this is the conserve a bill in this farm bill. and in all the discussions of the farm bill, it too often gets overlooked. in fact, it is our nation's largest and most enduring investment in conservation on private lands, which are the majority of our lands in america. this farm bill includes an historic agreement between supporters of traditional commodities and environmental and conservation groups to link conservation compliance to crop insurance. critically important as we eliminate direct payments and ask farmers to manage their risk through crop insurance, we do not want to create unintended consequences of risk for our land and our water resources. at the start of this farm bill process, commodity groups, conservation groups were on very different sides on this issue, but they sat down together, they listened and they found common ground. and it turned out their differences weren't as great as they thought they were. in fact, mr. president, no one has a bigger stake in protecting our land and our water than our farmers. with

in the last six or seven years in the senate leading up to the 2007-2008 farm bill on the 2014 -- 2013 and 2014 farm bill, if you will, i had roundtables with farmers and rural development people around my state. working with colleagues senator thune and senator durbin, we were able to streamline the farm safety net and make it more market oriented. it's the basis for the agricultural risk coverage program which was included in the commodity title by reforming commodity programs to better align with the market instead of simply sending out checks even when times are good. in many cases to farmers who don't need them. this bill will provide farmers with improved risk management tools while improving the integrity of these programs. the bill incorporates many portions of the local farms, food and jobs act that i introduced. we know too many farmers struggle to find local products for their markets and too many ohioans struggle to access fresh and affordable food. this legislation helps to put them together. we know what -- we know what's happened in rural america in terms of development

on adoption of the farm bill conference report. if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it adjourn under the previous order. the presiding officer: the the presiding officer: the you can follow the senate live on c-span2 when they return on tuesday. .. >> all of which are smaller in scale compared to the discussions last year. smaller tweaks and changes to the health care overhaul. but they will probably not get policy concessions and more republicans are acknowledging there is no desire to default on the debt. so there maybe proposals back and forth, but ultimately they are likely to pass some sort of increase in the federal borrowing limit before the end of the month. >> any change in the whitehouse's view to change? >> no, they are consistent and refusing to negotiate. their consistency has played a part in the negotiations. republicans expect them to stick to that. there is more awareness that that is not likely to change. >> and turning to immigration, what has been the reaction on capital hill and

the country has been without a farm bill since last september when the last farm bill expired. but the fight had lasted much longer than that. chief among the concerns, the reformers in the tea party felt as though too much money was being spent on food stamps. they had an enormous cut, some 10% of food stamp expenditures, that did not come anywhere close in the final product. about 1%, $800 million a year cut, still a lot of people very unhappy about that. environmentalists are unhappy, the administration defends this bill, saying this is the best they could do under the circumstances. some crop subsidy programs -- people living in manhattan were actually getting payments from the government. those come to an end, but critics say it is replaced by a new insurance program that is very wasteful. peanut farmers, cat fish farmers, all kinds of special interests are helped here. although there are cuts ash the margins. they over came some of the partisan difficulties here. they are trying to cut some of these programs, normally in washington, the farm bill a trillion dollars goody b

the bills, it is our responsibility pay the bills. we do not negotiate about paying the bills. >> very quickly, back to the farm bill. for those who are not as involved in it as you, what is the cost to the american axpayer. e are looking overall at about -- it's $900-some billion overall that includes our help for needy families. and the majority of that goes to those who find themselves in a difficult position. or maybe our seniors, people with disabilities, our veterans, disabled veterans coming home. and then the balance of that is the largest investment we make in land and water conservation as a country. the support for agriculture in the form of help when there's a disaster or a loss. and then finally in jobs. we have not talked about today the new effort around bio-energy. there's something called bio-based manufacturing, where we're bringing together manufacturing and agriculture to use agricultural products to offset chemicals in manufacturing. we have all kinds of new opportunities to create jobs in this bill and re-invest in research, in bio-based manufacturing and in other opportunities that will grow the

how critical is the farm bill it the united states? >> well, we are all eaters. >> we all eat food. >> the farm bill in many ways determines what we eat, where it comes from, what it costs. it touches on everything. it's critical. >> the united states is unique. we generate an incredible amount of food. >> that's where people need to draw the line. hunger is not a poverty issue. it's a justice issue. in the u.s. we are producing the right amount of food. there's surpluses of food. as a result of the spill people will have restricted access to that food. that's what is getting people up in arms. that's what we are hearing, people feeling like it's outrageous. it's a justice issue, not a poverty issue. >> why do you think the bill as passed now. i heard the term thrown out farm bill fatigue. i think a lot of observers of the farm bill process are really evincing a little more - gosh, i'm glad this is over, as opposed to parsing out each little bit. the development of this bill has been, offer the last three years, and, of course, particul

