When it comes to discussing the challenges ahead in passing a new farm bill, Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., does not mince any words.
“This will be the biggest political dogfight in modern history,” she told participants at the International Sweetener Symposium in Napa, California, on Monday.
The farm bill has a “long and storied history of being bipartisan” but it’s also controversial in some circles, Cammack said, and there are several organizations who plan to target the legislation and make opposition to the bill a “key vote” in their congressional ratings.
She said there are already 30 to 40 House members from each political party who have said they won’t support a new farm bill. In addition, she expects whatever farm bill that might come out of the House Agriculture Committee to be subjected to “potentially thousands of amendments” on the House floor.
The House Rules Committee, working with the GOP leadership, will ultimately determine what amendments are made in order for floor debate.
When it comes to the U.S. sugar program, she expects “attacks from all angles,” including amendments that would gut the sugar program.
“I’m venturing a couple of dozen amendments that will be going after the sugar industry,” she added.
The Florida Republican said many of her fellow members are driven by politics rather than policy and are engaged in what she described as “anger-tainment” from members on both the right and the left.
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“You say something crazy, you do something outrageous, because it turns into clicks and shares on social media and you get the perception that you're fighting,” she said. “And as a result, we get worse policy outcomes that don't help Americans, just enrich campaigns.”
She encouraged conference participants to frame the farm bill as being about “food security as national security,” because it’s harder for members to vote against national security.
“It starts with picking up the phone and calling your member of Congress and then calling the one next to your district and then the one just west of your district and then just south of your district and exercise the influence that you have. Because nobody knows the policies better than you.”
Cammack stressed, “We’ve got one shot every five years to hold together the most critical industry in America.” Yet, she expressed doubt that a farm bill will be completed this year.
“My personal sense is that we will do a temporary extension and begin work on passing a new farm bill at the beginning of next year.”
The timing will depend, in part, on how long it takes Congress to finalize all of the appropriations bills and keep the government funded.
House Republican leaders gave up trying to pass the fiscal 2024 Agriculture funding bill ahead of the August recess after they were unable to satisfy demands from a band of hard-line conservatives who are seeking deeper cuts in spending.
Delaying action on the FY24 bill, which would fund USDA, FDA and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, puts off potential fights over amendments targeting farm programs and could also delay floor action on a new farm bill.
Asked if she thinks there will be a government shutdown this fall, she said, “Yes.”
“Do I want one? No. But I think it's going to be a direct result of this anger-tainment elevating the narrative to just a breaking point,” she told Agri-Pulse.
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