Bill Owens

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Washington, Aug 3 - Congressman Bill Owens urged House Speaker John Boehner today to call the House of Representatives back to Washington to vote on the 2012 Farm Bill.

Owens voted against a measure Thursday that would allow the House to adjourn for more than five weeks until September 10^th. The motion to adjourn failed by a bipartisan vote of 150-265. Due to this vote, the House must meet in regular pro forma sessions periodically for the next five weeks, but no major legislative issues are expected to be addressed until September.

“I voted against adjournment because we have a limited amount of time to finish our work on the Farm Bill,” Owens said. “Federal agriculture programs critical to New York farmers will expire at the end of September.  It is unacceptable for the House to leave Washington without approving its version of the bill so that negotiations may begin between the House and Senate on a final version to send to the President. I urge Speaker Boehner to call the full House back to work, and both parties to work together to get this done.”

For weeks, Congressman Owens has urged House Leadership to build on the bipartisan work accomplished in the House Agriculture Committee and bring a 5-year extension of the Farm Bill to the floor for a vote. The Senate passed its version of the 2012 Farm Bill on June 21.

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