Posted October 14, 2013
On Saturday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) named farm bill conferees, and will
now move forward to conference with the Senate, according to an Agri-Pulse
article available here.
The House conferees include 17 Republicans and 12
Democrats.
Republican conferees from the House Agriculture
Committee include: Chairman Frank Lucas, (R-CA), Steve King (R-IA), Randy
Neugebauer (R-TX), Mike Rogers (R-AL), Michael Conaway (R-TX), Glenn Thompson
(R-PA), Austin Scott (R-GA), Rick Crawford (R-AR), Martha Roby (R-AL), Kristi
Noem (R-SD), Jeff Denham (R-CA), and Rodney Davis (R-IL).
Rep. Steve Southerland (R-FL) will serve as a
leadership conferee. Republican
conferees from the House Foreign Affairs Committee include Chairman Ed Royce
(R-CA), and Rep. Tom Marino (R-PA).
Republican conferees from the House Ways and Means Committee include
Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) and Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX).
Democratic conferees from the House Agriculture
Committee include: ranking member Collin Peterson (D-MN), Mike McIntyre (D-NC),
Jim Costa (D-CA), Tim Walz (D-MN), Curt Schrader (D-OR), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Suzanne
DelBene (D-WA), Gloria Negrete McLeod (D-CA), and Filemon Vela (D-TX).
Rep. Marsha Fudge (D-OH), chairwoman of the
Congressional Black Caucus, will serve as a leadership conferee. House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking
member Eliot Engel (D-NY), and House Ways and Means Committee ranking member,
Sandy Levin (D-MI) were also named as conferees.
The naming of Rep. Steve Southerland (R-FL) has been
seen as a “sign that the House will insist on the $39 billion in food stamp
cuts in the House-passed bill” according to an article by The Hill, available here. Southerland authored a provision in the bill
that allows states to impose new work requirements on SNAP (commonly referred
to as food stamps) recipients. Democrats
countered the Southerland appointment by naming Congressional Black Caucus head
and SNAP advocate, Rep. Marsha Fudge (D-OH).
Agriculture Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) was optimistic
about the process, saying, “There are challenging issues yet to overcome, but
we have a solid team of negotiators in place.
I am confident we can reach consensus and send a five-year farm bill to
the president.”
Ranking member Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN) said, “I am
hopeful that if Republican Leadership can be reasonable and leave the
conference committee alone to do its work that we will be able to finish a
five-year, comprehensive farm bill this year.”
For more information on farm bills, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center's website here.
