[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 45 (Thursday, April 21, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 21, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
          FARMERS HOME ADMINISTRATION IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 1994

  Mr. de la GARZA. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Committee on Agriculture be discharged from further consideration of 
the Senate bill (S. 1930) to amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural 
Development Act to improve the administration of claims and obligations 
of the Farmers Home Administration, and for other purposes, and ask for 
its immediate consideration in the House.
  The Clerk read the title of the Senate bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  Mr. ROBERTS. Madam Speaker, reserving the right to object, I shall 
not object. I yield to the distinguished gentleman from Texas [Mr. de 
la Garza], chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, to explain the 
bill and to welcome the distinguished chairman to our side of the 
House.
  Mr. de la Garza. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I 
am only here temporarily.
  Madam Speaker, S. 1930 will give the Department of Agriculture 
additional authority to more quickly and cost-effectively clean up the 
backlog of delinquent farm loan cases.
  S. 1930 will allow USDA to hire private attorneys to work on cases 
involving delinquent farm loans held by FmHA. The Department already 
has this authority for FmHA rural housing loans and the results have 
been encouraging for the taxpayer.
  According to the Department of Agriculture, the average time for a 
private attorney to complete a foreclosure in a rural housing loan case 
is 8.8 months. The savings from using private attorneys for rural 
housing loans is over $7,500 per case--or a total savings of over $11 
million in 1992.
  S. 1930 will allow the Department to achieve similar time and cost 
efficiencies on the farm lending side. This legislation will help the 
Department more quickly resolve thousands of foreclosures cases, 
particularly those involving a million dollars or more which have been 
the focus of considerable criticism. Under this legislation, the loan 
recoveries that would be made through the use of private attorneys 
would far exceed the cost of employing the attorneys.
  This legislation is identical to H.R. 4139 that was introduced by the 
gentleman from South Dakota [Mr. Johnson] and other members of the 
Committee on Agriculture. The bill also has the support of Agriculture 
Secretary Espy. I strongly urge the House to support the passage of S. 
1930.
  Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that there be printed in the 
Record at this point the text of a letter I received from the USDA's 
Office of General Counsel. In this letter, the general counsel states 
that the Department, in exercising the new authority S. 1930, would 
employ the same procedures, including providing reports to Congress, 
that is used under similar authority in collecting delinquent rural 
housing loans.
                                   U.S. Department of Agriculture,


                                Office of the General Counsel,

                                   Washington, DC, April 20, 1994.
     Hon. E (Kika) de la Garza,
     Chairman, Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives, 
         Washington, DC
       Dear Mr. Chairman: We appreciate your Committee's 
     willingness to act with dispatch on S. 1930. The bill would 
     authorize the use of the General Counsel of the Department 
     and private attorneys in collecting claims and obligations 
     under the farm loan programs carried out by the Farmers Home 
     Administration. The bill is identical to the measure 
     introduced by Subcommittee Chairman Tim Johnson (and 11 other 
     members of the House Committee on Agriculture).
       The authority would be of immeasurable help to the 
     Department in recovering amounts due on loans made by the 
     Farmers Home Administration.
       We wanted you and the other members of the House to know 
     that the Department's criteria, procedures, reports, and 
     regulations in carrying out the new authority in S. 1930 
     would be identical, to the maximum extent practicable, to the 
     criteria, procedures, reports, and regulations that the 
     Department uses in carrying out similar authority in 
     collecting delinquent rural housing loans. (See 42 U.S.C.A. 
     1480(d)(1) and (2).)
           Sincerely,
                                               James S. Gilliland,
                                                  General Counsel.

  Mr. ROBERTS. Madam Speaker, the minority fully concurs in this 
effort.
  Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Madam Speaker, I join Chairman de la 
Garza in urging support for passage of S. 1930. I introduced similar 
legislation, H.R. 4139, with a number of my colleagues on the 
Agriculture Committee in response to the lingering problems surrounding 
collection of outstanding debt by the Farmers Home Administration.
  I am pleased that the Senate acted expeditiously in sending this bill 
over to the House in order to allow the Department of Agriculture to 
begin taking immediate action in areas where the U.S. Attorney's office 
has not pursued legal action. The subcommittee will also be considering 
further legislative proposals which will give FmHA additional tools to 
recover assets from individuals with outstanding loans. Especially 
aggravating to me are those individuals sitting on millions of dollars' 
worth of assets who seem to feel that they have no obligation to 
fulfill their promise to the taxpayers of this country.
  Again, I urge passage of S. 1930 and pledge to my colleagues that the 
Agriculture Committee will be diligent in pursuing the individuals who 
were subjects of media scrutiny earlier this year. I would also let my 
colleagues know that we have made changes in Farmers Home 
Administration lending practices which would avoid similar situations 
from occurring.
  Mr. ROBERTS. Madam Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  The Clerk read the Senate bill, as follows:

                                S. 1930

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Farmers Home Administration 
     Improvement Act of 1994''.

     SEC. 2. DELINQUENT FARMERS HOME ADMINISTRATION OBLIGATIONS.

       Section 331 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development 
     Act (7 U.S.C. 1981) is amended by adding at the end the 
     following new subsection:
       ``(c) The Secretary may use for the prosecution or defense 
     of any claim or obligation described in subsection (b)(5) the 
     Attorney General, the General Counsel of the Department of 
     Agriculture, or a private attorney who has entered into a 
     contract with the Secretary.''.

  The Senate bill was ordered to be read a third time, was read the 
third time, and passed, and a motion to reconsider was laid on the 
table.

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