By Ty Johnson | The Brownsville Herald
South Texas Rep. Filemon Vela will be included in discussions as Congress members attempt to reconcile differences between two versions of a new five-year farm bill.
Vela, who was named Oct. 12 to the Farm Bill Conference Committee, joins three other Texas representatives on the panel, but he is the only Southern Democrat outside of Rep. Mike McIntyre from North Carolina.
The Republican side of the House committee includes Texans Michael Conaway, Randy Neugebauer and, from the House Ways and Means Committee, Sam Johnson.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a release that the House Democrats she tapped were chosen for their leadership and dedication to “restore stability to our farmers and ranchers, our rural communities and American families across the country.”
The importance of the bill was not lost on the freshman representative, either, as Vela noted what an honor it was to be chosen to renew the nation’s farm subsidies and support of nutrition programs.
“The most important thing about the appointment is that I’m able to participate in a process that will hopefully result in the reauthorization of the farm bill,” he said.
Although its renewal is expected twice each decade, the journey toward this year’s conference committee was atypical as Congress in 2012 voted to extend the length of the previous bill until Oct. 1 of this year.
The expiration of subsidies has left American farmers uncertain about their future, but the emergence of a conference committee is a step in the right direction from two houses that over the summer appeared miles apart concerning the future of the bill, especially concerning funding for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program.
After the Senate in May approved a bill calling for a reduction of $3.9 billion from SNAP, formerly food stamps, the House stripped its version of the SNAP language, leaving two bills dealing with farm subsidies and SNAP separately.
The House has since reunited the two bills, but the lower chamber’s proposal asks for $20.5 billion in cuts to SNAP, mostly through restrictions to categorical eligibility, which the Senate version doesn’t include.
The $16.6 billion chasm between the two bills can’t be ignored, but Vela said just getting the bills to conference is a significant accomplishment toward eventual reauthorization.
“The fact that we finally got this into Congress gives us a chance to produce a bill that will be signed by the president,” he said.
Vela said he was confident Congress would come to an agreement on the bill, mostly due to its importance to the nation’s agriculture industry.
That importance was evident as despite a government shutdown, the threat of an unprecedented default and the near paralysis in Washington, the leadership of both parties managed to put together the conference committee.
“I think the leadership in both parties was mindful of how serious of a matter it is and that’s why during the midst of the debate of the government shutdown they came up with a way to get it into conference,” Vela said.
He said the conferees’ respective staffs began meetings last week and although a full schedule has not yet been released, he’ll be meeting with South Texas farming interest representatives Wednesday in Washington.
While he’s confident the committee will put forth a bill that Congress can get behind, Vela noted there will need to be compromise, even as he registered his preference for the Senate bill.
“There’s going to be some compromise,” he said, noting later that it was largely the governing body’s only option. “The alternative is, if there’s no agreement, there’s no bill which takes us to square one.”
