Farm Bill Conferees Warned Not to Expand FCS Lending Authority
The leaders of the House Financial Services and Senate Banking Committees yesterday urged key members of the House-Senate Farm Bill conference not to consider any Farm Credit System expansion proposals without first consulting them. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and ranking member Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), along with House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and ranking member Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), emphasized in a letter that credit issues fall under the jurisdiction of their panels.

"We understand and appreciate that...proposals to expand the lending authority of the FCS are in neither the House Farm Bill nor the Senate Farm Bill," they said. "If you are pressed to consider such proposals during conference, however, we urge you to consult with [our committees] prior to taking any such action." Meanwhile, ABA continues its own intense effort to prevent any FCS expansion provisions from being slipped into the final Farm Bill. Read the letter. For more information, contact ABA's John Blanchfield.

Legislative Resources

• Legislative Policy Outlook for 2008

• An Overview of Congressional and Administration Action to Respond to the Subprime Mortgage Crisis

Letters to Congressional Delegation

• Farm Credit System Farm Bill Provisions
• Farm Credit Act: Horizons Project (5/16/07)

Maps and elected congressional members for each of our five states.

Hearing File: S.190 Committee Print - July 22, 2005

Hearing File 2:
S.190-Amendment #3

H.R. 1461, "Federal Housing Finance Reform Act of 2005"