Many of his Republican colleagues are in Milwaukee this week for the convention, but Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia put peanut growers and his family ahead of attending his party’s big party.
“It’s not that I don’t want to be there, it’s that I have a six year old and a ten year old and I had four other things scheduled in the district,” said Rep. Scott.
Scott, who is Vice Chair of the House Agriculture Committee and Chairman of the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, addressed the conference about the current state of the delayed farm bill. “It’s harder now to get anything done in Washington D.C.,” said Scott. “We’ve got to get a farm bill and that farm bill has got to take care of American production agriculture.”
Several of Scott’s priorities to ensure a strong farm safety net were included in the House version of the farm bill, which passed out of committee in May, and he considers it the best bill for production agriculture. While there is a possibility a bill could pass before the end of the year, he expects it will be put off until 2025 when he is optimistic things might be better.
“I certainly hope that President Trump becomes the president of the United States and he selects someone like Sonny Perdue to be the secretary of agriculture who actually cares about production agriculture,” said Scott.
Listen to Scott’s remarks and press conference below.
SPGC24 Rep. Scott remarks 12:44
SPGC24 Rep. Scott press 5:18