    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 11 (Monday, March 22, 1999)]
    [Page 440]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Statement on Signing Legislation Providing Guaranteed Loans for Farmers
    and Ranchers

    March 15, 1999

        I am pleased to sign into law H.R. 882, a bill that will accelerate
    the availability of federally guaranteed loans to our Nation's farmers
    and ranchers to give them continued access to credit that is necessary
    to operate their farms and ranches.
        The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that it will
    soon exhaust the funds available to guarantee loans for farm ownership
    and operations. This bill will make available more than $450 million in
    guarantees to qualified farmers and ranchers. Normally, these funds are
    reserved for beginning farmers and ranchers until April 1, when they are
    made available to all qualified farmers and ranchers. This bill will not
    affect a separate reserve for minority farmers.
        These additional amounts, however, will not fully address the
    unprecedented increase in demand for USDA financing caused by low
    commodity prices, which are expected to continue. For this reason, I
    recently submitted to the Congress an emergency supplemental request for
    an additional $1.1 billion in USDA loan authority. I call on the
    Congress to work expeditiously to include these amounts in a
    supplemental bill I can sign that does not include unwise and
    unnecessary offsets.
                                                William J. Clinton
    The White House,
    March 15, 1999.

    Note: H.R. 882, approved March 15, was assigned Public Law No. 106-2.