Congressional Record, Volume 145 Issue 32 (Tuesday, March 2, 1999)

[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 32 (Tuesday, March 2, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H846-H848]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

NULLIFYING RESERVATION OF FUNDS FOR GUARANTEED LOANS UNDER CONSOLIDATED
FARM AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT ACT

Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 882) to nullify any reservation of funds during fiscal year
1999 for guaranteed loans under the Consolidated Farm and Rural
Development Act for qualified beginning farmers or ranchers, and for
other purposes.
The Clerk read as follows:

H.R. 882

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

SECTION 1. NULLIFICATION OF RESERVATION OF FUNDS DURING
FISCAL YEAR 1999 FOR GUARANTEED LOANS UNDER THE
CONSOLIDATED FARM AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT ACT FOR
QUALIFIED BEGINNING FARMERS OR RANCHERS.

Amounts shall be made available pursuant to section
346(b)(1)(D) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development
Act for guaranteed loans, without regard to any reservation
under section 346(b)(2)(B) of such Act.

SEC. 2. QUALIFIED BEGINNING FARMERS AND RANCHERS TO BE GIVEN
PRIORITY IN MAKING GUARANTEED LOANS UNDER THE
CONSOLIDATED FARM AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT ACT
FROM SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL
YEAR 1999.

In making guaranteed loans under the Consolidated Farm and
Rural Development Act from funds made available pursuant to
any Act making supplemental appropriations for fiscal year
1999, the Secretary of Agriculture shall, to the extent
practicable, give priority to making such loans to qualified
beginning farmers and ranchers (as defined in section
343(a)(11) of such Act).

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Combest) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Combest).
Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I bring to the floor a bill, H.R. 882. This bill costs
nothing but will provide immediate relief to the Nation's farmers and
ranchers who are today experiencing a serious credit crunch brought on
by natural disasters and low commodity prices.
I am pleased to be joined by the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm),
the ranking Democrat on the Committee on Agriculture, as well as the
gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Barrett), the gentleman from Minnesota
(Mr. Minge), and a number of other Members in introducing this measure.
Our bill is simple and straightforward. Currently, funds for
guaranteed ownership loans are exhausted in

[[Page H847]]

