"One of the most pressing issues that I've been discussing with Arkansans this month, and that I believe must be resolved when Congress returns to Washington, is the need to enact a new Farm Bill to help our farm families.  I worked hard last year to get on the House Agriculture Committee because I know how important agriculture is the the 4th Congressional District and how critical a time it is for our farm families.  Our current farm policy enacted in 1996, the Freedom to Farm law, has not worked - it should've been called 'Freedom to Fail.'  We need a new farm policy that will provide our farmers a guaranteed safety net so that they can make ends meet in times of low market prices or natural disasters.

"The Farm Bill that we wrote in the Agriculture Committee and were able to get passed on the floor of the House of Representatives is a good, bipartisan bill that provides our farmers with this basic safety net.  And I'm proud that included in the bill is an amendment I sponsored to protect our catfish farmers from the unfair dumping of so-called 'catfish' from Vietnam that are, in reality, no more related to a catfish than a cat is to a cow.  Unfortunately, when the Farm Bill got to the Senate, several Senators blocked action on this critical legislation and kept us from getting it enacted before the holidays.

"As we return to Washington, I am optimistic that the Senate will resolve their differences and that we will finally get a Farm Bill passed and signed into law by late February or early March.  I will continue to work to see that it gets enacted as soon as possible.  Our farm families simply cannot afford to wait any longer, and our state and our nation simply cannot afford to lose any more farm families."