Maloney Statement on Farm Bill Committee Markup

 

Maloney Statement on Farm Bill Committee Markup

WASHIGTON – Representative Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18), a member of the House Committee on Agriculture, released the following statement after the Committee amended and passed H.R. 2, the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018, also known as the 2018 Farm Bill. The bill reauthorizes – and amends – all programs directed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and is typically passed every five years.

“Hudson Valley farmers contribute millions to our local economy every year and create thousands of jobs – not to mention feed America – and fighting on their behalf for a good Farm Bill is one of the most important things I do in Congress. I grew up in a rural area. I live in a rural area. I take it very seriously.

“This farm bill was not written for Hudson Valley farmers and doesn’t have my support. It fails to make crop insurance work better for the diverse family farms we have in the Hudson Valley or invest in the next generation of farmers. It doesn’t do enough to support specialty crop growers who produce onions and apples. And it doesn’t invest in research that our farmers rely on – like Cornell’s work to combat the allium leafminer. The bill cuts conservation programs crucial to New York where we lose ten times more agricultural land to development than we protect every year. It makes massive changes to nutrition assistance programs – like SNAP – that tens of thousands of households in the Hudson Valley rely on. These changes were designed to throw folks off the program or reduce their benefits.

“The priorities I drew up with my Agriculture Advisory Board weren’t met with this bill and I can’t support it as-is.”

Representative Sean Patrick Maloney has served the Hudson Valley on the Committee on Agriculture since coming to Congress in 2013. In October 2017, Rep. Maloney met with his Agriculture Advisory Board to plan his priorities for the 2018 Farm Bill. He also met with local hunger experts in February, 2018, as much of the Farm Bill focuses on the provision of nutrition assistance.

Author: Harlem Valley News