[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 147 (Thursday, October 15, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H10950-H10951]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   TEMPORARY REENACTMENT OF CHAPTER 12, TITLE 11, UNITED STATES CODE

  Mr. GEKAS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 4831) to temporarily reenact chapter 12 of title 11 of the United 
States Code, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 4831

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

     SECTION 1. TEMPORARY REENACTMENT OF BANKRUPTCY PROVISIONS 
                   RELATING TO FAMILY FARMERS.

       (a) Reenactment.--Chapter 12 of title 11 of the United 
     States Code, as in effect on September 30, 1998, is hereby 
     reenacted for the period beginning on October 1, 1998, and 
     ending on April 1, 1999.
       (b) Continuation of Cases.--All cases commenced or pending 
     under chapter 12 of title 11, United States Code, as 
     reenacted under subsection (a), and all matters and 
     proceedings in or relating to such cases, shall be conducted 
     and determined under such chapter as if such chapter were 
     continued in effect after April 1, 1999. The substantive 
     rights of parties in connection with such cases, matters, and 
     proceedings shall continue to be governed under the laws 
     applicable to such cases, matters, and proceedings as if such 
     chapter were continued in effect after April 1, 1999.

     SEC. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.

       This Act shall take effect on October 1, 1998.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Gekas) and the gentleman from Ohio 
(Mr. Traficant), each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Gekas).


                             General Leave

  Mr. GEKAS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the bill 
under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. GEKAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Throughout a full year now, as the Speaker knows, we have been 
considering bankruptcy reform. And as it turned out, the House, in a 
bipartisan vote, overwhelmingly approved bankruptcy reform twice, both 
in the original bill and in the conference report.
  The Senate, on its side, approved on a great bipartisan vote with 
only one dissenting vote, I think 97 or 98 to 1, a similar bankruptcy 
reform bill. The conference was never able to have the bill passed in 
both chambers. It succeeded only in the House. So it sort of fell by 
its own weight over in the Senate.

                              {time}  1300

  But an important feature of the bankruptcy reform legislation, right 
from the start, was an extension of chapter 12. What does that mean? 
Chapter 12 is devoted specifically and uniquely to the farmers of our 
Nation who experience unique types of financial crises almost on a 
monthly basis.
  We, through chapter 12 in the current code, accord our farmers a 
special set of rights and abilities to cope with their financial 
situation. So we had hoped that, with the total bankruptcy reform bill 
it seemed on a way to a successful conclusion, to also extend the 
benefits of chapter 12 which we did have in the bill.
  But if the bill fell, then chapter 12 had to fall with it. That meant 
that, on October 1 of this year, the authorization previously in effect 
for chapter 12 ended.
  So what we are about here is an extension of that chapter 12 set of 
benefits. A leader in this movement, I must tell my colleagues, from 
the first day that we began contemplating bankruptcy reform was the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Smith), who doggedly pursued for his 
purpose, for his great cause, the farmers' financial situation, the 
extension of chapter 12.
  I had assured him on many occasions that we are going to make sure 
that it is going to be part of the bankruptcy reform bill, but I really 
did not expect that it would crash down as it did in the last minutes 
of this session.
  But that sets the stage, then, for the passage of this legislation, 
which everyone should agree has to occur, else the October 1 end of 
chapter 12 authority for special treatment of farmers will also crash 
down. So we are eager to extend the benefits of chapter 12, the sole 
purpose of this piece of legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to join in support of this legislation. Mr. 
Conyers is not here today. He is very busy. He supports extending these 
protections in bankruptcy, chapter 12 protections for the farmers.
  There is a concern that we have, but it is not enough of a concern 
for us to oppose this legislation. Our concern is that this is but a 6-
month extension, and we would have liked to have seen a little more of 
an extension and perhaps maybe even a permanent correction.

