[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 4810-4811]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                        REGROWING RURAL AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Shimkus). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from South Dakota (Mr. Thune) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. Speaker, agricultural producers across South Dakota 
and across this country have been devastated by inclement weather, low 
prices, lack of competition, and unfair foreign trade. These are all 
issues which we need to address.
  I want to commend the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Combest), chairman of 
the House Committee on Agriculture, for holding a series of hearings 
across this country to examine the farm economy and to hear from 
producers what we might be able to do to strengthen farm policy in this 
country. We have just one of those such hearings scheduled in South 
Dakota for May 2.
  This is a complex problem, and there are no easy answers. There is no 
silver bullet solution. But our producers, all they are asking for is a 
fair price for their products. They work hard, they work the land, and 
many times are subject to circumstances which are beyond their control. 
We cannot control the Asian economy. We cannot control exchange rates. 
We obviously cannot control the weather. But there are things that we 
can control.
  This year we are finally passing crop insurance reform. It is in 
conference right now. Last year we were able to pass mandatory price 
reporting to assist our livestock producers. We have provided emergency 
income assistance in each of the 3 years that I have been in the 
Congress. We have extended the ethanol tax incentive to assist our 
producers and try and stimulate value-added operations.
  There are other things that need to be done as well, Mr. Speaker. We 
need to open markets. We need to pass trade with China. We need to step 
up our efforts at conservation, expanding the CRP and WRP programs. We 
need to eliminate the death tax so that our family farmers and ranchers 
can pass on their operations to the next generation. We also need 
relief from repressive regulations, and we need to allow for the 
deductibility of health insurance premiums for our family farmers and 
ranchers.
  But there is one other issue, Mr. Speaker, that I would like to 
address today, and that is this whole issue of

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value added, the need of producers to reach up the agricultural 
marketing chain and capture the profits that are generated from 
processing the raw commodities.
  Producers have great interest in pulling together to do just that, 
but there are a couple of important barriers. The first is technical 
expertise and the second is capital. Most of our producers are 
currently cash strapped.
  Now, in response to the need, producers' need and desire to become 
engaged in these types of ventures, we are introducing two pieces of 
legislation. The first is H.R. 3513, the Value-Added Agriculture 
Development Act, which would grant $50 million to create Agricultural 
Innovation Centers for 3 years on a demonstration basis. The Ag 
innovation Centers would provide separately needed technical 
assistance, expertise in engineering, business, research, legal 
services, to assist producers in forming producer-owned, value-added 
endeavors.
  The companion bill, the Value-Added Agriculture Tax Credit Act, would 
create a tax credit program for farmers and ranchers to provide a jump 
start to value-added agriculture by allowing them to get a tax credit 
for making an investment in those types of operations. Specifically, 
the bill would make available a 50 percent tax credit for farmers who 
invest in a producer-owned value-added enterprise. Producers could 
apply the tax credit over 20 subsequent years or transfer the tax 
credit to allow for the cyclical nature of farm incomes.
  Mr. Speaker, combined into a single package, these two initiatives 
will provide American family farmers the tools that they need, 
desperately need to successfully become vertical integrators, and to 
transform themselves from price takers to price makers.
  This is a common sense approach to the problems that plague our 
agricultural economy, which are many. This is part of a solution.
  But I hope that we can generate interest in this body in moving 
legislation that would provide the types of incentives that are 
necessary to tear down the barriers to value-added operations that will 
allow our producers to add value at the point of production and to 
maximize their profit and help restore some level of profitability and 
some level of survival to the agriculture economy in this country.
  Mr. Speaker, let me just add one last thing, and that is this, this 
does not just affect producers. What is happening in the agricultural 
economy is destroying our rural way of life, our rural main streets, 
those who depend for jobs on the agricultural economy of this country. 
We are seeing it day in and day out across my State of South Dakota and 
across this entire country.
  So I would urge this body to consider this legislation, to enact it, 
to help create jobs, create economic development, and create additional 
value-added agricultural operations that will provide the sustenance 
and necessary levels of profitability to sustain agriculture in this 
country.
  I encourage and urge my colleagues in this Chamber to cosponsor this 
legislation and to help us see it become law.

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