Text: SCR00019 Text: SCR00021 Text: SCR00000 - SCR00099 Text: SCR Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. __
1 2 BY GRONSTAL, BLACK, BOLKCOM, CONNOLLY, DEARDEN,
1 3 DELUHERY, DVORSKY, FINK, FLYNN, FRAISE, HANSEN,
1 4 HARPER, HORN, JUDGE, KIBBIE, SHEARER, SOUKUP,
1 5 SZYMONIAK, and HAMMOND
1 6 A Concurrent Resolution requesting that the President
1 7 of the United States, the United States Secretary of
1 8 Agriculture, and the United States Congress
1 9 immediately take all actions necessary to reevaluate
1 10 and amend the 1996 "Freedom to Farm Bill" in order to
1 11 preserve family farms.
1 12 WHEREAS, family farm agriculture traditionally has
1 13 been the foundation of this nation's economic
1 14 prosperity, providing the basis for a system of
1 15 production unmatched in the world for its abundant and
1 16 efficient production of food, feed grains, and animal
1 17 products, and contributing billions of dollars in
1 18 revenue each year to the nation's economy from export
1 19 sales; and
1 20 WHEREAS, in 1996 Congress enacted the Federal
1 21 Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act, commonly
1 22 referred to as the "Freedom to Farm Bill", contained
1 23 in Pub. L. No. 104-127 and Pub. L. No. 104-180; and
1 24 WHEREAS, since the passage of the Freedom to Farm
1 25 Bill, agriculture has faced a crisis caused by
1 26 disastrously low prices; and
1 27 WHEREAS, since the passage of the Freedom to Farm
1 28 Bill, farm families and rural communities have
1 29 suffered from a deepening economic crisis resembling
1 30 the devastating economic conditions experienced in the
2 1 1980s; and
2 2 WHEREAS, according to statistics published by the
2 3 United States Department of Agriculture, net income
2 4 earned by farmers from the production of major field
2 5 crops in 1998 declined 17 percent below the average
2 6 income earned from the production of major field crops
2 7 for the five previous years; and
2 8 WHEREAS, according to projections by the United
2 9 States Department of Agriculture, net income earned by
2 10 farmers from the production of major field crops in
2 11 1999 will decline 27 percent below the average income
2 12 from the production of major field crops for the
2 13 previous five years; and
2 14 WHEREAS, in December 1998, prices paid for swine on
2 15 a live carcass basis plummeted to below depression
2 16 area levels; and
2 17 WHEREAS, when adjusted to 1933 prices, producers
2 18 received 67 cents per hundredweight for swine sold on
2 19 a live carcass basis in December; and
2 20 WHEREAS, the slaughter cattle market has been
2 21 depressed for several years and milk producers
2 22 witnessed the largest one-month price decline in
2 23 history; and
2 24 WHEREAS, since the passage of the Freedom to Farm
2 25 Bill, there is an increasing use of contracting,
2 26 integration of production and processing, and mergers
2 27 and consolidation of agribusinesses which exacerbates
2 28 the desperate financial condition faced by family
2 29 farmers, by limiting opportunities for family farmers
2 30 to market agricultural commodities; and
3 1 WHEREAS, since the passage of the Freedom to Farm
3 2 Bill, the decline in farm exports is significantly
3 3 below the levels predicted when the Freedom to Farm
3 4 Bill was enacted; and
3 5 WHEREAS, since the passage of the Freedom to Farm
3 6 Bill, losses of billions of dollars will force
3 7 thousands of family farmers out of business and may
3 8 threaten the cherished position of the small
3 9 independent producer in the agricultural economy; and
3 10 WHEREAS, for families who have farmed land for
3 11 generations, "freedom to farm" has come to mean the
3 12 freedom to leave their farms or face economic ruin;
3 13 NOW THEREFORE,
3 14 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, THE HOUSE OF
3 15 REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING, That the President of the
3 16 United States, the United States Secretary of
3 17 Agriculture, and the United State Congress immediately
3 18 take all actions necessary to reevaluate and amend the
3 19 Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act in
3 20 order to address critical issues facing agriculture
3 21 and to preserve family farms; and
3 22 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this
3 23 Resolution be sent by the Secretary of the Senate to
3 24 the President of the United States; the United States
3 25 Secretary of Agriculture; the President of the Senate
3 26 of the United States; the United States Attorney
3 27 General; the Speaker of the House of Representatives
3 28 of the United States; the Chairperson of the United
3 29 States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and
3 30 Forestry; the Chairperson of the United States House
4 1 of Representatives Committee on Agriculture; and
4 2 members of Iowa's congressional delegation.
4 3 LSB 3423XS 78
4 4 da/sc/14.1
Text: SCR00019 Text: SCR00021 Text: SCR00000 - SCR00099 Text: SCR Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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