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Peterson: Reopening Farm Bill Would Be Bad Idea

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson anticipates being able to work out compromises on agricultural issues in the next Congress, but said Wednesday he has concerns about the makeup of the next Senate Agriculture Committee.

The Minnesota Democrat, who's the ranking minority member on the House ag committee, won his 13th term Tuesday despite a vigorous challenge from Republican state Sen. Torrey Westrom. Outside groups poured over $8 million into the western Minnesota race, including $5 million from GOP-aligned groups that fueled a barrage of attack ads against Peterson.

Peterson worked closely with the Republican chairman of that committee, Rep. Frank Lucas of Oklahoma, to assemble and pass a compromise 2014 farm bill earlier this year. He doesn't foresee any problems developing a similarly good working relationship with whoever replaces Lucas, who is term-limited under House GOP rules. Peterson said.

"We're still, I think, going to be able to be able to work on a bipartisan basis in the ag committee in the House," Peterson said.

Republicans will take control of the Senate in 2015, and Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, who survived a re-election fight, is considered to be the leading candidate to become the next chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Peterson said. He pointed out that Roberts used his position as chairman of the House panel in 1996 to pass the "Freedom to Farm" act, which was designed to wean farmers off subsidies in exchange for more flexibility in deciding what to grow. Roberts also voted against this year's farm bill.

"He has made some noise about opening up the farm bill if he gets to be chairman, which is a very bad idea, and puts everything we worked for in jeopardy," Peterson said.

Peterson's priorities in the next Congress will include implementing the farm bill; reviving stalled legislation to reauthorize the Commodity Futures Trading Commission through 2018, which passed the House but has not come up in the Senate; a five-year transportation bill; and changes to immigration law to address the need for more farm workers.

But Peterson said his most immediate priority was a short break from politics.

"I need to go deer hunting and clear my head," he said.

Peterson said he actually enjoyed the campaign despite all the attack ads — he turned his TV off for two months. He said he went to 52 parades and many other events to meet voters, and didn't spend much more than in 2012.

"It shows you that, you know, in the end you can trust the voters," he said. "They're generally going to do the right thing. They're going to sort through this stuff and separate the wheat from the chaff."

(© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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