you have been keeping an eye on the farm bill and the changes. mary did a good job of explaining it. it's hard to understand what this means to you as a farmer, the changes in the farm bill. what is your sense of it? >> well, there really was very little help from the government in the past. subsidies they paid us were ridiculously not helpful. the program looks like it could be helpful. we'll have to purchase margin insurance. the margin - the milk price over feed costs will be sassed by the usda, and if the margin falls too narrow, we'll have margin insurance that we purchased. so it's probably a good thing. we'll try to fit in with that, where we process part of the milk. we are producers, sips we produce i am sure we'll fit in. >> you are an optimistic guy. i'm glad things are looking up for you. >> forget mars or the moon, coming up i talk to an entrepreneur who tells us why man should go to an asteroid. his team is working on it. you're watching "real money". keep it here. >> innovators like peter aim to make the impossible possible. an harv

board all put together in something we call the farm bill. this is most importantly a major bipartisan jobs bill that makes sure that 16 million people who work in agriculture from michigan to mississippi to oklahoma and everywhere in between have the support they need. this is an exports bill that will help expand opportunities for american agricultural exports. one of the few areas where our nation maintains a healthy, robust trade surplus. this is a research bill that will make a permanent long-term commitment through a new public-private foundation and other investments that will allow us to find solutions to pests and diseases and focus on innovations for the future. this is an energy bill that will help create the next generation of biofuels to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and will help farmers and rural small business owners generate their own power to improve energy efficiency and lower their costs for their businesses. this is an economic development bill that will help rural businesses and communities get broadband internet a

the family dairy. he joins us now from his farm. tim, good to see you again. thank you for being with us. i want to start before i talk about the impact of the farm bill, i want to ask you how things are going for you on the farm. >> well, it's cold, but things are going better. the cows are milking well, and we've got extra milk going out on the tanker at a good price. we've got bottle milk going most of the time. our broiler is down. we're trying to repair our politicabroiler and get our botg plant back online again. it's been opposite for a few days, but we'll be back up and running and we'll be good on both ends of the operation. >> last time i checked you needed an angel. you had turned to crowd funding to help keep your farm afloat, what did you end up doing? >> we found or she found us an investor that basically paid off the bank, and is refinancing us at this time. we're back up and running, and we're kind of in the middle of a lot of paperwork right now, but we never did stop running, we kept running, but we're confident we've got this problem 80% behind us, and we've moving ahead. >> part of the problem you were trying to do better. you were

tweeting in, i thought snap was separate from the farm bill? t: there was discussion early on, but in the end -- host: it came back. guest: it is part of the farm bill. host: ruth? caller: i was visiting salt lake iny, an incident took place a school lunchroom. some parents were in arrears with school lunch accounts. they were not, in a timely manner, informed of this. underas served to kids these circumstances. minutes later as they were eating their lunches it was taken away from them because -- in a very public manner and thrown away. was welanation for that waste the food once it had been distributed. impacts,the political what are the influences on these programs? leaning on them to suddenly take food out of the mouth of children? these cafeteria workers who were having to do this, some of them were crying. host: i think we got the point. caroline ratcliffe? guest: i would say that some of these free programs, particularly snap, did come under attack when we think back to the last presidential election. all sorts of talk about snap. as i me

now despite the successes of the farm bill, the days of republicans and democrats getting along may bever. thomas drayton takes a look at some of the major pieces of legislation. >> reporter: after passing the farm and budget bills in congress, other big issues appear to have stalled in washington. issues that effect millions in the u.s., and threaten the economic well-being of the country abroad. first immigration, after signalling he would seek immigration reform this year, house speaker john boehner is retreating a bit. >> i never underestimated the difficult in moving forward this year. >> and the biggest obstacle, says boehner is the president. >> listen, there's widespread doubt about whether this administration can be entrusted to enfours our laws. >> reporter: that charge reject by the white house. >> the president has an exceptional record of improving border security on his watch. there are more agents on the border now than ever consistently. >> reporter: another reason for the potential gridlock, the president's promise to act alone when congress won't. >> wherever and when

is this the last farm bill you see being passed this way? is the split in the house last year a foretaste of farm bill come?estion mar >> we all have a stake in having safe food. we have people who get up every day and fight the weather. no be else has to worry in their business of whether they will be wiped out by drought. we have a joint stake, both families, farmers, and consumers foodving in agricultural supply policy. i am proud that this is a farm bill for the future and not the past. we have been talking about that we should not beginning farm subsidies to farmers when prices are high. you should not get a check because you plant something. that is gone. get a billrmers will for crop insurance instead of a check. thereill get help only if is a weather disaster or if there is a market disaster. , theyy have a disaster will be able to get help like any other insurance. it will cover 65 to 75% of their loss. farmers will be paying thousands of dollars in crop insurance and get nothing in an individual year. this is different. the other th

president obama signed the farm bill into law. he events at michigan state university, the bill will fund the food stamp program and crop subsidies for farmers. the national unemployment rate dipped despite another disappointing jobs report. 113,000 jobs were added to the economy last month, about 70,000 less than expected. defense secretary chuck hagel said he's determined to end scandals within the military. hagel announced restorm reformst ethics. ththe opening ceremony of this year's winter olympics is officially in the books and nearly everything went as planned. there was a minor glitch when four of the five olympic rings opened up in the first part of the program, but despite concerns no security threats reported. in syria the u.n. said both sides have agreed to a cease-fire in the city of homs. 1 million people were evacuated tray. and rebels are accusing the syrian government using starvation as a weapon of war. those are the headlines. i'm tony harris. inside story is up next on al jazeera america. >> it was another month

