[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 52 (Thursday, April 15, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E663-E664]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     THE FAMILY FARM PROTECTION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MARK GREEN

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 15, 1999

  Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I am proud today to introduce my 
first bill before this house.
  It's a bill designed to bring some desperately-needed relief to farm 
families across America and in my home of northeastern Wisconsin.
  It's a simple proposal, really--and rather than increase government's 
role in agriculture, it actually eliminates one of the burdens 
government places upon our family farmers.
  This bill--the Family Farm Protection Act--will exempt farmers from 
the Federal capital gains tax when they sell their farm to a family 
member.
  This bill removes one of the multitude of burdens our farmers face, 
and will help to keep family farms within the family.
  Our farmers are suffering through the toughest farm crisis in 15 
years--maybe longer.
  We used to call farming ``agriculture,'' today, it's more often 
called ``agribusiness.''
  I think there's a reason for that.
  America used to be an ``argi-culture''--farming was more than a 
business.
  It was America's way of life--we were a culture built around an 
agrarian center.
  Washington and Jefferson were both farmers.
  But today, we can see our ``agri-culture'' slipping into history.
  As more family farms go under, the farming way of life--America's 
``agri-culture'' goes with them.
  We cannot let that happen.
  While the U.S. economy is booming, farmers face a real crisis--no 
matter how hard they work.
  In the past, we in the Congress have had a tendency to get government 
more involved in the midst of a farm crisis.
  But this bill--the Family Farm Protection Act--recognizes that 
government is often a

[[Page E664]]

part of the problem, rather than a part of the solution.
  We have 22 original co-sponsors of this legislation, each of whom I'd 
like to thank for their help and support in this growing effort to 
offer real relief to our farm families.
  This proposal helps protect our family farmers today and is an 
important first step in a broader movement to maintain America's 
tradition of ``agri-culture''--a way of life and a set of values that 
built the America we live in today.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in this movement and to support the 
Family Farm Protection Act.

                          ____________________