King: "The Votes are There" for House approval of the Farm Bill

Thursday, August 02, 2012

King Supports Drought Relief; Re-emphasizes Need for Farm Bill

Washington, DC - Today, Congressman Steve King released the following statement after voting in favor of legislation passed by the House to provide drought relief to agriculture producers hard hit by the severe, record dry spell affecting much of the country. In a statement submitted for floor debate of the measure, King noted that while the relief measure will be helpful, especially to Iowa's livestock producers, the need for action on the Farm Bill is growing by the day.

"I am pleased that the House acted today to provide some assistance to those in our state's and nation's ag community who have been hit hard by this record drought," said King. "I am troubled, though, that our leaders here in the House decided that this is all the legislative action that could be mustered to support the ag industry. I worked hard with the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Agriculture Committee to pass a bi-partisan Farm Bill out of the House Agriculture Committee. In the weeks since the Committee's approval of the bill, I have been urging House leaders to bring the bill to the floor for a vote."

"Conversations I've had with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle tell me that the votes are there to get the Farm Bill through the House and to Conference with the Senate. As I travel across the Fifth District during the August district work period to meet with farmers and producers, I will continue working with Chairman Lucas, Ranking Member Peterson and my colleagues on the House Agriculture Committee to press for action on the Farm Bill. The agriculture community needs predictability."