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House passes compromise farm bill; on to president’s desk

The U.S. House has overwhelmingly voted to pass the compromise 2018 Farm Bill – which is headed to President Trump’s desk and he is expected to sign it into law. House Ag Committee Chairman Conaway said the bold step taken by the committee in June – in strengthening the nutrition title with more work requirements – is something most Americans wanted, “That was not  supported broadly by the body across the building and we made the compromises necessary to get us to this place. In spite of that though, Mr. Speaker, we made GOOD reforms towards the SNAP process, toward program integrity and making the program work better for our folks that are in need that need these programs.”

Ranking member Colin Peterson of Minnesota, as did Chairman Conaway, urged his colleagues to vote in favor of the farm bill, “It was a bumpy road but we figured out how to get through it and came to a bipartisan conclusion and that’s the important thing. So, this is a good bill for my district. I think it’s a good deal for agriculture in general around the country and it’s a good bill for America.”

The final vote on the 2018 Farm Bill in the House was 369 to 47, following Tuesday’s strong Senate vote to pass the compromise bill.

Before the vote, Ag Committee Chairman Mike Conaway said for the first time since 1990, Congress was poised to pass a new farm bill in the same year that the legislation was first introduced.