S-2262               _______________________________________________

                                 SUBSTITUTE SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 121

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State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1985 Regular Session

By Senate Committee on Agriculture (originally sponsored by Senators Bauer, Hansen, Benitz, Moore, Gaspard, Barr, DeJarnatt, Goltz, Rasmussen, Bender, Wojahn and Bailey)

Read first time 3/1/85.

TO THE HONORABLE RONALD REAGAN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO EACH MEMBER OF CONGRESS FROM WASHINGTON, OREGON, IDAHO, AND MONTANA, AND TO EACH HOUSE OF THE LEGISLATURES OF OREGON, IDAHO, AND MONTANA:

          We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:

          WHEREAS, American agriculture has suffered five years of continuing decline in net farm income, high real interest rates and declining farm exports; and

          WHEREAS, American agriculture is experiencing the most economic stress since the great depression of the 1930's; and

          WHEREAS, The related agribusiness sector that provides twenty percent of U.S. employment is also suffering from reduced sales, increased collection problems and employment reductions, and the importance of a healthy agricultural sector to the overall well-being of the U.S. economy cannot be stressed too strongly;

          NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully request that the federal government recognize the severity of the economic stress in agriculture by modifying appropriate provisions of the Farmer's Home Administration loan guarantee program to make it more useable by commercial and cooperative banks so that they may stay with a larger proportion of their high risk and problem loan accounts during the coming production cycle, provided that such producers have some reasonable prospect of working out of their burden of debt.

          BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to Ronald Reagan, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, each member of Congress from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana and to each house of the legislatures of Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.