Grassley expects farm bill negotiations to continue through August

CEDAR RAPIDS – The farm bill is living on borrowed time, according to Iowa U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, and he wants Congress to delay its August recess until it reaches a comprehensive, five-year extension.

“If we do that, then there wouldn't be any summer break,” Sen. Chuck Grassley said Wednesday.

Grassley is anxious to see the House and Senate agree on a farm bill, but doesn't see much point in staying in session in August toward that end.

Earlier this month, the GOP-controlled House passed a version of the Farm Bill that did not include funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps. Earlier, the Senate has passed a farm bill that included food stamp funding – although less than the current budget.

Braley, a Waterloo Democrat wrote to House Speaker John Boehner calling on him to keep the House in session until a compromise could be reached.

“Passing a long-term farm bill is a necessity for rural America,” Braley wrote. “Farmers and agricultural producers have waited too long for the certainty that a five-year farm bill provides. Without a Farm Bill to provide predictability, it's harder for farmers to invest in the future -- to create jobs and grow the economy.”

Speaker Boehner has no excuse to send Congress home before the job is done,” he said. “Congress can find agreement on the issues and move a farm bill forward, but only if we stay and do the jobs we were sent here to do.”

However, Grassley believes it will be more fruitful to have congressional staff work on a compromise during the August recess while members of Congress are back in their home states and districts meeting with constituents. That agreement will be discussed in a House-Senate conference committee when Congress returns after Labor Day.

Based on what he's hearing from colleagues, Grassley believes a compromise will materialize and here will be a bill for the conference committee to take up in September.

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