[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 21 (Thursday, February 2, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E259]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


               AGRICULTURAL LANDS PROTECTION ACT OF 1995

                                 ______


                        HON. JOHN N. HOSTETTLER

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, February 2, 1995
  Mr. HOSTETTLER. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the Agricultural 
Lands Protection Act of 1995. This bill is meant to provide fundamental 
change in the approach taken toward deciding how land can be used. It 
grants owners of regularly farmed land freedom from overzealous 
regulators and it would end the withholding of farm program benefits as 
a penalty for farmers farming their land.
  The Agricultural Lands Protection Act of 1995 will not jeopardize 
ground water quality. It will not inhibit the numerous private sector 
efforts to restore and conserve true wetlands.
  How a property owner uses his or her land should determine how that 
land is classified. Water levels and vegetation types should not take 
precedence over the property owners' land needs. We can make 
significant strides toward helping farmers and ranchers economically by 
simply getting these burdensome regulations out of the way.
  Farmers are the true conservationists. Nobody appreciates more the 
need to take care of the land. Their livelihoods depend on it. But a 
low spot in a field that holds water after heavy rain is not the ideal 
habitat for ducks. If it has been farmland, it should stay farmland 
until the property owner decides otherwise. I urge all members to 
cosponsor and support this valuable bill.




                          ____________________