U.S. Congressman Marlin Stutzman, who worked earlier this year to usher a Farm Bill that separated agriculture and nutrition programs through the House for the first time in nearly 40 years, issued the following statement today in reaction to news reports stating that agriculture and nutrition programs will be combined in conference committee:

“As a farmer and a conservative, I cannot vote for a Farm Bill that reverses a key reform to separate farm policy and food stamps. Earlier this year, the House won a historic victory for transparency and common sense by rejecting a bloated, trillion dollar spending package that was a Farm Bill in name only and instead passing farm and food stamp legislation separately. The conference committee should continue that work by including separate reauthorization dates for these different programs. Now is not the time for Congress to take a step backward by returning to business as usual.”

Background
On Oct. 30, Congressman Marlin Stutzman led a group of 27 members of the House in urging the Farm Bill conference committee to keep farm policy and food stamp policy separate. An electronic copy of the letter is available here.