May 18, 2018

U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Representative,

You will soon consider H.R. 2, the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018. On behalf of the more than one million members and supporters of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), I urge you to oppose this legislation.

While we applaud the addition of work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, this is not enough to overcome the infirmities with the commodity portion of H.R. 2. The House Committee on Agriculture has once again reported a Farm Bill that will prove to be an expensive and wasteful disaster for taxpayers.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the 2018 Farm Bill is estimated to cost $868 billion over the next 10 years. Instead of reining in out-of-control subsidy programs and closing special interest loopholes, H.R. 2 continues to endorse payments to millionaire and billionaire farmers and fund many programs that have been around since the Great Depression.

To address the concerns of taxpayers and watchdog groups, President Trump and several members of Congress proposed legislation to make commonsense reforms to the Farm Bill. These fiscally responsible amendments were mostly rejected and denied floor consideration in favor of maintaining pricey provisions of H.R. 2 that reinforce cronyism, waste, and dependence on government handouts.

The 2018 Farm Bill is a disingenuous blow to serious-minded reformers of anti-competitive agricultural policies. It also tramples the interests of taxpayers and consumers.

I urge you to oppose the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018. Americans deserve a free-market Farm Bill rather than an extension of the status quo. All votes on H.R. 2 will be among those considered for CCAGW’s 2018 Congressional Ratings.

Sincerely,

Tom Schatz
President, CCAGW

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