[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 23321]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 23321]]

                      URGING ACTION ON A FARM BILL

  (Mr. OSBORNE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1


minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. OSBORNE. Mr. Speaker, I am relatively new here, and I am 
surprised at the pace at which legislation moves at times. I am 
particularly amazed that legislation critical to the national well-
being is not moving in the other body.
  Much has been said about inaction on the economic stimulus package 
and the energy bill. I would like to call attention this morning to a 
bill that has gone largely unnoticed and that is the farm bill. The 
agriculture economy has been in dire straits not for just the past 2 or 
3 months, but for the last 5 years. We have been losing thousands of 
farmers each year, almost no young people are going into agriculture, 
and three-fourths of U.S. farms rely on off-the-farm income. A new farm 
bill is critical.
  The House farm bill passed this body 3 months ago. A farm bill passed 
this year will, number one, save thousands of farmers; and, number two, 
will ensure that we have an adequate budget.
  The other body needs to act and needs to act now on several pieces of 
legislation, but particularly on a farm bill.

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