Deborah Koff Ross: “Mr. Speaker, I would simply close in support of the bill by saying that this weekend I was driving across my…”

“Mr. Speaker, I would simply close in support of the bill by saying that this weekend I was driving across my congressional district, as I do every weekend, some 75,000 miles we traveled across those 29 counties over the past 16 months. There is a lot of row crop land not planted because our farm families do not know what to do. They do not know what to do because they are waiting on Chapter 12 bankruptcy protection; they are waiting on a new farm bill, both of which are tied up in conference committees. Our farm families do not need more conference committees. They need Chapter 12 bankruptcy reform, and they need it permanent and they need it today. They need a new farm bill today. When that bill got gutted with amendments in the Senate and went to conference committee, in my district we began to see three-, four-, and five-generation farm families selling out. The price of equipment at those auctions dropped 35 percent overnight after those amendments were attached to the farm bill in the Senate and it was sent to the conference committee. The time for action on bankruptcy reform, the time for action on a new farm bill for our struggling farm families is now. I think it is important to note that this bill sunsets 45 days from today.”