[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 113 (Wednesday, August 4, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H6971-H6972]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HELP OUR FARMERS DURING CRISIS

  (Mr. SMITH of Michigan asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SMITH of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, agriculture in this country has 
very serious problems. It is the second year in a row that we had low 
commodity prices. Profits for farmers are 30 percent below what they 
were just a couple of years ago. We can lose maybe 10 percent of our 
family farms this year.
  We have got to come up with some Federal help. We have got to come up 
with an emergency bill this year. It might be as high as $6 billion or 
$7 billion or $8 billion if we want farmers in this country to continue 
producing the highest quality, lowest priced food in the world. If we 
lose our farmers and become dependent on other countries, we will have 
serious problems. Other countries will be able to dictate price and 
quality.
  A couple things in the tax bill that the conferees approved yesterday 
that help farmers: estate tax relief so farmers do not have to sell 
their farms to pay taxes, above-the-line health deductions so farmers 
and other self-employed can be like everybody else and not have to pay 
taxes on what they pay for health insurance; an increase in the amount 
allowed for first-year depreciation so if farmers buy machinery, they

[[Page H6972]]

can deduct it in the year of purchase rather than a depreciation 
schedule where the deduction is reduced by inflation; ``FARRM'' IRA 
accounts so, in good years, farmers can put some money aside as a 
reduction in income and pay taxes on it when they use it in future low-
income years; AMT, doing away with it so farmers are not forced to pay 
taxes when there is no profit. Mr. Speaker, we need the tax relief for 
farmers. We need to help expand exports. We need to stop other 
countries from dumping their surplus on our markets. We need a better 
risk insurance program for crops, and we need an emergency 
supplemental. We need to help our farmers.

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