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Peterson says draft farm bill represents “ideological crusade” that killed bill in 2013

The House Ag Committee is meeting to mark up the draft of the 2018 Farm Bill this morning.

Ranking Member Collin Peterson says proposed changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program were never discussed and reflect the same “Ideological crusade” that killed the bill in 2013.

Illinois Democrat Cheri Bustos also spoke during the meeting. She says the partisan draft farm bill is reckless, especially as farmers face low commodity prices and trade uncertainty.

“Make no mistake, this was a choice to go in this direction,” she says. “A choice to throw bipartisanship out the window rather than to treat our family farmers with the respect they deserve.”

Bustos says she is concerned with the bill’s proposed elimination of mandatory funding for the rural development and energy titles.

“This bill goes in the wrong direction, cutting $500 million from the rural development and energy titles,” she says. “This is a step toward killing jobs and undermining entrepreneurs and shifting opportunity away from small towns.”

Peterson says he can’t guarantee a single Democrat vote, but there is still time for the committee to work together and find a solution that works for everyone.

Conaway says the proposed changes to SNAP have been blown out of proportion and he looks forward to explaining them to members.

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