Lincoln: Farm Bill would survive presidential veto
Posted on Friday, May 16, 2008
BENTON COUNTY - The national Farm Bill would survive a presidential veto, said U. S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.
President George W. Bush should support the Farm Bill, Lincoln said.
The Arkansas senator talked about the legislation in a press release and in a conference call with reporters, both on Thursday. Passage of the legislation followed long negotiations by Lincoln to get the legislation out of the U. S. Senate.
The bill, which will now go the president for signature or veto, passed in the U. S. Senate on an 85-15 vote Thursday. It had passed in the U. S. House of Representatives on a 318-106 vote Wednesday.
More than two-thirds of the members of both houses of Congress are required to support a measure to override a threatened presidential veto.
The $ 300 billion Farm Bill, which sets national agriculture policy for five years, is important not just to farmers but to all Americans, Lincoln said.
"While commonly referred to as the'Farm Bill, ' approximately 85 percent of the … bill goes to something other than production agriculture. The conference report makes significant investments in nutrition, energy, conservation and rural development priorities - priorities for all Americans. We have provided the most amount of funding in our nation's history for nutrition initiatives, which will help us combat hunger in America and around the world," Lincoln said in a press release.
Of course, the bill doesn't neglect farmers, nor does it neglect energy and conservation priorities, all of which are important to Arkansans, she said.
"We also provide family farmers, ranchers and small businesses throughout rural America with the opportunities and incentives to develop renewable sources of energy and continue the drive toward greater energy independence. The conference report invests $ 1. 3 billion in the Wetlands Reserve Program, which is important for Arkansas as one of the largest wetland conservation areas in the nation. We provide an additional $ 150 million to promote economic growth, improve infrastructure and create jobs in rural America. I urge the president to stand with rural America and sign this bill," Lincoln said in the press release.
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