Peterson Says House has Enough Votes to Pass Farm Bill
After polling both sides of the aisle to see how a vote would turn out
Frustrated with House leadership’s refusal to formally poll even its GOP members to gauge whether there are enough votes to pass the House Agriculture Committee’s 2012 Farm Bill, panel ranking member Rep. Collin Peterson (D, MN) enlisted colleagues from both sides of the aisle to find out how many votes the Farm Bill would get if it was voted on Friday Sept. 28.
Peterson is frustrated with House Speaker John Boehner’s (R, OH) refusal to bring the committee bill to the floor because he asserts there aren’t enough votes to pass it, a Boehner mindset fostered by Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R, VA), Peterson says. Peterson polled both GOP and Democrat members just before Congress left for its election recess in mid-September, finding 125-150 Republicans would vote for the committee bill, and 85-115 Democrats similarly favor the ag panel’s bill. It takes 218 votes to pass a bill in the House.
