House passes Sensenbrenner, Armstrong bill to help family farmers

WASHINGTON - Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, released the following statement after the Family Farmer Relief Act of 2019, H.R. 2336, passed the House. Reps. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law, and subcommittee member Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.) are original cosponsors of the Family Farmer Relief Act.

"The family farm is a pivotal part of our economy and communities, and I want to see our agricultural communities remain competitive," said Collins. "The Family Farmer Relief Act would make more farmers eligible to receive quicker help while overcoming financial difficulties. Thanks to the leadership of Congressmen Sensenbrenner and Armstrong, this bill now heads to the Senate. I encourage all of our Senate colleagues to pass this legislation in order to help the men and women who have been feeding our country for generations."

"Farmers continue to experience an extremely challenging economy. Wisconsin's dairy sector has been hit particularly hard, and the number of our family farms filing for Chapter 12 bankruptcy protection has more than doubled in the past five years," said Sensenbrenner. "This bipartisan bill will update our bankruptcy code to give family farmers the repayment flexibility needed to get through these hard times without permanently closing their operations."

"This bill updates the law to more adequately reflect current realities of family farms," said Armstrong. "The cost of equipment and land are all going up, but the limit under Chapter 12 hasn't kept pace. Under normal circumstances, the updates are long overdue, but they are even more important given the stresses in farm country right now."

The Family Farmer Relief Act of 2019 updates chapter 12 of the Bankruptcy Code to allow family farms to reorganize up to $10 million in debt - more than twice as much as is currently allowed. The increased cap accounts for recent increases in the cost of family farming due to new and essential high-tech equipment and other factors.

Armstrong is serving his first term representing the state of North Dakota in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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