts to correct this inequity, fishermen remain second-class citizens when it comes to Federal support.

Finally, American agriculture springs from the richness of our land and natural resources, and the farm bill has long supported programs to conserve and protect those resources. As the harmful effects of climate change become more prevalent, our agricultural policy should reflect the threat posed to farming and food production by these changes. In this farm bill, ``climate change'' and ``extreme weather'' are hardly mentioned. Congress can start by opening the Regional Conservation Partnership Program to climate change adaptation and mitigation projects.

The farm bill is important and wide-ranging legislation. Unfortunately, the conference report leaves out essential protections for low-income Americans, hard-hit fisheries, and precious natural resources.

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