[[Page H10951]]

  But not being of the committee, and representing the committee on 
this suspension, I would like to say this: Many Members on this side of 
the aisle respect the efforts of the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Gekas), and we know that the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Gekas) 
has taken what he could in the process with the other body.
  What he has brought to the floor is good enough for us. We would like 
to see it better. We are hoping and appealing to the chairman that, in 
the next opportunity, that that broader extension and perhaps a 
permanent delineation could be effected.
  Having said that, I would also like to say that I have passed laws on 
home mortgages and now veterans' VA loans to provide for, upon one-
month, 4-day delinquency, a notice of counseling programs available 
with a 1-800 number where the delinquent owner and mortgage holder can 
call for assistance. They have had great success in working this out.
  I want to also let the Congress know that I am going to attempt to 
have that type of language inserted for specific small farm and farm 
activities to make sure and ensure that, when they get in trouble, they 
will know what the service is.
  What the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Gekas) is doing today, we 
support. We would appreciate his consideration in the future.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GEKAS. I yield myself such time as I might consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to launch a filibuster now to give ample 
opportunity to our colleague the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Smith) to 
appear if he is on his way so that he may give his personal witness to 
this legislation.
  So I will recite the Gettysburg Address and a few other staples from 
American history, but I am being urged by staff to bring us to a quick 
close.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from Michigan (Mr. Smith).
  Mr. SMITH of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding 
to me.
  Mr. Speaker, there is no question that farmers and agriculture are 
currently in a very serious plight, and there is no question that much-
needed work has been done on bankruptcy reform in the 105th Congress. 
Our bankruptcy laws are too lenient and have become a source of debt 
evasion rather than a means of equitably resolving differences between 
debtors and creditors.
  While we have been hammering out an agreement, one important issue 
got lost in the shuffle. Bankruptcy relief for farmers has been allowed 
to expire during the period of severe hardship for American farmers.
  American farmers are going to be losing this year between 10 and 20 
percent of their income, over $8 billion, as a drop in farm income. 
Some farmers have been and are going to be forced into bankruptcy.
  There has been a problem of weather, of disease, of low commodity 
prices, of a loss of Asian markets. What we need to do is we need 
immediate action to ensure that the chapter 12 reorganization is 
restored to American producers as soon as possible. Both the chairman 
and the ranking member also have felt that this is important.
  Chapter 12 expired on September 30 of this year. Enacted during the 
1986 farm crisis, chapter 12 made significant bankruptcy relief 
available to a group of Americans that has difficulty in getting credit 
and managing their assets since the country's founding, and of course 
that is the American farmers.
  Specifically, it opened many of the advantages of chapter 13 filings 
to farmers who were, for the most part, too indebted to take advantage 
of chapter 13 and had to use other less advantageous provisions of the 
bankruptcy code.
  For example, chapter 7 was accessible to farmers to give them some of 
the, if you will, fresh start promise to debtors under the bankruptcy 
code. But under chapter 7, the farm which might have been in the family 
for generations was usually lost. Congress needed to find a way to 
ensure that creditors are protected while at the same time being able 
to maintain that family farm.
  I understand that chapter 12 may need some changes. Both the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Chairman Gekas) and Senator Grassley, the 
father of chapter 12, have proposed changing chapter 12 in various 
ways. It may well be that chapter 12 should be changed, but this needed 
provision to extend it from the current sunset of last October 1 needs 
not to lapse.
  Currently, we are in the midst of another crisis in the saga of the 
American farmer. The weather, the disease, the devastated crops, export 
markets shrinking, commodity prices at historic lows, changes to 
chapter 12 can and must be maintained.
  It is unacceptable to allow the desire for reform to prevent the 
renewal of this program in this time of need for the American 
agriculture.
  My bill, H.R. 4831, would extend the chapter 12 provisions so that we 
can debate needed changes in a period of less urgence for farmers. This 
legislation that makes the farmer provisions of chapter 12 retroactive 
to last October 1st is supported by the Senate and the administration. 
I hope all my colleagues will join me today in passing this 
legislation.
  Mr. GEKAS. Mr. Speaker, we thank the gentleman for his heroic efforts 
in bringing this to a successful conclusion.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ballenger). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Gekas) that the 
House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4831, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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