WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02), who serves on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, joined 62 of his colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives in sending a letter the House Leadership urging them to bring H.R. 6083, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management (FARRM) Act, or Farm Bill, to a vote before the August District Work Period, scheduled to begin on August 4, 2012.
"Georgia’s agriculture sector is our state’s largest industry and plays a vital role in our economy,” said Congressman Bishop. “Farmers, producers, ranchers, and rural America are all looking to the U.S. House of Representatives to bring this important bill to an immediate vote.”
The House Agriculture Committee approved the Farm Bill on July 12, 2012 on a bipartisan vote of 35 to 11. The full U.S. Senate approved its version of the Farm Bill on June 21, 2012 by a vote of 64 to 35. Unless Congress acts, many of the current farm bill policies on farm commodity support, crop insurance coverage, conservation programs, nutrition and agricultural research, and rural development will expire on September 30, 2012. Since one-in-seven Georgians works in agriculture, the need to bring the FARRM Act up for consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives before the August District Work Period is vital. Furthermore, it is important that Congress reauthorize agricultural disaster assistance to drought-stricken states like Georgia.
To read the letter to House Leadership, please click here.