The Farm Bill failed in the U.S House of Representatives Thursday morning. The bill included $20 Billion in cuts to food stamps.
The vote was 234-195. “The roll call vote reveals that Arizona Democratic Congressional Representatives Ron Barber and Kyrsten Sinema voted “yes” (with the Republicans), while Representatives Ann Kirkpatirck, Raul Grijalva, and Ed Pastor voted “no,” reported the Tucson Progressive. “ On the Arizona Republican side, Paul Gosar voted the party line, while Matt Salmon, Trent Franks, and David Schweikert voted “no.”
Kirkpatrick Tweeted constituents after the vote, “Today’s defeat of Farm Bill is opportunity to bring parties together, craft bipartisan version we can all support.”
Salmon said in a prepared statement that he “could not in good conscience support raising the debt limit without corresponding reductions in spending to offset the increase in borrowing. It’s time we start voting to actually reduce spending and begin the process of balancing the budget.”
The bill would have raised the nation’s debt limit, allowing the government continue to borrow money and pay its debts for the next several months.
The bill would have also required that each chamber of Congress adopt a fiscal year 2014 budget by April 15, and called for salaries of lawmakers to be withheld if their chamber did not meet that deadline.