Got a farm bill? Thank Congressman Chris Gibson

Robert M. Bishop
Posted 8/21/12

Virtually every sector of New York’s economy benefits from the U.S. Farm Bill. The federal government’s agricultural and rural development programs are absolutely crucial to upstate New York and …

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Got a farm bill? Thank Congressman Chris Gibson

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Virtually every sector of New York’s economy benefits from the U.S. Farm Bill. The federal government’s agricultural and rural development programs are absolutely crucial to upstate New York and the country as a whole.

The Farm Bill sets federal policy; including conservation efforts, dairy and crop-insurance programs, medical research into Lyme disease, infrastructure development (most notably broadband programs), beginning farmer and specialty-crop programs, plus farm-to-market promotional and incentive programs.

Our Congressman Chris Gibson recognizes this, and as an integral member of the House Agriculture Committee, he made sure to help draft the best bill upstate New York could hope for.

Hearing young Mr. Eldridge say that he would have voted against the Farm Bill tells me one thing about him: he does not understand the district he would like to represent.

Nor does he understand the district to which he previously moved in order to run; which is currently represented by Farm Bill-supporting Democratic Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney.

Sean Eldridge just doesn’t get it. He sees the Farm Bill as another opportunity to score political points by claiming that it takes food from the mouths of the poor.

Do you think President Obama, Chuck Schumer, or any of the other 132 Democrats (and two Independents) would have supported a bill to do such an inhumane thing? In fact, when preparing to sign the Farm bill, President Obama said it assures “America’s children don’t go hungry” and “will continue reducing our deficits without gutting the vital assistance programs millions of hardworking Americans count on to help put food on the table for their families. “

President Obama recognizes that this bill ensures our Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP or Food Stamps) and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) remain strong and able to meet the needs of our nation.

Mr. Eldridge’s claim that this bill does not live up to this commitment is both dishonest and untrue.

We’ve all seen the bumper sticker” “Got Food? Thank a Farmer”? I’d like to make a new one: “Got a Farm Bill? Thank Congressman Gibson.”

Or how about: “Got a Farm Bill? Thank God Sean Eldridge is not in Congress.”

[Robert M. Bishop lives in Hamden, NY.]

[Editor’s note: House Republicans drafted legislation in September 2103 proposing to slash $40 billion from SNAP, the food stamp program. That bill passed the House with Republican votes only. After negotiations with the Democrat-controlled Senate, a compromise was reached. Subsequently the House passed a five-year farm bill (January 2014) followed by Senate passage (February 2014) in which $9 billion in cuts were approved to the food stamp program. An estimated 850,000 households across the country were projected to lose an average of $90 per month in food stamp benefits. On top of this, another $11 billion in cuts to a stimulous funding program have begun to expire; this will continue until 2016 until all of these funds disappear. Meantime, 14.5% of the population (feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/hunger-facts/hunger-and-poverty-statistics.aspx) lives in poverty, including almost 20% of American children, and 14% of U.S. households struggle to put food on the table.]

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