Veto This Farm Bill
Release Date:
05/13/2008
By:
Elisha Greeley Smith, elishas@cfra.org, Center for Rural Affairs
In a couple of days a farm bill will likely pass in Congress. There are some wins such as funding for beginning farmers, money for a rural microenterprise program, and money for the Conservation Stewardship Program. We're grateful for those investments, and they will do some real good if this farm bill becomes law.
But it doesn't fix what's wrong with this bill. This farm bill, as currently written, is not worthy of passage. There are victories, but the magnitude of those victories is not anywhere close to the magnitude of the opportunities squandered. If this bill hits the President's desk, he should veto it. And then Congress should sustain that veto, pass a one year extension, and start over again because this farm bill is not worth it.
We will have the opportunity to fight again, and we have real hope that we can do better, that we can win more, and that rural America can get a farm bill that is better than the one about to pass Congress. Rural America should not have to wait five more years to get a decent farm bill, and many of our rural communities cannot wait that long. In five more years there will be even fewer farmers, fewer jobs and more empty homes and businesses. So get out the veto pen, Mr. President, and do the right thing. Kill this farm bill.
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