Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to introduce, along with Senator Franken, the Family Farmer Bankruptcy Clarification Act of 2015. I thank Senator Franken for his work on this bill and for his support. We introduced identical legislation in the 113th Congress and similar legislation in the 112 Congress. Unfortunately, the Senate has never had the opportunity to consider these bills and the problem we seek to correct. This bipartisan bill addresses the 2012 United States Supreme Court case Hall v. United States. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that a provision I inserted into the 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act didn't accomplish what we in Congress intended. The Family Farmer Bankruptcy Clarification Act of 2015 corrects this and clarifies that bankrupt family farmers reorganizing their debts are able to treat capital gains taxes owed to a governmental unit, arising from the sale of farm assets during a bankruptcy, as general unsecured claims. This bill will remove the Internal Revenue Service's veto power over a bankruptcy reorganization plan's confirmation, giving the family farmer a chance to reorganize successfully. In 1986 Congress enacted Chapter 12 of the Bankruptcy Code to provide a specialized bankruptcy process for family farmers. In 2005 Chapter 12 was made permanent. Between 1986 and 2005 we learned what aspects worked and didn't work for family farmers reorganizing in bankruptcy.…”