Agriculture
The agricultural industry plays a vital role in bolstering our economy both in Minnesota and across the country. Ensuring America’s agricultural backbone remains strong and prosperous is essential to the future of our nation. I am proud that the Sixth District is home to a wide variety of agricultural products, and includes Stearns County, Minnesota’s largest dairy producing county.
I know many farmers work all their lives to maintain their businesses and provide America and the world with needed agricultural resources. That is why I sponsored H.R. 86, the End Tax Uncertainty Act of 2011, which would make permanent the repeal of the estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer taxes. Estate tax infringes on the ability of many Americans to pass on their family businesses to younger generations and has led to complete liquidation of assets accumulated through lifetimes of hard work just so families can pay the IRS. Not only is this an unfair tax burden, the death tax undermines efforts to expand opportunity, create jobs and stimulate the economy.
This past year, I was honored to receive the Friend of the Farm Bureau Award from the American Farm Bureau Federation and the Minnesota Farm Bureau for the 112th Congress. Agriculture is such an important facet of Minnesota’s identity, and I am dedicated to ensuring the continued strength of our agricultural industry for generations to come.