{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://adriansmith.house.gov/next-steps-farm-bill", "Next Steps for the Farm Bill", "2013-06-21", "2013", "2013-06", "Republican", "House", "NE", "Adrian Smith", "S001172", "adriansmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Enactment of a long-term Farm Bill is among my highest priorities.\u00a0 The certainty provided by a five-year bill is critical for Nebraska producers and our agriculture-based economy.\u00a0 After years of deliberation, I was very disappointed the Farm Bill did not pass in the House of Representatives this week.\nI thought we would have the votes this year for a bipartisan bill to establish reasonable farm policy and make reforms to reduce spending.\u00a0 Unfortunately, members on both sides of the aisle allowed \u201cthe perfect to be the enemy of good,\u201d which prevented us from moving the bill to a conference committee.\nThe reforms included in the House Farm Bill would have reduced spending by more than $40 billion over ten years compared with current policy.\u00a0 For some this cut was too much; for others it was not enough.\u00a0\nDemocrats opposed to the House Farm Bill argued against reforms to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps.\u00a0 SNAP spending has increased 105 percent since 2008 when Congress last passed a five-year Farm Bill, and nutrition programs make up about 80 percent of total spending in the bill.\u00a0 Unfortunately, some were unwilling to accept even modest reforms to reduce spending without decreasing benefits for those in need.\u00a0 Only 24 Democrats supported the Farm Bill.\nSome Republicans did not think these and other reforms went far enough and joined Democrats in opposition to the bill.\u00a0 I understand their concerns and I also would like to see more done to address spending.\u00a0 However, recognizing the importance of farm policy to our agriculture-based economy, and the difficulty of passing spending cuts through a divided Congress and getting them signed by President Obama \u2013 I believe the House Farm Bill was a reasonable compromise.\nWhile I am disappointed, the House acted its will and it is important we continue to use the legislative process.\u00a0 We now must examine our options to get the bill to a conference committee with the Senate.\u00a0 I remain committed and optimistic we will get a long-term, responsible Farm Bill done, and will continue encouraging my colleagues to do the same.", 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": ["http://adriansmith.house.gov/next-steps-farm-bill"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4736950397491455, "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"}