News Release
Congressman Bob Etheridge
North Carolina

November 18, 2003

                                       Contact: Sara Lang
                                       Phone: (202) 225-4531

As Session Nears End, Etheridge Urges House Speaker to Pass Tobacco Buyout

WASHINGTON - Nearing the final days of this congressional session, U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-Lillington) today sent a letter to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert urging him to bring up a tobacco buyout before Congress adjourns for the year. Etheridge, who authored the letter and submitted it on behalf of thirteen of his colleagues, said that without a buyout the downward spiral of the federal tobacco program coupled with the massive quota cuts predicted for next year could force thousands of family tobacco farms throughout the South into bankruptcy.

"As long as Congress is in session there is some hope of passing tobacco buyout legislation this year to help families stay on the farm and out of bankruptcy, but that hope is fading fast," Etheridge said. "If the Speaker of the House and the Republican leadership will get off the sidelines and into the game, we could pass this tobacco buyout now. This is an opportunity for Democrats and Republicans to work together and put the people's interest ahead of the political interests. I hope the Speaker will do right by our farmers."

Because of declining tobacco leaf purchases from tobacco companies, the federal government has reduced tobacco quotas by approximately 50 percent since 1997, cutting in half the incomes of both tobacco growers and quota holders. This year, tobacco quota was cut 9.5 percent, resulting in the smallest crop since 1874. A tobacco buyout would reform the current tobacco quota system, compensating tobacco quota holders for the elimination of quota, assisting tobacco farmers with the transition and injecting nearly $6 billion into rural North Carolina's economy.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will set the tobacco quotas for flue-cured tobacco for the 2004 crop year in mid-December. Most experts predict USDA will impose massive quota cuts for the 2004 year, ranging from 15 to 30 percent.

This fall, Etheridge introduced bipartisan, consensus tobacco legislation, H.R. 3160, in the House of Representatives along with Reps. Ernie Fletcher (R-KY), Virgil Goode (R-VA) and Mike McIntyre (D-NC). Under H.R. 3160, buyout payments would be based on an average of tobacco quota from 1997 through 2002. Tobacco quota owners would receive $8 per pound for quota owned after July 1, 2002. Farmers would receive $4 for their average tobacco production from 2000-2002. These payments would be made in equal amounts over a seven-year period.

   
   
   
   

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