Business as Usual

Floor Speech

Mr. STUTZMAN. Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor in strong opposition to the farm bill conference report.

The farm bill is just more business as usual here in Washington. Last summer, the American people won an important victory for common sense and transparency when we ended this unholy alliance between food stamp and farm programs. Together, in this House, we defeated business as usual by passing the first farm-only farm bill in nearly 40 years. But business as usual fought back, and here we are today.

Not only does this farm bill recombine food stamps and farm programs, it actually spends even more than the first bill the Senate passed. This is exactly the kind of logrolling that we fought to prevent this summer.

Mr. Speaker, Congress works best when we do our work in the full light of day. Unfortunately, this farm bill was written behind closed doors. It has stripped long-term reforms. It spends money we simply don't have, and it stripped out important policies that negatively affect our livestock industry.

As a farmer and a conservative, I will not vote to take a step backwards.

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