WASHINGTON — The Senate has approved a slimmed-down list of amendments to a farm bill that would set the nation’s food and agriculture policy for the next five years. The vote, late Monday, moves debate forward, with passage possible later this week.
The number of amendments to the bill had grown to about 300 and included everything from limits on federal crop insurance subsidies to a cutoff of foreign aid to Pakistan. But late Monday, the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, D-Nev., narrowed the list to 73 amendents.
"This is not a great agreement, but it's a good agreement," Reid said Monday night.
The Senate will begin voting on amendments today. Reid and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. and chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, had hoped to remove several amendments unrelated to the farm bill.
But several still made the final list and are expected to be considered today, including an amendment by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that requires the Defense Department to study the impact of $500 billion in spending cuts. Another unrelated amendment, by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., would cut off federal financing for presidential party conventions.
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