I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1297 
To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to expand 
eligibility for Farm Service Agency loans. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 20, 2013 
Mr. OWENS (for himself, Mr. COURTNEY, and Mr. HANNA) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development 
Act to expand eligibility for Farm Service Agency loans. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Agricultural Credit Ex-
pansion Act’’. 
SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY FOR FARM LOANS. 
(a) FARM OWNERSHIP LOANS.—Section 302(a) of 
the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 
U.S.C. 1922(a)) is amended— 
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(1) by striking ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The’’ and 
inserting the following: 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(1) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—The’’; 
(2) in the 1st sentence, by inserting after ‘‘lim-
ited liability companies’’ the following: ‘‘, and such 
other legal entities as the Secretary deems appro-
priate,’’; 
(3) in the 2nd sentence, by redesignating 
clauses (1) through (4) as clauses (A) through (D), 
respectively; 
(4) in each of the 2nd and 3rd sentences, by 
striking ‘‘and limited liability companies’’ each place 
it appears and inserting ‘‘limited liability companies, 
and such other legal entities’’; and 
(5) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) SPECIAL DEEMING RULES.— 
‘‘(A) ELIGIBILITY
OF
CERTAIN
OPER-
ATING-ONLY
ENTITIES.—An entity that is or 
will become only the operator of a family farm 
is deemed to meet the owner-operator require-
ments of paragraph (1) if the individuals that 
are the owners of the family farm own more 
than 50 percent (or such other percentage as 
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other legal entities as the Secretary deems appro-
priate,’’; 
(3) in the 2nd sentence, by redesignating 
clauses (1) through (4) as clauses (A) through (D), 
respectively; 
(4) in each of the 2nd and 3rd sentences, by 
striking ‘‘and limited liability companies’’ each place 
it appears and inserting ‘‘limited liability companies, 
and such other legal entities’’; and 
(5) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) SPECIAL DEEMING RULE.—An entity that 
is an operator described in paragraph (1) that is 
owned, in whole or in part, by other entities, is 
deemed to meet the direct ownership requirement 
imposed under paragraph (1) if at least 75 percent 
of the ownership interests of each embedded entity 
of such entity is owned directly or indirectly by the 
individuals that own the family farm.’’. 
(d) EMERGENCY LOANS.—Section 321(a) of such Act 
(7 U.S.C. 1961(a)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘owner-operators (in the case of 
loans for a purpose under subtitle A) or operators 
(in the case of loans for a purpose under subtitle 
B)’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘(in the 
case of farm ownership loans in accordance with 
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subtitle A) owner-operators or operators, or (in the 
case of loans for a purpose under subtitle B) opera-
tors’’; 
(2) by inserting after ‘‘limited liability compa-
nies’’ the 1st place it appears the following: ‘‘, or 
such other legal entities as the Secretary deems ap-
propriate’’; 
(3) by inserting after ‘‘limited liability compa-
nies’’ the 2nd place it appears the following: ‘‘, or 
other legal entities’’; 
(4) by striking ‘‘and limited liability compa-
nies,’’ and inserting ‘‘limited liability companies, and 
such other legal entities’’; 
(5) by striking ‘‘ownership and operator’’ and 
inserting ‘‘ownership or operator’’; and 
(6) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘An en-
tity that is an owner-operator or operator described 
in this subsection is deemed to meet the direct own-
ership requirement imposed under this subsection if 
the entity is owned, in whole or in part, by other en-
tities and each individual that is an owner of the 
family farm involved has a direct or indirect owner-
ship interest in each of the other entities.’’. 
(e) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
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(1) Section 304(c)(2) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 
1924(c)(2)) by striking ‘‘paragraphs (1) and (2) of 
section 302(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (A) 
and (B) of section 302(a)(1)’’. 
(2) Section 310D of such Act (7 U.S.C. 1934) 
is amended— 
(A) by inserting after ‘‘partnership’’ the 
following: ‘‘, or such other legal entities as the 
Secretary deems appropriate,’’; and 
(B) by inserting after ‘‘partners’’ the fol-
lowing: ‘‘, or owners,’’. 
(3) Section 343(a)(11) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 
1991(a)(11)) is amended— 
(A) by inserting after ‘‘joint operation,’’ 
the 1st place it appears the following: ‘‘or such 
other legal entity as the Secretary deems appro-
priate,’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘or joint operators’’ each 
place it appears and inserting ‘‘joint operators, 
or owners’’; and 
(C) by inserting after ‘‘joint operation,’’ 
each other place it appears the following: ‘‘or 
such other legal entity,’’. 
(4) Section 359(c)(2) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 
2006a(c)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 
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302(a)(2) or 311(a)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 
302(a)(1)(B) or 311(a)(1)(B)’’. 
Æ 
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