This bill today is important to my district in rural Arkansas and family farmers across the United States.  Family farmers injured by low commodity prices are being held hostage by the lack of certainty of whether or not Chapter 12 is going to be there.  

Last year, the House and Senate both voted to make Chapter 12 permanent.  Yet, we are still waiting for this to happen.  

I don’t think there is any dispute that Chapter 12 has worked well in saving our family farms by protecting the needs of both our financially struggling farm families and their creditors.  Our farmers cannot afford to continue to be left hanging out in the wind and held hostage by bankruptcy legislation.

I am not opposing the bankruptcy bill.  I hope it is enacted, as well as the Farm Bill.  But we need to help our farmers now.

Farm families are the backbone of our rural communities, and when we lose family farms, it has a devastating impact on the economy of rural America.  Unfortunately, our farmers are under increasing financial pressure each year to make ends due to low crop prices, added debt simply to get their crops planted, and increasing competition from big corporate farms and imports from other countries.  

When the Chapter 12 bankruptcy provision was first enacted, there was legitimate concern over whether it would work.  We now know that it has worked, and there is no reason why our farmers should have to wait to know that this safety net is there for them.  Yet, it has not been there for them since October 1. 

This measure extends Chapter 12 for eight months, retroactively starting on October 1 and ending on May 31.  While this is only a temporary fix, it is desperately needed for our farmers, for rural America.  I urge my colleagues not to delay any further.  Pass the Chapter 12 bankruptcy extension today.

 Mr. Speaker I reserve the balance of my time.