Senate Names Farm Bill Committee

Senate leadership named nine lawmakers to the farm bill conference committee last week before commuting home to their respective states for two weeks.

Five Republicans and four Democrats were named to the panel charged with sorting out differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill.

Republicans will be represented by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts, John Boozman, John Hoeven and Joni Ernst. Ranking member Debbie Stabenow, Patrick Leahy, Sherrod Brown and Heidi Heitkamp will serve as the Democratic members.

Even with both chambers out of town, the big four ag leaders have committed to weekly phone calls and continual communication among staff to work out conference issues, but not a lot of time remains. McConnell has set an ambitious Labor Day deadline for a conference report, and the deadline to get a farm bill signed by the president is Sept. 30.    Source: Politico