{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=60E99C0B-0846-4B62-9FF2-5D379BFBBE93", "Thune: Republicans Fight for More Farm in the Farm Bill", "2024-06-12", "2024", "2024-06", "Republican", "Senate", "SD", "John Thune", "T000250", "www.thune.senate.gov", "thune", "https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "Click here to watch the video.\n\nWASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today spoke on the Senate floor about the farm bill framework recently released by Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member John Boozman (R-Ark.), which prioritizes the real needs of farmers and ranchers. Thune discussed many of his priorities that were included in Senate Republicans\u2019 framework that address issues ranging from the farm safety net and crop insurance affordability to meat processing and forest restoration.\n\nThune\u2019s remarks below (as prepared for delivery):\n\n\u201cMr. President, as a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and a resident of a state whose lifeblood is agriculture, the farm bills that Congress takes up every few years are one of my top priorities.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve had the chance to help craft four farm bills during my time in Congress, and my number-one goal is always to ensure that each bill accurately reflects the needs and priorities of the men and women on the ground \u2013 the ones who are doing the hard work of feeding our country.\n\n\u201cAs I travel around the state, I always take special note of my conversations with agriculture producers \u2013 and many of the bills I introduce for inclusion in the farm bill are based on these conversations.\n\n\u201cMr. President, the current farm bill will expire later this year.\n\n\u201cAnd with deadlines approaching and updates needed to a number of farm programs, Congress needs to focus on advancing the next farm bill.\n\n\u201cThis is all the more important given the headwinds farmers and ranchers are currently facing.\n\n\u201cWith net farm income projected to decline by 25 percent this year, and with input costs projected to hit a record high, it is especially important that we make sure that farmers and ranchers have the support they need to carry on with their vital work.\n\n\u201cLast month, the House Agriculture Committee marked up its draft of the next farm bill, and the bill passed the committee with the support of not just Republicans but several Democrats as well.\n\n\u201cAnd yesterday morning Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member John Boozman released his farm bill framework to build off the House\u2019s work and hopefully move this process forward in the Senate.\n\n\u201cProgress in the Senate has been hamstrung by Senate Democrats\u2019 insistence on prioritizing things like climate over the needs of farmers and ranchers.\n\n\u201cAnd I am hoping that the recent efforts by the House, along with Senator Boozman\u2019s framework, will move deliberations along and refocus our efforts on farmers and ranchers, instead of Democrats\u2019 climate obsessions.\n\n\u201cMr. President, in preparation for this next farm bill, I introduced a number of pieces of legislation that I hope to get included in the final bill.\n\n\u201cThese bills are based on the conversations I\u2019ve had with farmers and ranchers as I travel throughout South Dakota, as well as events I\u2019ve held to hear from ag producers about their priorities for the farm bill.\n\n\u201cAnd I\u2019m very pleased that the framework Senator Boozman has put out contains measures from a number of the bills I introduced.\n\n\u201cThat includes elements of my Conservation Reserve Program Improvement Act \u2013 legislation I introduced to make the Conservation Reserve Program a more effective option for producers \u2013 as well as my CRP Flexibility Act, which would provide additional drought flexibilities for CRP contract holders.\n\n\u201cIt also includes my Crop Insurance for Future Farmers Act, which I introduced with Senator Klobuchar to help make crop insurance more affordable for young farmers, as well as measures from my Expediting Forest Restoration and Recovery Act and my Rural Internet Improvement Act.\n\n\u201cAnd it includes a section modeled off my bipartisan Strengthening Local Processing Act to increase the processing options available to livestock producers and expand smaller meatpackers\u2019 capacity.\n\n\u201cAnd, importantly, this framework would make improvements to the Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs, essential elements of the farm safety net.\n\n\u201cMr. President, I am tremendously grateful to Senator Boozman for his work on this framework and his efforts to move the farm bill process forward.\n\n\u201cAnd I hope that my Democrat colleagues will approach pursuing a bipartisan agreement on this legislation with a new seriousness.\n\n\u201cAs I said earlier, their focus on non-farm priorities has slowed progress on the farm bill.\n\n\u201cAnd I hope that the House\u2019s recent work and Senator Boozman\u2019s efforts will encourage them to focus on what should be the substance of any farm bill \u2013 namely, the farm.\n\n\u201cMr. President, I yield the floor.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:24:47Z"]], "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://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=60E99C0B-0846-4B62-9FF2-5D379BFBBE93"], "units": {}, 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