[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.

                          ____________________