McConnell agrees to criminal justice vote
Bid to fund farm safety
WASHINGTON, Dec 12, (AP): Under pressure from President Donald Trump and many of his Republican colleagues, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that he will bring legislation to the floor to overhaul the nation’s federal sentencing laws.
McConnell’s decision comes after more than three years of overtures from a large, bipartisan group of senators who support the criminal justice bill. Trump announced his support for the legislation last month, but McConnell treaded cautiously as a handful of members in his caucus voiced concerns that it would be too soft on violent criminals. Texas Sen John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican, said Trump’s push for the legislation was “critical to the outcome.”
“Sen McConnell was always concerned about the small window of time that we have to do all these things we need to do, but the president was insistent that this be included,” he said.
If the legislation passes, it would be a major bipartisan policy achievement for this Congress and the largest sentencing overhaul in decades. AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for House Speaker Paul Ryan, said, “The House stands ready to act on the revised Senate criminal justice reform bill.” Ryan has long supported sentencing reform and is retiring at the end of the session.
Most Senate Democrats support the bill, which would revise 1980s and ‘90s-era “tough on crime” laws to boost rehabilitation efforts for federal prisoners and give judges more discretion when sentencing nonviolent offenders. It would attempt to focus the toughest sentences on the most violent offenders, lowering mandatory minimum sentences for some nonviolent drug offenses and reducing the life sentence for some drug offenders with three convictions, or “three strikes,” to 25 years.
Supporters say the changes would make the nation’s criminal justice system fairer, reduce overcrowding in federal prisons and save taxpayer dollars. The bill would affect only federal prisoners, who make up roughly 10 percent of the country’s prison population. Several states have passed similar laws that apply to state prisons.
“It is an opportunity to correct manifest injustices in the system,” said Texas Sen Ted Cruz, who signed on to the legislation last week after supporters agreed to make tweaks to guard against violent criminals being released early. “There are far too many young black men who find themselves incarcerated for years or even decades based on nonviolent drug offenses.”
Vote to renew farm programs:
The Senate voted overwhelmingly Tuesday for a sweeping agriculture bill that will fund key farm safety net programs for the next five years without making significant changes to the food stamp program.
The vote was 87-13. The House is expected to pass the measure soon and send it to President Donald Trump for his signature.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell brought the bill up for a quick vote Tuesday, less than one day after the House and Senate reached an agreement on the final text.
The measure is the result of months of negotiations, and does not make any significant changes – despite pressure from President Donald Trump – to the food stamp program that serves nearly 40 million low-income Americans.
“This is what happens when the Congress works in a bipartisan, bicameral fashion,” said Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., ahead of the vote. “It’s a good bill that accomplishes what we set out to do: provide certainty and predictability for farmers and families in rural communities.”
The legislation sets federal agricultural and food policy for five years and provides more than $400 billion in farm subsidies, conservation programs and food aid for the poor. It reauthorizes crop insurance and conservation programs and funds trade programs, bioenergy production and organic farming research. It also reduces the cost for struggling dairy producers to sign up for support programs and legalizes the cultivation of industrial hemp, an initiative championed by McConnell.
One thing the bill doesn’t have: tighter work requirements for food stamp recipients, a provision of the House bill that became a major sticking point during negotiations.
“We maintain a strong safety net for farmers and importantly, we maintain a strong safety net for our families,” said Sen Debbie Stabenow, DMich., the most senior Democrat on the agriculture committee. “We said no to harmful changes that would take food away from families, and instead increased program integrity and job training to be able to make sure things should be working as they should and every dollar is used as it should be.”
The House bill would have raised the age of recipients subject to work requirements from 49 to 59 and required parents with children older than 6 years to work or participate in job training. The House measure also sought to limit circumstances under which families who qualify for other poverty programs can automatically be eligible for SNAP, and earmarked $1 billion to expand worktraining programs.
By contrast, the bipartisan Senate bill, which passed 86-11, offered modest adjustments to existing farm programs and made no changes to SNAP.