Urge Your U.S. Senator to Support the House’s Hemp Amendment to the Farm Bill

If you’ve been following the legislative actions taken surrounding the Farm Bill in Washington, DC, this past month, you’ve seen some of the very worst about our current political system — deep hyper-partisan divides, bills passed without thorough discussion, secret power plays on behalf of special interests, yadda, yadda, yadda.

But one thing happened last week that represents the very best of American politics — the bi-partisan passage in the U.S. House of an amendment that would allow colleges and universities to grow hemp for research purposes in states where hemp production is allowed by state law (like Kentucky, Colorado and about a dozen other states.)

The amendment was co-sponored by Reps. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.); and here in the Bluegrass State, it has the support of a broad partisan and ideological coalition, including conservative Senator Mitch McConnell, Tea Party champion Senator Rand Paul, and progressive icon Congressman John Yarmuth.

The lead advocate for hemp legalization in Kentucky is Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, and I was lucky to join him in Washington recently for high-level meetings on the bill with senior Obama Administration officials and even House Speaker John Boehner.  (Click here to read about our efforts.)

Comer was thrilled about the recent development, telling WPSD-TV, Paducah, “It wasn’t that long ago that people told us we wouldn’t even get a sponsor for the bill in the state Senate. Now we have a state law for regulating hemp production, and one house of Congress has passed legislation to allow colleges and universities to grow hemp. This has been an amazing journey. And we’re not finished.”

So, please help us get across the finish line.  Sign the petition below, and contact your Senator ASAP.  Click here for an easy link.