The following statement is from Ms. Ryan Alexander, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, regarding H.R.2 The Agricultural and Nutrition Act of 2018 (the 2018 Farm Bill):

Dear Members of Congress:

Taxpayers for Common Sense urges you to vote no on H.R. 2, the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018.

The 295 million Americans without an elected representative in the House Agriculture Committee deserve a seat at the farm bill negotiating table. But the Rules Committee decision to reject nearly every reform amendment for the agribusiness safety net denies the majority of Congress this opportunity.

Federal agricultural policy is too important for the overwhelming majority of Congress to be excluded from substantively debating a bill that impacts all of their constituents.

There is significant room for greater cost effectiveness, accountability, and transparency in federal agriculture policy. Supporting the following common sense amendments – the few that were allowed by the Rules Committee — will provide small steps toward reducing negative effects on taxpayers.

* No. 1 Reps. Foxx (R-NC), Davis (D-IL), Shuster (R-PA), Blumenauer (D-OR), Chabot (R-OH), Speier (D-CA), Barletta (R-PA), Perry (R-PA), Biggs (R-AZ), and Kind (D-WI) to apply common sense, free-market reforms to the command-and-control sugar program.

* No. 6 Rep. Faso (R-NY) to expand USDA’s ability to measure and report on taxpayer return on investment in conservation programs.

* No. 16 Rep. Biggs (R-AZ) and Rep. Francis Rooney (R-FL) to deauthorize wasteful USDA bioenergy programs.

* No. 24 Rep. Brat (R-VA), Blumenauer (D-OR), and Titus (D-NV) to establish transparency and accountability requirements for checkoff programs.

The time has come for U.S. agricultural policies to become more cost-effective, transparent, accountable to taxpayers, and reflective of today’s modern production practices. H.R. 2 is not a positive step in this direction.

For more information, please contact me or Joshua Sewell of Taxpayers for Common Sense at 202-546-8500 x 116, or josh[at]taxpayer.net.

Sincerely,

Ryan Alexander

President, Taxpayers for Common Sense