Below are Rep. Feenstra's opening remarks for the House Agriculture Committee's Budget Reconciliation Markup:
House Agriculture Committee Budget Reconciliation Markup
Friday, September 10, 2021
I just want to put things in perspective a little bit.
The state of Iowa’s budget is just under $9 billion. This bill is $3.5 trillion.
This morning, I got to speak to about 200 university students, talking about economics and accounting. We started talking about all of our unfunded liabilities, like Social Security.
One student brought up: How can you pass a $3.5 trillion bill when we have all of these unfunded liabilities?
It sent shivers down my spine. These kids are on the hook for all this spending. And it’s scary. It’s scary to think about where we’re heading as a country when we go down these paths.
I look at this bill, and I regret to say it, but it’s a debacle.
We have no idea what the tax increases will be. We have no idea where the $28 billion is going -- we have generalities, but we have yet to see the text.
My real concern is what it’s doing to family farmers. The taxes. The crushing regulations. The broken promises that were made to farmers.
Farmers have had enough. My district ranks number one in virtually all farming aspects.
We are the breadbasket to the world.
The economic engine of our nation.
I’m here fighting for our farming community. I see what’s happening -- we talked about stepped-up in basis, which is effectively a supercharged death tax. That’s just one piece of the pie.
The administration is also calling for changes to a tax known as 1031 like-kind exchange -- very similar to stepped-up in basis, but what this does is when someone is passing on property or when you’re updating your farm equipment, then you don’t have to pay that extra tax. And it sounds like that’s going to be part of this bill.
Democratic leaders are turning a blind eye to the negative effects of all these hidden taxes, and these men and women who feed the world.
They should not have to foot the bill for this reckless spending.
They’re also looking at implementing burdensome regulations that I’m fearful of -- Administrator Regan recently announced that EPA will be looking at changing Waters of the U.S., returning to WOTUS, which will allow the government to regulate 97% of Iowa’s land.
But it didn’t stop there. Biden broke his promise to promote biofuels. He said that many times. Biofuels were completely left out of the [American Families Plan] -- instead providing billions in subsidies for coastal elites that drive Teslas and Priuses, or whatever it might be.
In June I spoke on the floor about this -- about the burdens that are on our farm families. My in-laws are one of them. We feel it.
We have real issues that we need to deal with.
We have anticompetitive behavior in the cattle market.
We have competition with China.
We have to develop stronger export markets.
We need to prepare for the upcoming farm bill.
Instead we’re here considering a bill that will solely benefit families on the East and West coasts, leaving families in the heartland of America behind.
Our farmers deserve better, and this $3.5 trillion is absolutely crushing to my kids and the kids I talked to today.
Original source can be found here