we didn't have those tools until the farm bill was signed. now, we do. >> one of the other xoe ents of the farm bill, $41 billion in crop insurance for farmers. that replaces some of the money that had been there constantly given every year to farmers. how is that going to impact or change what happens in the farming business? >> this is a reformed bill that the president signed. it basically does away with the direct payments that were essentially payments made to commodity producers regardless of whether or not they had a good year or bad year. it is to replace, with a strong emphasis on crop insurance. the reality is that for far too long, it has not been much help to special crop producers. this encourages us to expand crop insurance protection to some specialty crop producers, which we have been doing in the last couple of years and then to essentially improve the other programs that will essentially surround crop insurance. our producers will be in the best possible shape to survive a difficult time. california, the state we've talked ab

coming up, we have been talking about the farm bill for months now. will discuss what made it into the $956 billion bill, next. ♪ >> within the hour, we expect the u.s. senate to begin voting on final passage of the farm bill. us now from capitol hill. this bill passed the house easily last week. it is expected to clear the senate and then president obama plans to sign it. if these folks were so easy in the end, why was it so hard to get here. >> what you have seen is a two-year struggle over the cost of food stamps. it is a very divisive social welfare debate. has historically been a nonpartisan bill. at a certain point, i think frankly is just getting kind of tired of it. they get to the point where they understand that this is the best deal they are going to get. they have to get some sort of policy done. in time, theyoint the to give the legislation go-ahead. >> what exactly is in this bill? >> you see a comprehensive look at food policy in america. a lot of this gets to be about crop subsidies and the farm part of the farm bill, but the biggest q

lynne, i'm going to talk about the president signing the farm bill friday during his visit to michigante university. here is part of what he said. >> despite the name, the farm bill is not just about helping farmers. the secretary calls it a jobs bill, an innovation bill, an infrastructure bill, a research bill, a conservation bill. it's like a swiss army knife. >> here is the downside to it. democrats have been critical of the farm bill because of the cuts to food stamps. it amounts to 1%. do you think it was the best compromise that could reached? >> yeah. there's nothing wrong with compromise. in this case, it did yield a bill. when you talk about symbols, the obama white house invited republicans to go to michigan state for the bill signing. none of them accepted the invitation. obama was flanked by democrats. it shows that the plus is they got a bill passed. the minus is republicans don't want to help at all advance obama's bipartisan story line. >> yeah. okay, aaron, based on that, based on the legislation and optics here, do you think this farm bill is a sign there could be more

president obama went to michigan to sign the new farm bill into latte. e president approved the measure on tuesday after delays, debates and disagreements. fireworks lit up the skies in sochi as winter olympics got under way. there were several glitches during the opening ceremony including an olympic ring that failed to light, and a stray dog wandering into the olympic stadium. >>> a retired police officer charged with killing a man at a florida movie theater will stay in jail. tonight a judge denied bail for 71-year-old curtis reeves. he's charged with killing 43-year-old man last month. natasha, give us more of the background on this case? >> reporter: tony, the judge's decision that reaves will remain in jail until the trial or until an appeal because the attorneys are appealing it, came after two very long days of testimony. it actually felt a bit like a trial in and of itself. now, reeves' attorney said he's an elderly retired police officer, and he doesn't pose a threat to anyone. we caught up with olsen's widow and reef's attorney to get their opi

speaking of farms, the senate cleared a massive farm bill for a vote. it would spend a trillion dollars over ten years. 80% of the bill is food stamps and much of the rest is subsidies for farmers and crop insurance. but our sharyl attkisson has been investigating and she's found quite a few surprises tucked in among the trillion. >> reporter: the farm bill creates a new 15-cent fee on every live cut christmas tree sold to create a board to promote christmas trees. that's just one of the provisions that has angered watchdogs like tom schatz of citizens against government waste. >> the farm bill is a disaster for taxpayers, it's a boon for the special interest. >> reporter: the new bill hikes spending to $200 million a year for an advertising program that promotes giant agriculture companies and industries. under the same program last year welch food got $844,000 to pitch grape juice over seas. sunkist, the largest fruit and vegetable marketing co-op in the world got $1.8 million. funding would be renewed for a fundamental catfish import inspection office

