I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2423 

To affirm that the Farm Credit Administration is the sole and independent 

regulator of the Farm Credit System. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 30, 2023 

Mr. FINSTAD (for himself, Mr. PANETTA, Mrs. FISCHBACH, Mr. LAMALFA, 

and Ms. CRAIG) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Financial 

Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To affirm that the Farm Credit Administration is the sole 

and independent regulator of the Farm Credit System. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Farm Credit Adminis5 tration Independent Authority Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FARMER LOAN DATA COLLECTION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Farm Credit Act of 1971 (12 

3 U.S.C. 2001 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 

4 4.19 the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 4.20. SMALL FARMER LOAN DATA COLLECTION. 

6 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to af7 firm that the Farm Credit Administration is the sole and 

8 independent regulator of the Farm Credit System. 

9 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘small 

10 farmer’ means a ‘small farmer, rancher, or producer or 

11 harvester of aquatic products’ as defined pursuant to sec12 tion 4.19. 

13 ‘‘(c) COLLECTION OF DEMOGRAPHIC DATA BY FARM

14 CREDIT SYSTEM LENDERS.—Notwithstanding any other 

15 provision of law, Farm Credit System institutions, pursu16 ant to regulations promulgated by the Farm Credit Ad17 ministration, shall— 

18 ‘‘(1) request that loan applicants and borrowers 

19 that are small farmers disclose information identi20 fying their race, sex, and ethnicity; 

21 ‘‘(2) collect and maintain the information re22 sulting from the requests; and 

23 ‘‘(3) report to the Farm Credit Administration 

24 on an annual basis the information collected pursu25 ant to the requests. 


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1 ‘‘(d) DIRECTIONS TO THE FARM CREDIT ADMINIS2 TRATION.—The Farm Credit Administration— 

3 ‘‘(1) shall collect the information gathered by 

4 Farm Credit System institutions under this section 

5 and make the information available to the public on 

6 an annual basis; and 

7 ‘‘(2) shall not require, in prescribing regulations 

8 to implement this section, that any Farm Credit 

9 System institution contradict the wishes of a cus10 tomer who does not wish to voluntarily report race, 

11 sex, or ethnicity by requiring the Farm Credit Sys12 tem institution to report the race, sex, or ethnicity 

13 of the customer based on visual observation, sur14 name, or any other method. 

15 ‘‘(e) PROTECTION OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE

16 INFORMATION.—In reporting the information collected 

17 under this section, the Farm Credit Administration shall 

18 not include any information that would reveal the identify 

19 of any loan applicant or borrower. 

20 ‘‘(f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

21 only to applications received and loans made 1 year or 

22 more after the date of the enactment of this section.’’. 

23 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

24 Section 704B(h)(1) of the Equal Credit Opportunity 

25 Act (15 U.S.C. 1691c–2(h)(1)) is amended by inserting 


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1 ‘‘, other than any entity that is supervised by the Farm 

2 Credit Administration’’ before the period at the end. 

Æ 


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