Congressman Edwards knows that farmers and ranchers are the backbone of our country and that American agriculture plays a vital role in feeding and clothing our nation.

Congressman Edwards' accomplishments include:

• voting for the 2001 Farm Bill, which was strongly supported by the American Farm Bureau
• successfully fighting ill-advised regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service that would have trampled on private property rights and harmed Texas farmers and ranchers
  
• voting to extend and make permanent Chapter 12 Bankruptcy Protections to family farmers to give them "breathing room" by protecting agricultural equipment from forced sale in a bankruptcy proceeding
  
• voting in favor of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), China Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) and to prohibit the use of government funds to enforce the trade embargo on Cuba
  
• supporting increasing free trade opportunities for American farmers
  
• opposing the Death Tax, which causes the breakup of family farms and ranches.