{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://ohalleran.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/ohalleran-signs-farm-bill-conference-report-ahead-house-vote", "O'Halleran Signs Farm Bill Conference Report Ahead of House Vote", "2018-12-11", "2018", "2018-12", "Democrat", "House", "AZ", "Tom O'Halleran", "O000171", "ohalleran.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, DC  Yesterday, Congressman Tom O'Halleran, a member of the House Committee on Agriculture and a conferee on the Farm Bill Conference Committee, signed the bipartisan, bicameral Farm Bill Conference Report. Once passed by the House of Representatives and Senate and signed into law, this legislation reauthorizes the Farm Bill for five years.\nDuring negotiations, O'Halleran led efforts to protect nutrition programs for children and veterans, invest more money in rural broadband deployment, maintain critical resources for Indian Country, and ensure Arizona forests receive the necessary care to protect homes across the state.\nAfter months of negotiations and hard work, I am pleased with the resulting Farm Bill Conference Report. We have secured vital funding for programs that our farmers and ranchers, working families, and tribal communities rely on every single day, said O'Halleran. The importance of this legislation cannot be overstated.\nIncluded in the Farm Bill Conference Report are programs and resources that O'Halleran championed, including:\n An annual $350 million dollar a year grant program for rural broadband deployment;\n\tIncreased funding for rural hospitals;\n\tNutrition programs;\n\tGreater protections for dairy producers;\n\tConservation and forestry programs vital for rural Arizona.\n An additional effort led by O'Halleran to allow for the easier exportation of timber from the Four Forest Restoration Initiative area was not included in the final language of the bill. Rather, it will require a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, for which O'Halleran will continue to work.\nIt is unfortunate that Congressional leaders chose to drag their feet and allow this legislation to expire at the expense of our ag producers and the American people, continued O'Halleran. Our farmers and ranchers and rural communities are the backbone of rural America's economy. If we cannot support them, our whole nation suffers. We need a Congress that is focused on the needs of the country, not political gridlock and hyper-partisanship.\nClick here to read the text of the report.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://ohalleran.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/ohalleran-signs-farm-bill-conference-report-ahead-house-vote"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9308720473200083, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}