As Congress takes up a new farm bill, U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, the ranking Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, offered a searing review of a Republican budget plan that slashes domestic spending while largely sparing the Pentagon.

"It's often said that the Agriculture Committee is the least partisan of all the Congressional committees," the Minnesota Democrat said in an opening statement Wednesday. "We have a bipartisan tradition of being reasonable and a commitment to working together in the best interests of our constituents. While I still think that's true, today is one very unfortunate exception."

He noted that Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan's budget plan has little chance in the Democrat-led Senate, and suggested that ongoing negotiations to fit the next five-years' farm programs under the GOP spending limits are a "political exercise."

"In fact, I would contend this entire process is a waste of time," he said. "It doesn't mean anything. The Senate has not agreed to (the Ryan budget) and…. almost certainly will not touch this bill."

Under the budget plan, the committee has been asked to cut costs by about $33 billion over 10 years, mostly in savings from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps.

"Reducing government spending is never an easy task," said Republican Committee Chair Frank Lucas of Oklahoma. "We face difficult choices, but it is our responsibility to find ways to cut our costs so that we can once again live within our means."

Turning to the GOP budget plan, Peterson said "You can't have a serious conversation about getting our budget under control when you take large items like defense off the table, which is really why we're here. Taking a meat ax to nutrition programs that feed millions of hard-working families, in an effort to avoid defense cuts, is not a serious way to achieve deficit reduction. No wonder no one likes Congress."