Republicans refused to work with Democrats to strengthen the Farm Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, today voted against Senate Republicans’ partisan Farm Bill which, as written, will not do enough to support Vermont farmers and families, will not provide the nutrition assistance millions of Americans need, nor will it support rural communities. This Farm Bill was passed out of the Committee on a party line vote, with no consideration of amendments. 

“Plain and simple: This is not a good Farm Bill. Republicans shouldn’t have voted this out of Committee without major changes. Instead of working together to craft a bill that could earn bipartisan support, Republicans took a go-it-alone approach and refused to consider commonsense amendments. I’m still committed to improving this bill before it gets to the Senate floor. I urge my Senate colleagues to work on behalf of farmers and families in their states to fix this broken Farm Bill and provide the nutrition assistance Americans need. This bill is critically important, and Rural America deserves more than status quo,” said Senator Welch.  

Historically, Republicans and Democrats on the Agriculture Committee have worked together to craft a bipartisan Farm Bill. The Farm Bill has not been fully reauthorized since 2018. This year, Senate Republicans on the Agriculture Committee drafted a partisan bill that does not address the needs of Vermont’s small and family farmers, does little to address the devastating cuts to SNAP and nutrition assistance programs in Republicans’ tax bill, and fails to invest in rural communities.    

In August, the bill failed to advance out of Committee. Ahead of that vote, Senator Welch filed 42 amendments to the Farm Bill to better support small and family farmers, strengthen rural communities, and improve access to nutrition.  

Senator Welch is the Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit. Learn more about Senator Welch’s work by visiting his website or by following him on social media.    

###