Iowa Congressman Bruce Braley says he is pleased to see the U.S. Senate approve the Farm Bill and send it to the president. Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican, voted against the Farm Bill after his provision to limit payments was stripped from the bill.
Braley, a Democrat from Waterloo, says he has a similar concern as Grassley, but not enough to vote against the bill. “There were a lot of compromises that ended up being made at the end of the day. He, like every other member of the Iowa delegation had to weigh whether on whole it was going to be good for the state,” Braley says. “All the rest of us voted for the Farm Bill and I’m proud of the vote I took — even though there were things in the bill that I would like to have seen changed.”
Braley says the payment limits were one of the top things he heard about from constituents. “There was strong support from Iowa farmers to move away from direct payments and to move toward a safety net that was based more crop insurance subsidies,” Braley says.
He says there were some regional issues in play that kept Grassley’s pay limits from happening. “At the end of the day you have to look at the total package and whether it’s the best opportunity to move us forward in a positive direction, and that’s why I voted for the bill,” according to Braley. Braley is running for the U.S. Senate in 2014.