Today’s Times
- The leaders of several agriculture trade groups say they were blindsided by Congress’s failure to pass a new five-year bill for the industry, expressing disappointment that the legislation has been held up for years by partisan politics, Ron Nixon reports. Several farmers, ranchers and dairy producers said the lack of a bill left them unable to plan for the planting season.
- The House’s vote against the farm bill highlighted disparate trajectories in the House and Senate that may be a harbinger of trouble for the proposed immigration overhaul, Jennifer Steinhauer reports.
Weekly Addresses
- President Obama used this week’s address to make the case for immigration reform, calling the current systm broken and in need of compromise. An overhaul would not only strengthen border security and attract highly skilled workers, he said, but would also bolster the economy. “With this bill, millions of additional people will start paying more in taxes for things like Social Security and education,†he told listeners. “That’ll make the economy fairer for middle-class families.â€
- Representative John Kline, Republican of Minnesota, accused Senate Democrats of actively blocking the president’s plan to hold down student loan interest rates and refusing to consider the one his party proposed. “If I didn’t know any better, I would say they are content to let rates double,†he said. “This 11th-hour scrambling is a perfect demonstration of why we need to take the politics out of student loans once and for all.â€
Happenings in Washington
- The Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center for the Stu! dy of Invention and Innovation will host a public festival this weekend celebrating skateboard culture’s “innovative†spirit.
