05.23.17

Hoeven: President's Budget Proposal Provides Strong Support for Military But Does Not Adequately Support Agriculture

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven, chairman of the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, today issued the following statement in response to the president’s proposed budget:

“We support the President’s focus on rebuilding our military, securing our border and providing strong support for our veterans. We also continue working to find savings where we can by reforming agencies like the EPA. However, as we said earlier, the President’s budget for agriculture does not work.

“Cuts to programs like crop insurance, conservation reserve program (CRP), and agriculture research are unacceptable, especially when our farmers and ranchers face challenges due to low commodity prices. We need to prioritize funding programs important to our producers and rural communities, because they are already doing their part to help reduce the debt and deficit. When the current farm bill was passed in 2014, it was calculated to save more than $23 billion. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) now estimates that the farm bill will actually save $104 billion over 10 years. 

“As chairman of Ag Appropriations, I’ll work to ensure that we maintain our agriculture budget because good agriculture policy benefits every American, every day. The president’s budget is a proposal. Congress will now go to work to fund our priorities.”

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