Banner Graphic, Volume 15, Number 434, Greencastle, Putnam County, 19 December 1985 — Page 3

Next move is President’s

Farm policy, credit legislation most sweeping in half a century

c. 1985 N.Y. Times News Service WASHINGTON Congress Wednesday approved two measures that together form the most sweeping alteration in government farm policy since the Depression. The fir(< bill would reduce government income afid price supports to farmers for the first time since the program was established in 1933. The second would reorganize the nation’s farm credit system and bolster it by allowing tens of thousands of farm foreclosures. Together the measures provide a framework for agriculture, the nation’s largest industrial sector, for the rest of the decade. President Reagan has said he would sign the Farm Credit System assistance package. But he has not indicated whether he will sign the policy bill. The approvals by the House and Senate came in a flurry of activity Wednesday afternoon as Congress rushed to adjourn for the year. The farm policy bill was a compromise approved last weekend by a Senate-House conference committee. The House passed it by a vote of 325 to 96, and hours later it passed the Senate by a vote of 55 to 38. The farm credit measure, passed Tuesday night by the Senate, was approved by the House today by an unrecorded vote. The bills, passed after 11 months of often anguished debate, would favor the largest producers and are likely to hasten the trend toward the production of more of the nation’s food by fewer and fewer farmers. Experts agree that the bills are likely to result in a decrease of more than 10 percent in the number of American farms, to fewer than two million farms. Currently, the 200,000 biggest farms produce roughly 60 percent of the nation’s food. Because many farmers are expected to be hurt by these measures, the bills are expected to have profound political consequences, especially in the Middle West and Rocky Mountain states where the farm crisis is most severe. The architects of the bill, led by officials of the Reagan administration, have insisted that reducing government price and income supports, which compensate farmers if the market prices of their products fall below levels established by the government, would bring the support prices closer to world market prices. Backers of the measure say this change would encourage sales of American products on the world market and would therefore reduce the huge surpluses held in government warehouses. As a result, backers say, the cost of federal farm programs will be reduced and farmers will begin to regain export markets they have lost in recent years. “This is a very significant change,” said Daniel G. Amstutz, undersecretary of agriculture for international affairs and commodities. “The farm bill recognizes that it is markets, not government, that move farm products. It puts farmers more in line with market realities than they’ve been before.” The second bill calls for reorganizing the 69-year-old Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of 37 lending institutions organized into 12 districts. The system, the nation’s largest agricultural lender, has $73 billion in outstanding loans to farmers, a third of the nation’s $214 billion farm

Happy Birthday Jesus Happy birthday Jesus as we celebrate Your birth— Peace, love and happiness is spread throughout Your earth. What a wonderous gift Your Father gave to everyone—- “ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son”. Salvation was given that night in Bethlehem— As Your Mother lay You in a manger, Peace on earth, good will to men! Now among men, Your work would begin— Thank You Jesus, the Cross was not the end. May the beautiful Carols that give honor to You— Show You our love and appreciation too. Your birthday is so sacred, we will hold it dear— This could be Your last one, Your returning is near. Happy Birthday Jesus, we all love You so— As the Joy of Christmas shines from Your glow. Adrenne Patterson

The Hoosier vote

WASHINGTON (AP) congressmen split 8-1 as the House voted 325-96 for a compromise farm bill which promises near-record spending on farm subsidies. The Senate approved the 1,397-page bill 55-38 vote a few hours later Wednesday. The measure was sent to President Reagan. Indiana Democratic Reps. Lee Hamilton, Frank McCloskey, Philip Sharp and Peter Visclosky and Republicans Dan Burton, Dan Coats,

debt. The bill would authorize, but not require, the Secretary of the Treasury to invest federal funds in a new unit created to take over billions of dollars of delinquent loans, seek to renegotiate with some borrowers and foreclose on mortgaged farms in cases where renegotiation is impossible. It is widely expected that tens of thousands of farms will be subject to foreclosure, congressional approval would be required if federal funds were invested in the ailing system. The bill would reduce the management authority of the Farm Credit Administration, which manages the system, while increasing its regulatory authority. The Farm Credit System Board, whose 13 members serve part time, would be replaced by three full-time members appointed by the President. The current governor of the Farm Credit Administration, Donald E. Wilkinson, is expected to be replaced. The administration Wednesday estimated the policy bill will cost $169 billion over the next five years. The commodity price and income support provisions were estimated to cost $52 bill over three years, which is $lB billion more than Reagan proposed in his February budget for 1986. Since then, however, the White House has revised its cost estimates. Nevertheless, congressional leaders predicted Wednesday that Reagan would sign the measure. The policy bill also contains provisions for increasing government spending on export trade, food stamps, agricultural research, soil conservation, and shipping food aboard American vessels to overseas

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John Hiler and John Myers voted for the measure. Democrat Andrew Jacobs opposed it. Republican Elwood Hillis was listed as not voting. Sen. Richard G. Lugar, R-Ind., said the measure is “a good package for Indiana farmers. It encourages exports and provides new hope for American farming. He fellow Hoosier Repubican Dan Quayle voted for the measure.

buyers. Despite the changes, the agricultural policy bill would result in record spending on farm income and price supports because more and more farmers are participating in the program. According to administration estimates made Wednesday, government spending on these sections of the bill could total $84.9 billion over the next five years. The policy bill also sets a more aggressive course for developing new export markets for American crops. Agricultural export revenues have declined from $44 billion in 1981 to $29 billion this year.

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December 19,1985, The Putnam County Banner Graphic

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