Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
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Wednesday came and went, and the U.S. Senate still hasn't passed its 2007 Farm Bill. But there is a chance that the bill may actually be passed by the Senate in early December, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said Thursday.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., filed a motion for cloture Wednesday, a procedural maneuver that will force senators to vote on limiting further debate on the bill. The cloture vote will be held on Friday morning. If the cloture motion passes, debate on the bill will be limited to 30 hours and only amendments relative to the Farm Bill will be allowed.
Early Thursday, Harkin, who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee, held a conference call with ag reporters to discuss the lack of progress on passing the bill. Harkin said that if the Senate votes to pass the cloture motion Friday, the bill could be passed by the Senate as early as the first week of December. Then, "we can go to conference, we can finish the conference in a week and we can have the bill to the president before Christmas," said Harkin.
But that scenario will require the assistance of Republicans, whom Harkin blamed for "obstruction of the Farm Bill," which he said "is part and parcel of a broader Republican strategy of creating a giant train wreck" in Congress.
Audio of Harkin's opening statements on the conference call can be heard by clicking this link.
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