There has been much contention in the halls of Congress in the months and weeks leading up to the election. There has been a partisan power struggle between the House, Senate, and the White House. Many of the arguments have the American people caught in the middle as both sides try to make the other look as terrible as possible before the November 3rd elections.
Agriculture also has gotten caught up, especially over the funding of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC). A deal that was in the works between the Democratically controlled house and Republican President Donald Trump fell apart last week, and on Monday House leadership unveiled their government funding plan with no inclusion of the CCC. Lawmakers from Iowa from both sides of the aisle and both chambers are not pleased and have weighed in on what happened.
Republican Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst joined with Iowa Representatives Abby Finkenauer (D-1st), Dave Loebsack (D-2nd), Cindy Axne (D-3rd), and Steve King (R-4th) to urge House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA 12th) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to include an extension of funding for the CCC in any Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government. The Resolution announced yesterday does not have any language in it to finance the fund which supports Farm Bill programs.
Senator Grassley talked about the situation during his weekly press conference with Ag media. He said that he passed Speaker Pelosi in the halls after House Democrats released their plan which had no inclusion for the CCC?s funding. Grassley said he was certain that by the end of the discussion, Pelosi knew his feelings.
The letter that the Senator referred to can be found here, via Congresswoman Axne?s website.
Grassley said that he feels that House Democrats have abandoned farmers with this plan. The House Democratic leadership is accusing President Trump of using the CCC as a ?slush fund?, but Grassley disagrees with the accusation. He says that the Senate used bipartisanship to pass the Farm Bill which gets funding from the CCC and the CARES Act which gave more funding to the CCC to be used to help farmers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Congresswoman Axne said she was disappointed with the decision to exclude CCC funding in the released CR plan. She released the following statement in response.
?I am deeply frustrated that once again Washington is playing games with the vital aid that Iowa?s farmers need as they continue to struggle with the long-term effects of a public health crisis, an economic downturn, a trade war, and recent natural disasters. In the midst of a national public health crisis and recession, the last thing Congress should do is allow the government to shut down ? but before that deadline I urge leaders in the House to reverse course and include this vital aid. Congress has ensured the extension of this program for more than thirty years. As Iowa and our nation face overlapping crises, we should not be cutting off the lifeline for our family farmers.?
Grassley says that he hopes Speaker Pelosi and Senate Leader McConnell can find a way to get the CCC funded to finance the programs America?s farmers depend on.
