FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 26, 2012
Contact: Cary Stemle
502-523-3763
Email: [email protected]
Shelli Yoder, 9th District Congressional candidate, today sharply criticized incumbent Todd Young and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives for their failure to pass the farm bill, which the U.S. Senate passed earlier this year.
“Passing the farm bill should have been a simple accomplishment,” Yoder said. “But there is an extreme contingent in the House, and it includes Todd Young, that blocked the bill for ideological purposes. Instead of meeting their most basic obligations, the House adjourned so members could go home to campaign for reelection. It was the earliest adjournment date in several decades. Given the important issues left on the table, that is disgraceful, and voters deserve an explanation from Todd Young.”
Yoder cited the failure to pass the farm bill as another example of the House’s dysfunction. Current farm law, which extends the safety net for farmers and pays for food stamps, is scheduled to expire this coming Sunday, September 30, with no new law in place for the first time in memory.
Farm policy has traditionally been a bipartisan issue in Congress. The Senate passed the five-year farm bill with almost two-thirds of the chamber supporting it. A separate version passed the House Agriculture Committee in July with Republican and Democratic support. But House radicals threatened to kill it if it came to the floor for a vote because of the amounts budgeted for crop-insurance subsidies and food stamps.
When the farm bill expires, the old system will kick in, which means no federal participation for crop insurance and increased federal payments for commodities set to 1949 levels. This will significantly disrupt the market, with the most likely immediate impact on dairy payments. Conservation programs would also essentially be removed.
In addition, the lack of resolution on the farm bill also cancels disaster relief programs meant to address the summer drought. Farmers without crop insurance, including the dairy and livestock industries, which will be hit particularly hard, will suffer without targeted relief programs.
“By choosing loyalty to extreme ideology over his Hoosiers constituents, Todd Young has failed 9th District farmers,” Yoder said. “Certainty of federal policy is necessary for farmers to make their annual business plans this fall and to approach bankers for loans. They work year to year,” Yoder added. “The bill’s expiration this year will likely hurt the crop-insurance safety net for 9th District farmers because next year there will be pressure to cut the farm budget further.”
Yoder criticized Young for refusing to sign a discharge petition to bring the farm bill to the House floor for a vote. Yoder said the failure of the House to pass the bill is but one in a long line of examples of the current House’s refusal to do its job.
“Last week, the most partisan, least productive Congress in modern times adjourned without finishing important work—the people’s work—on the budget, taxes, and job creation,” said Yoder. As USA Today put it, “they leave an unsurpassed record of failure and unfinished business.”
Yoder pointed out that the House also refused to take up a bill passed by the Senate to revive the endangered U.S. Postal Service, which is on the verge of defaulting. The House’s failure to pass the postal reform bill leaves hardworking 9th District Postal employees facing unknown hardship and worry.
“Todd Young and his radical House colleagues have had two years to step up for the people, and now they must be held accountable for their failure,” Yoder said. “Mr. Young should be treated like any other employee who refuses to do his job—he should be fired.”
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Yoder Calls on Young to Explain Failure of House to Pass Farm Bill and Adjournment with Unfinished Business
