Jim Sensenbrenner: “Mr. Chairman, the bill that is in the substitute made in order by the Committee on Rules, which is the version of the…”

“Mr. Chairman, the bill that is in the substitute made in order by the Committee on Rules, which is the version of the bill that passed the House last March by about a three to one margin, is better for family farmers than what the Senate sent over to us. But the Senate sent over to us what is merely a 6-month extension of chapter 12 of the bankruptcy code. The substitute amendment made in order at the Committee on Rules makes chapter 12 permanent. So you have a choice of saying that the other body's bill should be on the President's desk tonight, which means we will go through this entire debate again in 6 months, the end of June, when the Senate bill's provisions expire, or we will be able to pass this bill and take care of the chapter 12 problem permanently. To protect our family farmers and to give them certainty in the law, let us do the permanent extension, pass the substitute amendment, and then pass the bill with its other provisions because that will protect everybody from being stiffed by the $400 per household that is passed down in the cost of higher goods and services and interest rates as a result of the current bankruptcy system.”