more than half of the States. Money for guaranteed operating loans with
interest assistance has dried up in most of the Corn Belt States and
several others as well. There is simply no money currently available
for those farmers desperately needing credit assistance now.
Meanwhile, there is approximately $470 million in loan guarantee
funds sitting in the Department of Agriculture that has gone unused and
will continue to go unused for another month unless Congress acts. By
law, these funds are tied up until April 1, 1999, for the Beginning
Farmers and Ranchers program, a worthwhile program that is nonetheless
not being tapped at this time.
This bill simply releases these unused funds one month early to
enable the Secretary of Agriculture to meet the very immediate need for
guaranteed loans in farm communities.
Mr. Speaker, while this bill is very important, I do want to advise
my colleagues that it does nothing to eliminate or in any way diminish
the tremendous need for the supplemental appropriations for agriculture
requested last week by the President. This bill is only a stopgap
measure to temporarily fill an immediate need that simply cannot wait
for a supplemental appropriation.
In short, the demand for credit is now. As many of my colleagues
know, American farmers and ranchers borrow more money every year than
most us will borrow in a lifetime, only to risk it all. Sometimes the
gamble pays off, and sometimes it does not. Last year, for many of
America's farmers, it did not. As a result, cash-strapped farmers who
have already made their planting decisions for the coming growing
season desperately require cash in-hand right now to make another go of
it.
This is the immediate short-term problem our bill would address if
enacted quickly.
Again, this bill does not cost the U.S. Treasury any additional
money. The funds in question have already been appropriated. In
addition, I want my colleagues to know that this measure enjoys the
support of the administration and a broad bipartisan support in the
Congress.
Mr. Speaker, for these reasons, I urge immediate passage of H.R. 882.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 882 and urge its passage by
the House. H.R. 882 would provide available guaranteed loan funds to
farmers and ranchers currently working with their local lenders to
ready their finances for planting or in deciding whether to keep their
livestock herds intact.
The Department of Agriculture is projecting they will run out of
guaranteed operating funds nationwide by March the 15, with interest
assisted operating loan funds depleted by the end of this week. Many of
my colleagues may already be receiving phone calls from constituents
who are getting ready to plant and need to buy seed, but they have been
told there are no USDA loan funds available so they cannot go out and
buy their needed inputs.
H.R. 882 would speed up the needed release of available guaranteed
loan funds that have been reserved for beginning farmers and ranchers
until April 1. Since we are not certain when a supplemental spending
bill may be approved by the Congress, we could face a situation where
ag producers are left without the ability to purchase needed inputs.
H.R. 882 will provide a bridge to agriculture producers and lenders
until we are able to provide additional credit funds and supplemental
appropriations legislation. While it does help by providing needed
credit that is already available on a more timely basis, it does not do
away with the need for Congress to act on this front.
This is especially true since H.R. 882 only deals with the guaranteed
loan programs and does not help ease the immediate need for additional
emergency loan funds and the pending need for additional direct
operating and ownership loan funds.
Mr. Speaker, again, I urge my colleagues to support this modest,
fiscally responsible step to help ease the financial strain facing our
farmers and ranchers as well as their hometown banks and local
communities.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Barrett), chairman of the Subcommittee on
General Farm Commodities, Resource Conservation, and Credit of the
House Committee on Agriculture.
Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R.
882, which is a bill to provide some stopgap funding for some
guaranteed loans for our agricultural producers.
This bill would eliminate the restrictions on about $470 million
worth of guaranteed loans under the Consolidated Farm and Rural
Development Act for qualified beginning farmers and ranchers. This is a
much-needed piece of legislation that would provide for stopgap funding
for many States that have exhausted their available allocations of
guaranteed loan funds, including my own State of Nebraska.
It is important to stress that this money that the U.S. Department of
Agriculture has has not been used. The beginning farmer targets would
be lifted on April 1. It would not be possible for the Department to
use the ``fenced'' $470 million by April 1.
Of particular concern as we prepare for spring planting in the
Midwest is the ability of producers to show an adequate cash flow as
they meet with their lenders. This legislation would make valuable use
of this money now as farmers are preparing for their spring planting.
Mr. Speaker, there is no question that we have producers in rural
areas that are struggling with low market prices and adverse weather
conditions. With current market prices, some farmers are being faced
with the added difficulty of obtaining operating loans.
Freeing up the beginning farmer guaranteed loan money that has not
been used will be of great benefit to our producers. Nullifying any
reservation of funds will potentially benefit a producer who otherwise
would not have had a loan funding available.
As the gentleman from Texas (Chairman Combest) has indicated, I would
also stress to my colleagues that there is still a need for what the
President has requested in the supplemental. This legislation is not
meant to replace the supplemental, but it will get our producers
through perhaps the next 30, 45 days or so.
If a beginning farmer needs money, they probably have gotten it by
now, as it has been available since late October. However, for those
still in the USDA bureaucratic pipeline, this legislation says that
beginning farmers will have priority under the supplemental.
Mr. Speaker, Congress has been doing its part to help our beleaguered
producers; and this legislation is yet another effort to ensure that
our farmers and ranchers will have adequate capital this spring. I urge
the passage of H.R. 882.
Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge).
Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
Stenholm) for yielding me this time.
I want to take this opportunity this afternoon to thank the gentleman
from Texas (Chairman Combest) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
Stenholm), the ranking member, for their hard work in bringing this
important piece of legislation to the floor this afternoon in such a
quick manner.
I am proud to be a cosponsor on this legislation, and I am glad that
we are passing a bill that will help farmers through some of the most
difficult times that they will face in decades.
Mr. Speaker, for more than a year now, farmers have been excluded
from the robust economy that the rest of this country has enjoyed.
While many citizens debate whether or not to roll over their IRAs,
farmers are just trying to figure out how they can survive and put food
on the table until this crisis has been turned around.
We have to take action to make sure that they survive and they have
an opportunity to prosper. If we do not, consumers will want to know
why the grocery store shelves are empty and food prices are so high,
while farmers are left to pick up the pieces. We have to act now.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, Secretary Glickman came to a farm breakfast
in my district. More than 300 farmers showed up for breakfast. That is
twice

[[Page H848]]

the number that normally come in any given year. From the comments of
what those folks said at that breakfast, they are hurting and hurting
badly.

{time} 1345

These loans will determine whether or not some of those farmers and
their families and their neighbors can stay on the farm. I am glad we
are taking action to help farmers make it through the dire straits that
they now face and that we will act today.
Our small farmers are a vital part of our economic fiber in this
country. They are important to the character of rural North Carolina
and America, and we cannot afford for those small farmers to cease to
exist.
I am proud of what we are doing this afternoon, and I want to make
sure that this important program is available to farmers as they
approach the critical spring planning season.
This is the first, as you have already heard, in many steps,
including crop insurance reform and supplemental funding for this year
as we look at the 1999 year that this Congress must take to strengthen
the safety net for our farmers.
I urge unanimous passage of H.R. 882, and I look forward to working
with my colleagues on the Committee on Agriculture and others in this
Congress to make sure that we provide a safe and secure future for
American farmers so the rest of us might enjoy a safe and secure future
and good food.
Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman from North Carolina
(Mr. Etheridge) for pointing out the fact that, while so many people in
this country think the economy is doing so well, it is obvious those
who say that have not been in the farm communities recently. There are
some very, very difficult times ongoing there.
Mr. SMITH of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 882.
Natural disasters and low commodity prices have forced many farmers and
ranchers to seek government loans to cover operating and ownership
expenses. In fact, in many states, funds available for these USDA
programs have already been exhausted, creating a credit crunch at a
time when these loans are absolutely necessary to cover producers
expenses.
H.R. 882 will immediately make available to the Secretary of
Agriculture $450 to $500 million in unused funds in order to guarantee
loans to farmers and ranchers. These unused funds are currently set
aside for the Beginning Farmers and Ranchers program but were not to be
available until April 1. Because it is not anticipated that these funds
will ever be used by this program it makes sense to have them available
for those most in need.
This bill requires no new net government outlays and will have no
effect on the federal budget. It is a common-sense reaction to the
problems facing rural America today and it deserves our full support.
Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Combest) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 882.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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