. >> a bill cleared the house on wednesday, cutting crop subsidies and the foodstamp prices. it seems it will be passed. the five year farm bill will cost nearly $100 billion, cutting $800 million in food stamps. that's a 1% slice from the $80 billion program. the cut will hurt people who depend on food stamps. conservatives say it is not enough. house republicans want to 5% drop in food stamp funding. for more on the politics of the farm bill, let's bring in alan ferguson, an agricultural reporter for cq roll call. most people think of the farm bill, their eyes roll back. it's a critical piece of legislation. explain that. >> is its wide-ranging. it -- it is wide-ranging affecting agriculture, conservation, snapfor low number people, the food stamps, soil conservation, dairy. as i said, it's wide-ranging and it sets policy for the next five years, giving the u f.d.a. authority to act on various things. it will spend $956 billion over 10 years, $756 billion for the snap or food stamp program. >> how many do farmers rely on the farm bill? >> it depends on what kind of farmer you are. this bill is heavily tilted towards the

what is at stake if president obama signs the farm bill into law. chael mckee tells us how the drop in the employment rate leads to fed policy going forward. let's begin with peter cook in washington with the fallout from the january jobs report. good afternoon. >> it was not the report that the white house wanted to see, this was the report that was decidedly mixed on the u.s. economy, raising questions about the strength of the economy as we head into the new year. a complicates janet yellen's job, and it adds more fuel to the fire in the debate in washington. 113,000 jobs added, but well below the estimate of 180,000. the unemployment rate down to 6.6%, a five-year low. the administration highlighting some of the positive signs in this report, but also saying it makes the case for extending those emergency on implement benefits that have expired. >> we are making progress. this report showed about 47 consecutive month up in the air job growth. rateong-term on implement is still 2.3% will which is historically and a near high. we need to extend tho

we didn't have the tools until the farm bill was signed now. do. >> one of the other skuchl poen e -- components, there is $40 billion in crop insurance for farmers. part of the money there, giving p given out every year to farmers. how will that impact and change. what happens i the farming business? >> this is a reform bill that the president signed. basically does away with the direct payments that were payments made to commodity producers regardless of whether they had a good year or bad year. strong emphasis on crop insurance. carom crop insurance has not been help to the few and vegetable producers and expands crop insurance protection to specialty crop producers which we have been doing in the last couple years. then to essentially improve the other programs that will, essentially surround crop insurance. so that our producers will be in the best possible shape to survive a difficult time. california, a state we have talked about, has a great deal of area as well. and this new farm bill creates a dairy support system. providing better he

so that's the first thing this farm bill does. it helps rural communities xwroe. y. it puts in place important reforms. the second thing this farm bill does that is huge is help make sure america's children don't go hungry. [ applause ] and this is where debbie's work was really important. one study show misser than half of all americans will experience poverty at some point during their adult lives. for most folks that's when you're young and eating ramen all the time. but for a lot of families it's, you know, a crisis hit, you lose your job, somebody gets sick, strains on your budget. you have a strong work ethic, but it might take you six months, nine months, a year to find a job. and in the meantime you've got families to feed. that's why for more than half a century this country has helped americans put food on the table when they hit a rough patch or when they're working hard but aren't making enough money to feed their kids. they're not looking for a handout, these folks. they're looking for a hand up, a bridge to help get them through some tough times. [ ap

the good socialism in the bill. which is the food stamp program. the farmthis dense combination of one of america's best socialistic ideas, food stamps, with one of america's most wasteful socialistic ideas, agricultural subsidies. the only question from the start was how much would the good socialism be cut? how much would food stamps be cut. that question was important enough to drown out any other question about the farm bill, which is pure agricultural socialism. some of the most conservative members of the government including mitch mcconnell voted for government subsidized insurance. every one of those republicans who voted for government subsidized insurance today has railed against government subsidized insurance. in another marketplace. they proved to do they were not opposed to government subsidized insurance in principle. they are simply opposed to government subsidized health insurance. and they are completely in favor of government subsidized insurance, giant agribusiness, and the giant insurance they are in favor of is insurance against the cr

. >>> right now, the president on his way to signing the farm bill after months of debate. the new initiative he's pushing along with the legislation to get more products made in america. >>> and the new winter weather warning that has leaders in atlanta making it another apology. >>> and tomorrow's snow will keep you inside all weekend. tom is back to break down when the system will clear out of >>> virginia republicans are looking into one of the governor's recent appointees. republicans believe he sold the chairmanship of the alcoholic beverage control board to long time gop supporter boyd marcus. republicans requested an investigation into the appointment, but that request was turned down by the attorney general. this comes after a report claiming marcus was made $140,000 for work on mccullough's campaign. >>> right now, president obama is on a quick trip outside of washington. just a few minutes ago, he tooa. he will sign the farm bill into law. the president could talk about other issues like immigration. the detroit free press reports the president could also meet wit

farm because they're in our the food stamps. or am i wrong? not sure i understand what you're saying. caller: the food stamps are fed through the farm bill. host: they are, but i think they were removed from this particular farm bill. caller: i seem to remember hearing squawks about cutting food stamps from the farm bill. host: a little bit later in this aboutm we will be talking hunger in america and what the department of agriculture calls food security. jim, one of our regular twitter followers, and tweets into respond to don, who works in flint -- host: from politico this to warn "bobby jindal of silent war on religion." "he urged states to pass laws designed to block overreach by the obama administration. address touches on several hot button issues including same-sex contraception. that jindal argues liberals will choose the mantra of antidiscrimination to force people to violate their religious beliefs. the american people are mired in a silent war that threatens -- that threatens the fabric of our communities, the health of our public square, and the endurance of our constitutional government." a little bit from bobby jindal's spee

