"The good news is help for farmers is on the way. Today, the Senate finally passed the agriculture assistance package that includes $5.5 billion in aid for farmers. This package is the same version that the House approved over a month ago. Family farmers have been waiting for the Senate to take action on the bill and it's unfortunate that they had to wait until the last minute.
"There was no reason for the agriculture committee to let this bill languish for so long. While the House version isn't absolutely perfect, it's much better than losing the payments all together and unfortunately that was the direction we were being led. The Democratic leadership decided to bring up a supplemental without any interest in bipartisan input, and then loaded it down with billions in specialty crops, special interests, and issues that should come up in a farm bill this year. I couldn't understand why we were risking these payments, but in the end everyone came to their senses and passed the House version. Now the checks can be in the mail before the end of the fiscal year.
"I hope the Senate Agriculture Committee learns from this and doesn't try to pass a farm bill without first attempting to find a bipartisan route. It's too important to Iowa family farmers and Iowa's economy."
Radio actuality: Available after 12:30 p.m.(CT) at 1-800-545-1267. Dial 311, then 1. Or go to www.senate.gov/src/radio.grassley.