{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.welch.senate.gov/welch-statement-on-republicans-draft-farm-bill/", "Welch Statement on Republicans\u2019\u00a0Draft\u00a0Farm Bill", "2026-06-23", "2026", "2026-06", "Democrat", "Senate", "VT", "Peter Welch", "W000800", "www.welch.senate.gov", "welch", "https://www.welch.senate.gov/category/press-release/page/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, today released the following statement on Senate Republicans\u2019 draft Farm Bill:\n\nAmerica\u2019s agriculture policy is broken\u2014farmers can\u2019t afford to farm, families can\u2019t put food on the table, and rural communities have been left behind. Farmers in Vermont and across the nation create an immense amount of wealth, but they don\u2019t get anything close to a fair share of it. Senate Republicans\u2019 draft Farm Bill doesn\u2019t meet the moment\u2014it won\u2019t provide the help farmers and families need.\n\n\u201cThanks to the war in Iran, markets have closed and fertilizer and farm fuel prices are spiking. The cost of production per acre far exceeds the revenue per acre for corn, soybeans, wheat, peanuts, and rice\u2014and production costs will only get worse in 2027. Specialty crops, dairy, and small family farms are struggling to survive. This draft bill does little to lower costs for rural Americans: It neglects to expand high-speed broadband, it doesn\u2019t address rising energy costs, and it won\u2019t help communities after a natural disaster.\n\n\u201cHistorically, both parties have come together to both support farmers and the families they feed by funding nutrition assistance programs. Yet this bill fails to right the wrongs of Trump\u2019s tax bill and continues to crush state budgets while threatening access to nutrition assistance. There are people who are hungry in red states, and there are people who are hungry in blue states\u2014we need a Farm Bill that feeds America.\n\n\u201cI am pleased that this draft includes my policies to improve access to farmland and support Vermont\u2019s sugar makers and maple industry. But, as written, this bill needs work. I will continue to work with my Republican colleagues to pass a multi-year, bipartisan Farm Bill. Together, we can help American farmers and rural communities.\u201d\n\nSenator Welch serves on the Senate Agriculture Committee and is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit.\n\n###", 1, "2026-06-24T06:25:30Z", "2026-06-24T06:26:49Z"]], "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.welch.senate.gov/welch-statement-on-republicans-draft-farm-bill/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3497690670192242, "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"}