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Faso votes for Farm Bill that fails

May 18, 2018 2:04 pm

Rep. John Faso voted for the Farm Bill May 18, but not enough of his fellow Republicans joined him, and it failed in the U.S. House, 198-213. Conservative Republicans wanted an immediate vote on a stringent immigration bill. House Speaker Paul Ryan promised a June vote on that bill, but that was not enough for 30 Republicans voting against the Farm Bill. No Democrats voted for the bill, because Republicans added more work requirements for recipients of food stamps. That led to a May 3 pray-in outside Faso's Kingston office. “Seventy-five percent of the people [in the program] who can work are working; the other people mostly have some kind of disability, some kind of mental illness.” Rep. Paul Tonko, a Democrat who represents Albany County and parts of Rensselaer County, tweeted, "This terrible #GOPFarmBill would have hurt millions of American farmers and families. Thanks to more than 200 of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, today those farmers and families prevailed."