An Iowa congressman has stern words for an Iowa senator involved in Farm Bill negotiations. Republican Congressman Jim Nussle says it’s time for democrat Senator Tom Harkin to quit the nonsense and dump the Senate-version of the Farm Bill. Nussle calls the Senate bill the “most confusing document that’s ever been created.”Harkin, who’s chairman of the Senate Ag Committee, and Nussle, who’s chairman of the House Budget Committee, are both on the House/Senate conference committee trying to come up with a compromise Farm Bill. This past week, a new calculation found the Senate-passed version of the Farm Bill is six billion dollars over the spending limit. Nussle says it’s a ridiculous proposal and that will make it difficult to come to some agreement before Easter.Negotiators had hoped to hammer out a compromise by March 22nd, when Congress recesses for the Easter break. Now, Nussle says Harkin should go back to the drawing board and pare down the Senate-passed Farm Bill so it fits the budget target. Democrats and republicans have agreed that farm spending should grow by 73-and-a-half million dollars over the next 10 years.
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