A day after the House passed the Farm Bill by a 318-106 margin, the Senate today passed the bill by a 81-15 margin.
While Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., voted for the Farm Bill, Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., voted against it.
The bill will now be sent to President Bush, who is expected to veto the legislation. Hagel said he will vote to support Bush's veto.
Hagel said Congress, as with the 2002 Farm Bill, "squandered an opportunity to produce responsible legislation that would have instituted real reform in our agriculture policy."
Hagel voted against the 2002 Farm Bill.
"We must reconnect our policy to its original purpose: providing a true safety net to real farmers when they need it most, while limiting government involvement in producers' decisions," Hagel said.
He said one of the biggest problems with this Farm Bill is that it still does not close the loopholes that allow big land owners and agribusinesses to abuse the farm payment program.
"Fewer than half of America's farms benefit from our current farm policy and nearly 66 percent of farm payments go to only 10 percent of producers," Hagel said. "It is unwise and wrong to continue these policies. The real farmers and taxpayers lose. The big guys win."
Hagel said the bill continues a payment system that encourages producers to make their business decisions not on market conditions, but on what subsidies they are eligible for.
"It will continue to distort land valuations and inflate food prices, while jeopardizing our trade agreements," he said. "We need a farm bill that significantly reforms our current policy. Agriculture is far too important to Nebraska and America for it to continue on such a misguided path."
