News

Grassley remains confident of farm bill passage

Iowa Senator Charles Grassley says he is not giving up on passing a farm bill this year. He adds that he won’t give up until December 19.

During a conference call Tuesday morning, Grassley expressed confidence because of the principles he associates with the legislative process.

“When you get down to a deadline, it tends to get people to compromise a lot sooner than they do at the beginning of negotiations,” said Grassley.

There are still differences to be settled by the Farm Bill Conference Committee, such as payment limits, defining a farmer, base acres versus planted acres and the values assigned to target prices, he said.

“But if those were agreed to, you still got the 900-pound gorilla in the room, and that is how much money do you want to spend on food stamps?” said Grassley. “There’s a big difference between the House and Senate.”

Grassley said that he favors a five-year farm bill over another shorter term extension of current legislation.

AUDIO: Senator Charles Grassley (11 min. MP3)