House and Senate representatives will debate the bill Sept. 5
By Diego Flamminni
Staff Writer
Farms.com
The Senate and House agriculture committees announced the date of their first Farm Bill conference meeting.
The 56-member (comprised of nine senators and 47 representatives) Farm Bill Conference Committee will begin debating the 2018 Farm bill on Sept. 5, a day after lawmakers return from the Labor Day recess.
During the meetings, the committee will draft a unified version of the legislation with elements from the bills of the Senate and House.
Congress will discuss the revamped bill before they send it to the President.
“We are committed to working together on a Farm Bill that delivers certainty and predictability to our farmers and (their) families as quickly as possible,” the committees said in a joint statement yesterday.
The legislators are working within a short timeline, as the 2014 Farm Bill expires Sept. 30.
Congress failed to pass the 2008 Farm Bill before its expiration and U.S. lawmakers do not want to see history repeat itself.
“The current Farm Bill expires at the end of September, so we don’t have a minute to waste,” Heidi Heitkamp, a Senator from North Dakota, said in a statement, KFYRTV reported. “The Senate is in session through August, and I’m ready and eager to get to work just as soon as the House gets done with its five-week summer recess.”
The meeting will begin at 9:30 a.m. and interested producers can watch it live.
Farms.com has reached out to the American Farm Bureau Federation for comment.