now have a component opportunity here with the resources of this farm bill and the direction of this rm bill to go out in rural areas and bring manufacturing back. that's a huge opportunity. a lot of people don't realize this but if you take a look at the people who produce most of what we grow, it's about 1 million farmers. of that number, 70% require off farm income to keep the far. in other words, they're having a hard time just on farming alone. it's one of the reasons why where i travel, the affordable care act thing, doesn't get as much grief because people now see this as an opportunity to maybe not have to have themselves and the spouse working off farm jobs because most of the time it's for health insurance. bringing a manufacturing opportunity into a community like that creates a chance for that farmer to substantially expand its market opportunity, or her opportunity. at higher value added opportunities, not commodity prices but an ingredient prices. and it creates an opportunity for a son or a daughter, or a spouse, if they wish, to work in a manufacturing job that is a mu

further. >> a future millions of americans will share. >> dairy farmers across the country see the farm bill as a sign of relief, overhauling the subsidy program limiting milk production. one dairy farmer tells us those restrictions almost cost him his family farm. >> there was very little help from the government in the past. there are subsidies, and what they paid were ridiculously not helpful. this program looks like it could be helpful. we'll have to purchase margin insurance. the margin of the milk price over feed cost will be assessed by the u.s. da, and if the margin falls to narrow, we'll have margin insurance that we purchase. so it's probably a good thing. we'll have to try to fit into this with the operation, where we process part of the milk. we produce, i am sure we'll fit in. >> he was able to save his farm when he found an investor to pay off the bank. >> caught on camera - surveillance shows the moment that one man shot another over texting in the movie theatre. >> remembering philip seymour hoffman - hollywood comes to new york to say goodbye. >> a judge in florida denied ba

the senate passed the bill 68-32 sending it to the president who said he will sign the bill on friday during a trip to michigan here is some of the senate debate on the farm bill. democrat dick durbin and republican jeff blake. this is 20 minutes. >> mr. president, this is the conference report from the agricultural act of 2014. when the senator was on the floor earlier she has poured her heart and soul into this document and this work. two years ago we passed the farm bill on the floor of the senate, two years ago. she did it. senator roberts from kansas. i voted for it. i thought it was an exceptional effort on our part off. went to the u.s. also representatives as is the customer under the constitution to whether endive two years ago. and then a year ago they said, let's try again. let's pass the farm bill again in the united states senate in the hopes that the u.s. house of representatives will take it up. a year ago. mr. president, i asked. >> the senate will be in order. so a year ago the senators send this measure to the house of representatives for consideration. again, it languished. it may have been one of the longest-running conference committe

. >> nmolly, you wrote about the farm bill and your contention basically is that the passage of the farm bill, which goes back to the senate this afternoon, expected to get passed easily and end up on president obama's desk in the next 24 to 48 hours, is this a sign of better things to come on capitol hill? >> well, i do think it's proof that the congress is becoming a little bit less dysfunctional and let's specify that's a low bar. i'm not endorsing the farm bill as a policy but this is the third data point in quick success that we have that there are examples when politicians from both parties agree on something, they can actually come together and do it. what's made the congress so dysfunctional, even when both sides agree, they can't seem to actually get things done because they are so gridlocked. the farm bill, the omnibus bill and budget bill, three examples of things getting through congress, specifically getting through the house where so many pieces of legislation have gone to die. these measures are seeing through to explosicompletion. we can cautiously say there's a little bi

coming up, we'll preview president obama as he gets set to sign the farm bill at michigan state universityw breaking news here, that attempted hijacking on a flight from the ukraine to turkey, according to officials, a ukrainian passenger told the flight crew that he had a bomb on board. and then demanded that the flight be diverted to sochi, russia. the pilots flew into turkish air space where they were escorted by fighter planes. it has since landed in istanbul. there is an active hostage negotiation under way right now with the hijacker in turkey. we've got our eyes on this and we'll bring you more details as we get them. ng? yeah. getting your vegetables every day? when i can. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. two full servings of vegetables for only 50 delicious calories. there's nothing like being your own boss! and my customers are really liking your flat rate shipping. fedex one rate. really makes my life easier. maybe a promotion is in order. good news. i got a new title. and a raise? management couldn't make that happen. [ male announcer ] introducing fedex one rate.

with expanded access to insurance in case of disaster. >> i'm really proud that they finally got the farm bill passed and i think it will benefit us. in dairy not many people are coming back, especially in our state. >> reporter: chuck frye says it's too soon to tell how effective the bill will be in the long run, but it provides a much needed cushion for his farm. >> to me it means i'm going to be here at least the next five years and i can predict those prices. >> reporter: president obama says the legislation will not only help farmers, but the economy, too. >> investing in the communities that grow our food, helping hard working americans put that food on the table. >> reporter: frye hopes the bill will help the next generation hang onto this 1,500 acres and continue to be a part of feeding america. danielle nottingham, cbs news, frederick county, maryland. >> the bulk of the price tag of the bill goes toward snap, but that food assistance program will lose $8 billion over the next 10 years. >>> meanwhile employment numbers are lower than expected. >> that tops our look at the most importa

