WASHINGTON, June 5, 2013- More than 100 agricultural organizations sent letters to each senator urging them to vote for cloture on the farm bill Thursday in order to "finish the farm bill in the next few days."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., filed for a cloture vote on the Senate farm bill, S. 954, late Tuesday. The move sets a Thursday morning roll call vote on the motion to proceed with the bill. If agreed to by the Senate, debate on the farm bill would become limited to 30 hours and only amendments applicable to the bill would be ruled in order.
If 60 votes are cast in favor, it would drop the number of pending amendments from more than 100 to a handful, and possibly lead to final passage of S. 954 by the end of this week or early next.
When cloture is invoked, no other business can take place until the Senate takes final action on the legislation on which it has invoked cloture except by unanimous consent.
“We need to move forward,” Reid said. “It’s important to leave ample time for debate on the bipartisan immigration bill reported by the [Senate] Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago.”
The 120 agricultural groups said the farm bill “affects 16 million Americans whose livelihoods depend on agriculture. We must pass a farm bill this year to provide certainty to those individuals.”
To view the letter, click here.
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