Tina Smith: “I rise today to voice my strong support for the farm bill that the Senate is currently considering. First, I would like…”

“I rise today to voice my strong support for the farm bill that the Senate is currently considering. First, I would like to thank Chairman Roberts and Ranking Member Stabenow for their strong leadership on this bipartisan bill. When I first became a Senator just months ago, I asked for a seat on the Agriculture Committee, and I immediately formed a farm bill working group in Minnesota so that I could hear from farmers and ranchers, foresters, researchers, rural community leaders, and Tribes, as well as experts on nutrition, energy, and conservation, to make sure that Minnesota's priorities were included in this farm bill. In the last few months, in Minnesota, my staff and I have convened over 30 listening sessions around the State, and I am very grateful for the input and ideas we have gotten through the farm bill process. The farm bill touches the lives of virtually every American, and it is vital to my State's economy. This bill will provide important stability and predictability to Minnesota farmers, ranchers, rural communities, and Indian Country, while also sustaining tens of thousands of Minnesota jobs. The farm bill works when all three pillars of the bill work together: traditional farm programs, rural development, and nutrition. If we remove one of these pillars, the farm bill will not be able to stand. The nutrition programs reauthorized by the Senate farm bill are of vital importance.…”