Herb Kohl: “I will briefly respond to the Senator from Kansas. He argues against changing what is in the current bill and is against…”

“I will briefly respond to the Senator from Kansas. He argues against changing what is in the current bill and is against accepting my amendment and believes that farmers would undergo an extreme correction. This bill and its amendment can be crafted for acceptance on the floor today to protect a farmer's exemption. There is a recognition that the intention of this amendment is not to impoverish any farmers or homesteaders, as Senator Brownback has referred. And if that language is not clear enough, we would be more than happy to work out the farmer exemption, which is currently in our amendment. The intent of our amendment is not to do anything to get at family farmers who have owned their land for many years and who would be impoverished beyond reasonableness in a bankruptcy proceeding. I don't think it is an argument that should be used against this amendment because the amendment includes the recognition that farmers need an exemption.”