the farm bill covers apple growers but this farm bill is rot ton the core -- rotten to the core and they either rip out the poor or we're all going to pace through the nose. departing from form, to explain what is going on the senate passed a $96 billion farm bill that covers from 949 pages. that is a billion bucks a page, and over the next ten years, it covers a lot of stuff that has nothing to do with covering farmers and everything to do with a bipartisan dash for -- $2 million worth cheap production and marketing. how do you market cheap? $3 million to create a special advisory board to promote christmas trees? don't they kind of sell themselves? 17 million for a catfish oversight program to ensure states where catfish are big earn a profit guaranteed every year. i i know a lot of small biz guys who would do that. $44,000 for peanut crop insurance. 86 million for organic food research. 1 billion, for a cotton income protection plan which means it's going to cost you the cotton shirt off your back. now you throw in millions more of grants for the maple syrup industry, and alfalfa grow

it will be live on the c-span networks. >> farm equipment in the background because president obama is going to sign the farm bill here shortly. this is the equine center at michigan state university and east lansing, michigan. president obama here with a number of democrats. while he has been in michigan, president obama has launched this afternoon with the new mayor of detroit. president obama signing the farm bill which passed this week in the u.s. senate. the house and senate are back next week and the house returning monday at noon eastern for general speeches, 2:00 p.m. for legislative work, and the senate back at 2 p.m. and they will take up the bill that would repeal the cuts to military pensions. back monday at 2 p.m. for their work in the house next week. a number of bills including one that deals with the consumer financial protection bureau and has coverage is here on c-span and the senate on c-span two. c-span2. >> ladies and gentlemen introduce the president of the united states, please welcome ben lacross. [applause] >> good afternoon. i grew cherries, apples, and plums in michigan. [applause] i al

bill. how is the white house feeling about signing the legislation. >> reporter: you have president obama praising the fact the farmfor months, craig and republicans wanted large cuts to the food stamp program. they wound up getting about $8 billion and farmers are saying this is good for them. it will increase crop insurance, decrease some subsidies that senator stabenow of michigan thought were being a drag on the farm industry. it is a mixed bag and certainly didn't get everything that the president and democrats wanted but they see it as a reasonable compromise, $8 billion to food stamps cuts which republicans were asking for as well. >> nbc's kristen welker for us, thank you and thank you for joining us on this thursday afternoon. that's going to do it for me. i'm craig melvin. up next, "andrea mitchell reports." ve a big meeting when we land, but i am so stuffed up, i can't rest. [ male announcer ] nyquil cold and flu liquid gels don't unstuff your nose. they don't? alka seltzer plus night fights your worst cold symptoms, plus has a decongestant. [ inhales deeply ] oh. what a relief it is. there's nothing lik

after these remarks, the president will sign the agriculture of 2014 bill, aka the farm bill. t it was interesting listening to the bit we did, again mentioning income and equ equality. >> this is all part of the push to own helping the middle class and even the farm bill is part of an initiative talking about called made in rural america. what the president is also going to talk about, this farm bill took four years to do. but it was completely bipartisan. there were cuts in food stamps that the democrats didn't like, but you ended paying farmers no the to farm. the direct subsidies to farmers. instead it was replaced by an insurance program. the congress, it took a long time, but they actually managed to work something through. overall will be good for the country. both republicans and democrats agree on that. >> again, the 10-year 1 trillion dollar farm bill. the other big news, not great news, the job report in a moment. we have to talk about this exclusive interview that happened between my colleague kate baldwin and the vice president. vice president biden touching on whe

the first thing this farm bill does, it helps rural communities grow and gives farmers some certainty. it puts in place important reforms. the second thing this farm bill does that is huge that make sure that america's children do not go hungry. this is where debbie's work was really important. one study shows that more than half of all americans will experience poverty at some point during their adult lives. for most folks, that is when you are young and you are eating ramen all the time. for most families it is a crisis hits, you lose your job, somebody gets sick emma strains on your budget, you have a strong work ethic but it might take you six months, nine months, year to find a job. in the meantime, you have got families to feed. that is why for half a century this country has helped americans put food on the table when they hit a rough patch. or when they are working hard and are not making enough money to feed their kids. they are not looking for a handout. they're looking for a handout. a bridge to help get them through tough times. [applause] we sure do not believe that child

what do you think of the $8.6 billion in cuts to food stamps in the farm bill? was that really necessary to pick on the most vulnerable americans and the number of people who are going to be effected by this? >> i voted against the farm bill for a variety of reasons. it is chock full of huge taxpayer subsidies for some of the biggest agribusinesses in the country. you know, we hear our republican colleagues talk about interference in the marketplace. the ag bill is exhibit a for interference in the marketplace by way of providing these big subsidies. in the context of a bill that provided these huge subsidies to continue, i don't see how you can justify the changes they made to the food and nutrition programs. i think they did the best they could. republicans tried to cut 40 billion. they were able to limit the damage. in the context of the bill, i just don't see how people would support that. >> all of that is spot on, what you're saying. at the end of the day it comes down to this, we picked on the most vulnerable americans with the farm bill. we won't turn to

