Farm bill conference committee member Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) says they worked on the legislation during the holiday break and are making progress.

“The conference committee is making steady progress,” Leahy said during a speech on the Senate floor Tuesday. “Chairwoman Stabenow, a Democrat, and Chairman Lucas, a Republican, deserve credit and our appreciation, for working closely together to bridge the wide differences between our two bills.”

Calling the current Farm Bill limbo “part of a string of artificial made-by-Congress dilemmas,” the senator criticized proposals for further extensions of the farm bill. “Farming is a business,” he said. “You can’t have Congress say ‘sorry, we’ll extend it for a couple weeks – bye, bye we’re going home on recess.'”

Leahy added that “saddling farmers with this needless uncertainty makes their difficult work even more difficult” and that continuing to extend the current bill prolongs direct payment subsidies which “senselessly costs taxpayers untold millions of dollars.”

Listen to or download Leahy audio here: Sen. Leahy floor speech