Filemon Vela, Chairman of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities; Jim Costa, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture; and Collin Peterson, Chairman of House Agriculture Committee are leading efforts to secure the inclusion of language in the continuing resolution (CR) which would allow USDA to move forward with the recently announced Market Facilitation Program (MFP) payments.

“As Members of Congress who represent agricultural communities, we repeatedly hear from farmers in our districts whose livelihoods have been severely impacted by the ongoing trade wars. Although we mutually have concerns with President Trump’s approach to trade negotiations, we refuse to engage in the same tactics that punish our constituents and harm our communities that rely on agriculture. The upcoming CR should include the anomaly requested by USDA that would allow them to access the $30 billion in spending of the Commodity Credit Corporation prior to October 1st to ensure that MFP and farm bill payments continue to go out. We cannot and will not allow our farmers to be used as political pawns.”