Despite apparent progress towards continuing work on the farm bill, United States Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) does not think that Congress is any closer to finding agreement on the framework of a new bill. Instead, both sides appear still entrenched in their partisan positions that have led to a farm bill stalemate.
House Ag Committee Chair GT Thompson (R-PA) recently shared his title-by-title overview of the bipartisan policies and priorities included in the 2024 Farm Bill. Ranking Member David Scott (D-GA) responded by saying that there are ways to invest in the farm bill safety net without any cuts to snap benefits.
In the United States Senate, Senate Ag Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) released the Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act. The act contains more than 100 bipartisan bills and is designed to put the farm bill back on track. U.S. Senator John Boozman, ranking member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, responded by saying that Stabenow’s framework reflects Senate Democrats’ positions, and he will be releasing a framework “after the House considers its bill in the coming weeks.”
During his weekly conference call with ag broadcasters and reporters, Senator Grassley was asked if he thinks Congress is any closer to a new farm bill.
In addition to commenting on the farm bill overviews, Grassley also responded to questions about cyber security. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines recently told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the U.S. intelligence community has tracked a large increase of cyberattacks across the world and says that U.S. owned systems have been targeted the most.
Grassley was asked what Congress should be doing to address the increase in cyber-attacks against United States industrial systems, that are also utilized by U.S. agriculture.
Grassley says the Department of Homeland Security has been increasing its efforts to protect U.S. interests against cyberthreats.
Senator Grassley made his comments on Wednesday during his weekly conference call with ag broadcasters and reporters.
