Illinois Congressman Bill Enyart was one of only 24 Democrats who voted in favor of the U.S. House's failed Farm Bill on Thursday.
Enyart, who sits on the House Agriculture Committee, supported the bill despite some misgivings but said he is disappointed in the bill’s failure.
"It was not a perfect bill,” he said. “There are a lot of things in there I didn't agree with. But the point of it was that it moved agriculture forward. It resolved some problems, and had the bill been passed, it would have gone to conference with the Senate's agriculture bill and some of those problems could have gotten ironed out there. "
Enyart did oppose, however, the House bill's $2 billion of annual cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps. He expects the current farm bill to get another extension.
"I would certainly work for a two-year extension rather than a one-year extension because a one-year extension is just going to put us right into election time next year, and I don't see any possibility of anything good happening a year from now," Enyart said.
Enyart and Cheri Bustos were the only Illinois Democrats who voted for the bill, along with all the state's Republicans.
Missouri's six Republican Congress members voted for the bill, while both Democrats did not.
