Peterson Seeks Guarantee Before Tackling Farm Bill
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Rep. Collin Peterson says he's dismayed Congress passed only a short extension to the 2008 Farm Bill. And the Minnesota Democrat says he's not willing to put in any more work on a five-year farm bill without assurances it will get a vote.
The House never took a floor vote on a five-year farm bill that passed out of the House Agriculture Committee in July with bipartisan support from Peterson, the ranking Democrat on the panel, and its chairman, Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla.
Peterson tells The Associated Press he and his staff are crafting a letter to Speaker John Boehner demanding a guarantee that if the committee passes a farm bill this year, it will be allowed to come to the floor. Otherwise, he says he'll stay on the sidelines.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.