it will be interesting to see how frank lucas and debbie stabenow can work together in the future. >> that's one point. the other we should be mindful of is the michigan senate race is a sleeper race, where eleven is retiring. republicans think they might have a good opportunity to hold on to. if that happens, that's a problem for democrats because they'd like to confine the competitive races to no more than six or seven. if they have to start defending seats like michigan, colorado, the majority of the senate could be at stake for democrats. it's not hers to lose, but she certainly has insights into it and something is afoot in michigan that suggests that that might be in play. >> how involved was she in this negotiation? >> some think the white house was not involved enough. during the bush white house, you had set farm bill plans, active lobbyingthis was much more beside the on the hill. scenes. the usda at the very end was over dairy policy. a very passionate dispute over the new dairy program. the house and democrats and republicans were very much at a loggerhead about this. ther

it will be interesting to see how frank lucas and debbie stabenow can work together in the future. we should bepoint mindful of is the michigan senate race. thinkone that republicans they might have an opportunity to hold onto. they would like to confine the competitive races to no more than six or seven. if they have to start defending colorado and new hampshire, this senate could be at stake for democrats. it is not hers to lose, but she has insights into it. that seat might be in play. was she in this negotiation. ? >> some think the white house was not involved enough. this was much more beside the scenes. end was at the very over dairy policy. the house and democrats and republicans were very much at a loggerhead about this. they brought in the chief economist from the usda. that key moment was a light touch. they came to arrest him lucian on a difficult issue. the question now is implementation. >> ed o'keefe of the washington .ost and stebenow thank you for being a newsmakers. >> today on c-span, the state of the union address and the republican response. this is followed by

we had representatives frank lucas, a republican, working with collin peterson, a democrat.n from our own secretary of agriculture, tom vilsack, who deserves a big round of applause. [ applause ] congress passed a bipartisan farm bill that is going to make a big difference in communities all across this country. and just so they don't feel left out, i want to recognize one of your congressman who's doing an outstanding job, dan keelding. and somebody who was just a wonderful mentor to me when i was in the senate and has been just a great public servant not just for your state but for the entire country, carl levitt. he's always out there. especially when it comes to our men and women in uniform. we're very proud of him. and while we're at it, pat leahy from vermont. there are a lot of dairy farms up there. andy klobucar from minnesota. all that cold air is blowing from minnesota down into -- now, despite its name, the farm bill is not just about helping farmers. secretary vilsack calls it a jobs bill, an innovation bill, an infrastructure bill, a research bill, a conservatio

i want to thank her as well as our house committee counterpart, frank lucas of oklahoma, and ranking member colin peterson of minnesota as well as the members of their staff as we worked our way through the conference between the house and senate agriculture committee leadership. i want to thank, too, our majority staff director, chris odomo and all of chairwoman stabenow's staff for their hard work in developing this farm bill. our committee clerk jesse williams and her staff have also provided great assistance throughout this process. they have worked diligently and competently and thoughtfully on this legislation. their dedication to developing the bill in the conference report led to long days, many working weekends, and we do owe them a very strong debt of gratitude and commendation for this work product. my staff director t.a. haucks has been at the job it seems like day and night for a long time to help make sure we passed a bill that reflected the sentiment and the suggestions for this congress for modernization of our agriculture legislation. james glick also worked closely

we have representatives frank lucas working with collin peterson. we have a terrific contribution from our own secretary of agriculture, tom vilsack, who deserves a round of applause. congress passed a bipartisan farm bill that is going to make a big difference in communities all across this country. i want to recognize one of your congressmen who is doing an outstanding job. and somebody who was just a wonderful mentor to me when i was in the senate, a great public servant not just for your state but for the entire country, carl levin. he is always out there especially when it comes to our men and women in uniform. we are very proud of him. [applause] while we're at it, we have a couple of out-of-towners. pat leahy from vermont. there are a lot of dairy farms up there. and from minnesota. all that cold air is blowing from minnesota down into -- despite its name, the farm bill is not just about helping farmers. secretary volsack calls it a jobs bill, and innovation bill. infrastructure bill. a research bill. a conservation bill. it is like a swiss a

from mississippi, senator cochran, but also to our counterparts in the house to representative frank lucas, chairman of the ag committee this the house, and colin peterson, the minority member in the house, one from oklahoma, one from minnesota, north and siewt south, east and west, democrats, republicans, senators, houses members to fashion a product that is truly a compromise but is a vital solution that we need to put in place and we need to put it in place now for our farmers and ranchers. so i begin with this slide. with this chart. and i have to say it's the only one i brought. the same chart i'm going to end up with. i'm going to talk about the farm bill for a few minutes, but here's why a farm bill is so important. and it's not just that it's so important to our farmers and ranchers. it's important to every single american. and beyond. for these simple reasons pacific northwest the farmers and ranchers we have in this country produce the highest quality, lowest cost food supply in the world. the highest quality, lowest cost food supply in the world. that's what we're talking about.