Missouri’s man on the U.S. House Agriculture Committee is pleased with some of the elements of the 2007 Farm Bill approved Friday by the House, but northwest Missouri Congressman Sam Graves (R-MO) says there is plenty of room for improvement.
Graves says the bill passed by the House is pretty much an extension of the 2002 Farm Bill. He says it is not a perfect bill by any stretch of the word, but it is a workable start. Graves expresses disappointment that House leadership took a lot of the money that had been agreed to by the House Agriculture Committee, which he considers the most bipartisan committee in the chamber. On a positive note, a major part of the legislation is the so-called commodity title, which provides a safety net for 25 U.S. agricultural commodities, covering one-third of American production. Grading the bill on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being poor and 10 being excellent, Graves gives it a 6.
The Senate has yet to complete work on its version of the Farm Bill. Once that is done, probably after Congress’ August recess, differences in the two chambers’ versions will have to ironed out before a bill can be sent to the President.
