Text: HCR00122 Text: HCR00124 Text: HCR00100 - HCR00199 Text: HCR Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. __
1 2 BY MUNDIE
1 3 A House Concurrent Resolution requesting that the President
1 4 of the United States, the United States Secretary of
1 5 Agriculture, and the United States Congress
1 6 immediately take all actions necessary to reevaluate
1 7 and amend the 1996 "Freedom to Farm Bill" in order to
1 8 preserve family farms.
1 9 WHEREAS, family farm agriculture traditionally has
1 10 been the foundation of this nation's economic
1 11 prosperity, providing the basis for a system of
1 12 production unmatched in the world for its abundant and
1 13 efficient production of food, feed grains, and animal
1 14 products, and contributing billions of dollars in
1 15 revenue each year to the nation's economy from export
1 16 sales; and
1 17 WHEREAS, in 1996 Congress enacted the Federal
1 18 Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act (FAIR),
1 19 commonly referred to as the "Freedom to Farm Bill",
1 20 contained in Pub. L. No. 104-127 and Pub. L. No. 104-
1 21 180; and
1 22 WHEREAS, the effect of the 1996 Federal
1 23 Agricultural Improvement and Reform Act, has been to
1 24 unfairly prevent American producers from competing in
1 25 a global market against foreign competitors supported
1 26 by their governments; and
1 27 WHEREAS, since the passage of the federal
1 28 legislation, farmers have suffered from crisis
1 29 conditions caused by disasterously low prices and
1 30 devastating swings in market prices for commodities,
2 1 including livestock, that has at times plummeted to
2 2 below Depression-Era levels; and
2 3 WHEREAS, since the passage of the "Freedom to Farm
2 4 Bill", agricultural production contracting,
2 5 integration of production and processing, and mergers
2 6 and consolidation of agribusinesses have increased,
2 7 thereby exacerbating the desperate financial
2 8 conditions faced by family farmers by limiting their
2 9 opportunities to market agricultural commodities; and
2 10 WHEREAS, for families who have farmed land for
2 11 generations, the "Freedom To Farm Bill" has come to
2 12 mean the freedom to leave their farms or face economic
2 13 ruin; and
2 14 WHEREAS, 385 delegates from across the United
2 15 States attending the American Farm Bureau's 81st
2 16 annual convention in January 2000, called for the
2 17 implementation of a countercyclical income support
2 18 policy to supplement farm program payments, based on
2 19 revenue history that would provide farmers formal
2 20 income support during severe economic times, and
2 21 called for a complete re-examination of the current
2 22 farm law to ensure that adequate financial support is
2 23 available for all farmers; and
2 24 WHEREAS, the Honorable Congressman Charles
2 25 Stenholm, Ranking Minority Member of the House of
2 26 Representatives' Committee on Agriculture and
2 27 recipient of the American Farm Bureau's "Golden Plow"
2 28 award has stressed that American agriculture cannot
2 29 wait until 2002, when the federal legislation expires,
2 30 in order to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with American
3 1 producers in developing risk management strategies;
3 2 and
3 3 WHEREAS, the House of Representatives' Agriculture
3 4 Committee is considering proposals to create a farm
3 5 safety net in order to protect producers against price
3 6 or income loss, as well as production loss; NOW
3 7 THEREFORE,
3 8 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, THE
3 9 SENATE CONCURRING, That the President of the United
3 10 States, the United States Secretary of Agriculture,
3 11 and the United States Congress immediately take all
3 12 actions necessary to reevaluate and amend the Federal
3 13 Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act in order to
3 14 address critical issues facing agriculture and to
3 15 preserve family farms; and
3 16 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the United States
3 17 Senate's Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee
3 18 and the United States House of Representatives'
3 19 Agriculture Committee work toward immediately passing
3 20 legislation that creates a farm safety net for
3 21 agricultural producers facing desperate financial
3 22 hardship, including a countercyclical income support
3 23 policy as supported by the American Farm Bureau; and
3 24 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this
3 25 Resolution be sent by the Chief Clerk of the House of
3 26 Representatives to the President of the United States;
3 27 the United States Secretary of Agriculture; the
3 28 President of the Senate of the United States; the
3 29 United States Attorney General; the Speaker of the
3 30 House of Representatives of the United States; the
4 1 Chairperson and Ranking Member of the United States
4 2 Senate's Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and
4 3 Forestry; the Chairperson and Ranking Member of the
4 4 United States House of Representatives' Committee on
4 5 Agriculture; and members of Iowa's congressional
4 6 delegation.
4 7 LSB 6300HH 78
4 8 da/cls/14.1
Text: HCR00122 Text: HCR00124 Text: HCR00100 - HCR00199 Text: HCR Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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