The House has passed a scaled-down version of a massive farm bill, putting off a fight over food stamp spending and giving Republican leaders a victory after a decisive defeat on the larger bill last month.
All five members of Oklahoma's Congressional delegation joined their GOP colleagues in voting for the bill.
U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) is the Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. He said in a statement he was pleased the bill made it through his chamber.
"Today was an important step toward enacting a five-year farm bill this year that gives our farmers and ranchers certainty, provides regulatory relief to small businesses across the country, significantly reduces spending, and makes common-sense, market-oriented reforms to agricultural policy," Lucas says.
http://youtu.be/aEK048p6ZEY
"The House just passed and I proudly supported Chairman Lucas's revised Farm Bill to provide clarity to our nation's hardworking farmers," U.S. Rep. James Lankford (R-Okla) said on his Facebook page.
The GOP leaders scrambled to get the bill to the floor Thursday and gather enough votes this week after making a decision to drop a politically sensitive food stamp section of the bill and pass legislation that contained only farm programs.
The plan faced opposition from Democrats, farm groups and conservative groups. But Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia navigated his colleagues to a 216-208 vote by convincing Republican members that this was the best chance to get the billpassed and erase the embarrassment of the June defeat.
