House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says she’s proud of how her Democratic colleagues have handled the House farm bill debate and she’s watching to see if the Republican leadership charges ahead with the bill.
On Monday, Pelosi noted the timeline of the bill has been altered many times, and she’s waiting to see if it actually comes to the floor next week as planned.
“Supposedly this is coming up soon, but it was going to come up the week before last. We’ll see if they go forward with it,” the California Democrat said in audio provided to Agri-Pulse by the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network.
Pelosi spent part of her day at the Polk County farm of Iowa Farmers Union President Aaron Lehman, where she heard about a wide range of policy concerns from about a half-dozen members of the Farmers Union and the Practical Farmers of Iowa. Farm bill concerns were raised, as were opinions about consolidation, renewable fuels, ag research, rural development, and more.
Zack Clark with the National Farmers Union tells Agri-Pulse that Pelosi’s staff reached out to Farmers Union about visiting a farm while the minority leader was in the state to speak at the Polk County Democratic dinner on Sunday. While she was in the Hawkeye state, which Donald Trump carried by 10 percentage points over Hillary Clinton in the last presidential election, Pelosi also carried the message that House Democrats care about rural America.
“I’m very proud of Collin Peterson and the members of our ag committee who are fighting for farmers,” Pelosi said. “They have your back, but we don’t have all the votes.”
But, she added, House Republicans don’t either.
For more on her visit, listen to today’s Agri-Pulse Daily audio.
Source: National Association of Wheat Growers