Russ Feingold: “I voted against the farm bill today for a number of reasons. First, while I and other Senators from the Upper Midwest…”

“I voted against the farm bill today for a number of reasons. First, while I and other Senators from the Upper Midwest were successful in striking from the Leahy substitute the northeast interstate dairy compact, this bill contains no fundamental reform of Federal milk marketing orders so badly needed by Wisconsin dairy farmers. Attempts to reach a bipartisan agreement on a moderate order reform amendment were ended when regionalism overwhelmed reason. I found that very disappointing. I remain hopeful, however, that there will be an opportunity in the conference with the House farm bill to revisit these issues and get some changes that will help create a more level playing field for our dairy producers. Second, Mr. President, I was very disappointed at the process under which the debate over the farm bill took place in the Senate. This is an important bill that is considered every 5 years, and normally consumes several weeks of floor debate following extensive and open committee action. This year the bill was rammed through the Senate in 1 day under tight time controls that allowed little opportunity for Senators to scrutinize neither the underlying bill nor the amendments offered. Furthermore, with only one-half hour to debate each amendment, it was difficult for Members to fully analyze the impacts and implications of their votes. One amendment passed by the Senate was over 500 pages long and was the subject of absolutely no debate.”