Date: 2016-06-14
Speaker: DAVID SCOTT (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

Mr. Speaker. I thank Mr. SCOTT. whom I affectionately refer to as my cousin from Georgia. and my good. dear friend in addition to that. This is a remarkable 100year observance of a truly remarkable organization that provided a great need at a great time. Imagine where we were 100 years ago. In 1916. the world teetering on World War I. boll weevil. a lot of things happening. Just a matter of. perhaps. 50 years. the South recovering from the Civil War. Great devastation. Enter into this picture of great need comes Farm Credit. When we celebrate this 100year anniversary. we have to celebrate it right. We have to let people know the importance. and why this organization came into existence. And I say. Mr. Speaker. that particularly in the South. we might not have really made it as quickly in terms of our recovery as we did if it were not for Farm Credit. On this 100th anniversary. we have so much to celebrate. so many fine people. Those who started it are gone. but they built it on a solid foundation that had lasted. Agriculture is the single most important industry in the world. It is the food we eat. it is the water we drink. it is the clothes we wear. and it is the financial system that we have created. The very commitment that Chairman AUSTIN SCOTT and I share was birthed out of thatthe Commodities Exchange. The South didnt have everything it needed. but it had the land and it had the crops. It had commodities. Farm Credit provided the liquidity that our farmers needed. So there is so much to cherish in this time that we are celebrating. There is something else. too. Mr. Speaker. as we look at this. As Chairman SCOTT said. 72 percent of their loans are going to beginning. new farmers. Now. why do I say that is so important? Because the number one issue that we are faced with today is the age of the average farmer. To me. and to many of us in agriculture. this is not only a farming issue. it is a national issue. that the average age of a farmer today is 60 years of age. What other industry has that? What other sector has that? That is why we have to move aggressively. That is why I appreciate Farm Credit so muchbecause they jumped out front. Seventytwo percent of their lending capacity goes to getting young. beginning farmers in. The other thing is they are partnering with our committee and going a step further. There is so much we can do. But. Mr. Speaker. it was the land grant colleges in the South that was the pivot. The 1860s and the 1890s is what pulled this country and pulled the South together. Every 5 years. we put a farm bill together. In that farm bill. we allocate badly needed dollars to these 1890 land grant institutions as well as to the 1860s. I mention that because we have to get young. beginning farmersAfrican Americans. White. all of Americas people. So what we are doing is to open up a new spending category in the farm bill for these 1890s that we will be able to give loan forgiveness and scholarships to young people who will go into farming. That is how we solve this problem. And Farm Credit has to template. They are there with that other arm. Mr. Speaker. it costs $8.000 just for one acre of land. You can hardly get a tractor for less than $50.000. It is neededwhen these young people graduate and they have that loan forgiveness there. they have that debt in schoolin order for them to go and become farmers. They have to pay $8.000 to start with just an acre. and $50.000. But if we would be able to help them and say: We will help your loan forgiveness. I mention that because the people at Farm Credit said: Let me reach out a hand. Let me help Fort Valley State in Georgia to partner with the University of Georgia. Let me help Florida A&M University Land Grant to work with the University of Florida. a land grant. Let me help Alabama A&M University and Tuskegee Institute work with the University of Alabama. That is how we solve this problem. That is why it is important for us to understand the foundation. Farm Credit was developed out of a crisis need. and here they are moving to help with another crisis need to get more young people involved in farming. I say a national crisis because. Mr. Speaker. if we allow this to continue without addressing this highly escalating age of our farmers. we will be in serious trouble. For if we do not continue to be the leading agriculture producer in the world and have to depend on other nations to feed us. that is a national crisis. So on this 100th anniversary. isnt it something that we celebrate Farm Credit when they ushered in and came and helped to restore and invigorate America at a great time. and they are still doing the same thing today? With a century of experience and a focus on the future. I want to say to Farm Credit: God bless Farm Credit. God bless those 100 years. We look forward to many hundred more years. And God bless the United States of America.