The Republican from Hull said Friday evening that he recently talked to U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pennsylvania, the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, and got some good news.

“We believe we have the votes to get it off the House floor,” he said.

A vote is expected to be scheduled in September, he added.

Feenstra offered updates and insights on issues during a visit to the Fort Dodge Ford Lincoln Toyota Ja-Mar Cruise Friday evening. He was joined by U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minnesota, as they strolled between the Mustangs, Firebirds and Cadillacs with tailfins, talking with people. Emmer is the House majority whip, the third highest ranking Republican in that chamber.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer, the majority whip of the U.S. House of Representatives, left and U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, a Republican from Hull, talk to people Friday evening at the Fort Dodge Ford Lincoln Toyota Ja-Mar Cruise.

For most of this year, a new Farm Bill was considered a dead issue in the Capitol. That was especially frustrating for Feenstra, who wrote 10 bills on everything from crop insurance, precision agriculture loans and livestock indemnity programs that were included in the final bill. He also co-sponsored another eight bills that were incorporated into the measure. All of those provisions are still in the bill, he said.

His newly introduced bill intended to expand poultry processing options remains a separate piece of legislation.

He said the planned September vote is intended in part to prompt the Senate to start moving on its version of the Farm Bill.

“We want to pressure the Senate and Sen. Stabenow and tell them that we want to finish a Farm Bill,” he said, referring to U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, who leads the Senate Agriculture Committee.

The congressman said he was pleased that Russia released a number of Americans in a recent swap.

“I was happy to see our Americans come home,” he said.

He said he does have some concern that the swap might encourage Russia to someday snatch more Americans to demand another exchange.

Feenstra said the House did “the wise thing” by appointing a bipartisan committee to investigate the attempted assasination of former President Donald Trump. The panel consists of six Republicans and five Democrats. Feenstra said none of them are seeking headlines or TV air time.

“They’re serious about getting to the bottom of it,” he said.