the food stamp program. our bill makes it much, much stronger and actually mandatory. yeah. i voted against the farm bill. don't like the fact that we combine it. the nutrition program where the commodity programs. i think that makes no sense. split them up and have two different bills, which is what we initially had coming out of the house. obviously the bill ended up the way it did look. the years we've had recently in agriculture. and that's why you saw several of us vote against the final package. >> the policy we need to pursue is one that changes the character of public assistance so that it offered a hand up, not a handout. and that's what the food stamp policy in congressman jordan's bill is trying to do. and that's to be distinguished from what happened in the farm bill context because it changes around the edges some suggestions that hopefully a few states will do some requirements but it's not changing the character of public assistance in a way that will promote self sufficiency. >> there's no reason we can't come back to this again next year. >> right. >> it is possible that next year you hav

let me talk to you about the 2014 farm bill. i think that is -- it is important for people to understand the opportunities that that bill creates. we obviously weighted a long time to get that bill, and a lot of us worked really hard to encourage its passage. and we finally got it through the process with the strong bipartisan vote. with great leaders among mayor art to cut agricultural committee leaders, then chairman, ranking member, the did a terrific job of shepherding it through a very, very difficult process. does, indeed -- it is, indeed, a reform bill. it started with the notion that we wanted to change the safety net to a safety net that was explainable to not just folks in agriculture, but just as importantly, folks outside of agriculture. as i said earlier, says such a small percentage of our country farms. that means that the vast majority of americans to not. and they may not fully understand or appreciate the risks that are associated with agriculture, and they may not understand why it's important to them to have a

crop that i think could be so beneficial to us over the long run with new, as i said, school lunches, but just healthier products. our new farm bill will do the research on specialty crops that are so important for us in the pacific northwest. this is the first time in this farm bill that the reauthorization makes long-term development in specialty crop block grant programs and specialty crop research initiatives. again, i want to thank the gentlewoman from michigan for her help on that understanding how important these specialty crops are. they are not -- i think everybody in america knows, and around the world knows the brand of washington apples. i can tell you, i've been in the chinese marketplace and seen how people took off the washington label, particularly on fuji apples and tried to stick it on other apples because they knew if that sticker was on that apple everybody in china would consume those apples even though they weren't really washington fujis. what this specialty research initiative does is say we are going to not let apples, pears and cheer reus basically constantly fall off the radar as it relates to research b

president obama was in michigan at the time signing the farm bill. >>> gangs running big time drug rings and ordering hits on their enemies all from behind bars. how? cell phones. tonight the governor of maryland says enough. >> reporter: i'm scott broom in baltimore where today maryland prison officials revealed one way they aimed to reduce the number of cell phones smuggled into prison. the phones have been used by gangs to do everything from ordering hits on witnesses to running drug conspiracies on the inside and outside. today governor martin o'malley visited the epicenter of the crisis the baltimore city detention center. the latest reform unveiled today an electronic system that intercepts cell phone signals and renders the phone useless for anything but a 911 call. >> our actions to make sure detainees don't have aspect to cell phones is one aspect of what we're doing to make our facilities more secure. >> reporter: scott broom, wusa9. >>> 50 years ago today the beatles made history right here in this country. >> plus new unemployment numbers are out, those stories and more makin

bill for agriculture in 2013. that's good news, the five year farm bill signed by the president today in michigan will help these farmers grow even more. i'm on a cattle and soybean farm in central louisiana. antonio harris joins me now. how is this going to help you guys, the signing of this farm bill? >> for small farmers like myself we need the technical assistance that was once able from the nrcs, the fsca office and that enabled us to improve our infrastructure our pastures and our cattle. >> is that going to improve jobs? >> some of these guys lost those jobs in some of those officest, maybe we can get those guys back to give us technical assistance and young guys coming out in agriculture. >> how about the small farmers versus the big box guys? >> exactly. what we're getting in terms of assistance and what they've been getting in terms of assistance, you know they have tweaked this thing for subsidies. that's happened to all of us. >> let's talk to your dad. part of what the farm bill has in it that the president has signed is inclement weather, bad weather, farmers get subsidies because of that. let's talk to an

a republican congressman tried to pass a bill returning water to the farms. e governor called that an unwelcome and divisive intrusion. the bill is likely to die in the u.s. senate. in this lelection year, the political battle is heating up. now the same persistent ridge of high-pressure is also affecting oregon, which is it's a major producer of agricultural products and wine. my colleague is in portland, oregon with this report on how that state is faring. >> reporter: looking around here in portland, you wouldn't think that oregon has a water-supply problem, but it does. so what has caused the difficulty? well, the last few months of 2013 were very dry. rainfall wasn't nearly as much as people were hoping or expected. and although there are a few flurries of snow at the moment, there hasn't been a lot in the winter, and that means there is not a lot packed on the hills. water in oregon is incredibly important, as it is in many places. it helps fertilize the crops, fisheries, tourism, and helps keep the wildfires in the summer, down to a man manageable level

