Bipartisan Farm Bill that Expands Rural Broadband Passes U.S. Senate, Protecting Critical Farm, Food Programs—McCaskill Statement
Senator: ‘With Missouri’s farmers fearful that retaliatory tariffs may have a damaging effect on their businesses, this bill is a critical victory to give a bit more certainty to our producers during these uncertain times’
WASHINGTON – Following a bipartisan vote in the U.S. Senate to pass the Farm Bill which expands rural broadband, provides critical support to Missouri farmers and maintains key food assistance programs for families in need, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill issued the following statement:
“Our farmers, ranchers and producers need broadband to succeed in today’s day and age, and the passage of today’s bipartisan Farm Bill expands our ability to secure coverage for Missouri communities that lack access. With Missouri’s farmers fearful that retaliatory tariffs may have a damaging effect on their businesses, this bill is a critical victory to give a bit more certainty to our producers during these uncertain times. That bipartisan victory—which will provide vulnerable families across Missouri the SNAP benefits they rely on to feed their children—is an example of how Congress ought to work, compared to the partisan vote in the House that would enact draconian cuts and restrictions to this vital program.”
The Senate’s bipartisan Farm Bill expands resources to deploy broadband to rural communities, including: directing matching grants to be used to spur rural broadband deployment; authorizing $150 million annually for broadband deployment support; prioritizing areas that have scarce broadband service; and increasing the Community Connect Program funding up to $50 million annually through 2023. In stark contrast to the House Farm Bill, the Senate bill makes just minor changes to existing farm programs and fundamentally no changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
In April, McCaskill highlighted the legislation’s importance to Missouri farmers and to families in need, and called on Senate leaders to pass a strong, bipartisan Farm Bill that keeps with tradition in supporting Missouri’s agriculture producers and maintaining the nutrition assistance programs on which hundreds of thousands of Missourians depend. In her letter, McCaskill wrote, “I supported the 2014 Farm Bill because it preserved and extended a much needed safety net for Missouri agriculture while also providing critical support for nutrition programs. The historic partnership between the anti-hunger community and production agriculture has transcended party lines for decades and this partnership must continue.”
Continuing to stand up for Missouri agriculture in the face of proposed tariffs by China on American soybeans, pork, and beef, along with aircraft, trucks, and other goods in retaliation for the Trump Administration’s announcement it will place tariffs on Chinese goods, McCaskill called on the Administration to “scale back this escalating situation before it becomes a trade war that does nothing but slam some of Missouri’s most critical economic engines.”
McCaskill has been a longtime supporter of Missouri agriculture producers and nutrition programs, and fought to pass the 2014 Farm Bill. McCaskill has been honored six times with the National Farmers Union’s Golden Triangle Award.
Visit mccaskill.senate.gov/
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