the farm bill that do much to help farmers. i had the awe disty to go through it line-by-line. to hear some critics you would think i was doing line. how dare i point out cat fish are getting $17 0 million. or the cotton growers and alfalfa growers. i predicted it years of locust would come out fast and furious. sure enough they did. an e-mail nther fat cat who gets the and and dare complains. who are you calling fat cat? i'm not really allthat much in to it. aol you hate farmers that much? no. i hate watching them screwing farmers and slapping their name on a bill. neil, a an a knuckle head, if we don't look agricultural industry game over. hey, neil. try i next time. if it includes spending over $17 0 to monitor cat fish. to be phase, the vast majority of e-mails more suppoive of than opposed. i have comfortable enough ego i continue care. sam, for example, in atlantic writes what part of broke can't they understand. or tanya in pittsburgh laments we keep it up we're going down. we're skipped. lake you said, republicans signed off on the response it makes them also -- you're

the farm bill that do much to help farmers. i had the awe disty to go through it line-by-line. to hear some critics you would think i was doing lines. how dare i point out cat fish are getting $17 0 million. or the cotton growers and alfalfa growers. i predicted it years of locust would come out fast and furious. sure enough they did. an e-mail another fat cat who gets the land and dare complains. who are you calling fat cat? i'm not really all that much in to it. aol you hate farmers that much? no. i hate watching them screwing farmers and slapping their name on a bill. neil, a an a knuckle head, if we don't look agricultural industry game over. hey, neil. try i next time. if it includes spending over $17 0 to monitor cat fish. to be phase, the vast majority of e-mails more supportive of than opposed. i have comfortable enough ego i continue care. sam, for example, in atlantic writes what part of broke can't they understand. or tanya in pittsburgh laments we keep it up we're going down. we're skipped. lake you said, republicans signed off on the response it makes them also --

in the farm bill. the senate passed the bill on tuesday. it is readdressed every five years, it's subsidies and food stamps. the representative manages to attach other pet projects. for example, the bill finances a lot of experiments, more than 100 pilot programs and has 200 million for an advertising program for big agro businesses. why do they need that money. lawmakers are quick to claim there has been a $23 billion cut in excess spending. if you adjust for inflation, it means $250 billion in new spending. it includes a $0.15 tax on christmas trees. and there are billions in subsidies and research money. public interest groups are fuming because 4% of agribusiness collects 74% of farm bill subsitize. -- subsidies. >> there's a million for farms in remote locations. there's money for catfish inspection, when there's already a program for that in the f.d.a. it's better. there was money allocated for a reality show in india to promote cot job. welsh food got a wrap. it's produced they say lan sales. thi

the farm bill is so loaded with pork you just can't sort out what is, well, the meat from the fat. try this. $2 million for sheep production and marketing. check. 10 million for christmas tree production. check. 170 million for cat official oversight. don't ask. check. 119 million for crop insurance. check. 100 million for organic food research. check. 150 million to promote farmers markets. i thought they were doing fine. 3.3 billion smackers for a cotton income production plan. check. i have no idea what that means. the list goes on and on and on, and the pork keeps piling up and up and up as the nation's debt is going up and up and up. got our charles payne fedup. this is ridiculous, and both republicans and democrats had a huge hand in it. >> president obama spoke at michigan state today and the talked about the bipartisanship in this. of course it's bipartisan. this is typical washington, dc pork. and you didn't miss in the 100 million to promote maple syrup. i'm sure their business is hurting pretty good. how about $5 million to evaluate the impact of allowing schools to off

thatontinues to dog to this program. >> there is not owing to be anyo reopening of this debate because the farm billigned. >> president obama is planning n the farm bn friday at michigan state univergaty.. what you are also seeing is a netiation taking place in the next year tween the u.s.ee depa agriculture andcu the crop i ers. a lot of these issues will come up during nupotiation but it is different than say, aan s congressio l authorization.iz for pe wanted to reform this program, this was a big opportunity. they did not get what they wanted. 's talk about peopleeople getting wh y want owh y wa they are entitled to when itd to the food stamp program. how big is the program? 47 million americans are part of the food stamp program. >> it dramatically increased wi ecession.on.... when people look aen peo prograp they see that the numbers hat t unemployment. not goth participatiopas continue to that makes people wonder whether the spending on this program continues to bcontinueble. b e cut in the farm bill comes out to 1% and last year it was illion progr80.ilro that is not given to needyee families

the senate. what is in the bill? it is a rare bipartisan accomplishment. sounds pretty good. is it? roughly 80% of farmfunding goes to the food stamp program known as snap. the final farm little, the one that will be headed to president obama's desk in just a few hours, contains tax cuts. today the good congress people of the united states are pretty proud of their handy work. >> this is a nutrition bill. it makes your families have a safety net just like we do for farmers. the savings and food assistance comes solely from addressing fraud and misuse while maintaining and protecting critical benefits for those who need help, most often temporarily to put food on the table for those families while they get back on their feet. >> the result is a 1% cut in funding to the program. while no snap recipients will be dropped, 850,000 people will see a reduction in assistance. it replaces them with a new crop insurance program. critics of these subsidies say they still go to the nation's wealthiest farmers. >> we tried to put some income limitations to the benefits of the wealthiest in this country when it come