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The CHAIRMAN. If you strike out these words "from the British Virgin Islands" then I understand Mr. Saylor would have no objection to it.

Mr. SAYLOR. I have no objection at all to the wording, Mr. Cooley. The CHAIRMAN. What would be the objection of the Department if we strike that out? You would still have what you are seeking, That does not mean that you would have to let the cattle come in from the other places, but you can permit them to come in on that basis if the situations were comparable..

Dr. CLARKSON. Well, there is the difficulty of administration, Mr. Chairman. If the Congress indicates by its legislation that it contemplates cattle coming from any area to the Virgin Islands then we, of course, must pay some attention to that, and it is extremely difficult to ascertain the conditions in all of the various areas.

The CHAIRMAN. I see what you mean. In other words, if we struck that language out, then you would be charged with a greater responsibility of determining the exact conditions of all these areas from which the cattle might be imported into the Virgin Islands? Dr. CLARKSON. Absolutely.

The CHAIRMAN. Whereas when you limit it to the British Virgin Islands, you are only concerned with that one area?

Dr. CLARKSON. That is correct, and we think that is immensely important.

The CHAIRMAN. Even if this bill is passed, as you propose it, and as the administration recommends it, if a year from now you find that there are other areas which have cleaned up, from which cattle might be imported into the Virgin Islands, of course, you could come back and we could then decide what to do.

However, I could easily see that if you strike these words out, we would open it up to the whole world; would we not?

Dr. CLARKSON. It could be.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much.

Mr. Harrison?

Mr. HARRISON. How many cattle are we talking about?

The CHAIRMAN. All that the Virgin Islands can consume, or need. Mr. HARRISON. Is that 1 carload, or 2 carloads?

Mr. SAYLOR. It is not too many.

Mr. HARRISON. They raise some cattle in the Virgin Islands, and they only have a population of about 10,000 people.

Mr. SAYLOR. They have a population of about 27,000 people. Mr. HARRISON. I do not think we are talking about very many cattle here.

Mr. SAYLOR. The islands themselves are increasing their own cattle production so that we are talking about, really, a small, small quantity. Mr. HARRISON. We are talking about a very small amount of cattle. Dr. CLARKSON. For the calendar year 1954, there were 2,899 animals brought in; and most of them are sheep, goats, and swine.

During the first 5 months of this year, there were 892, and then there were 39 last month.

So, there are small lots that come over from the British Virgin Islands.

Mr. HARRISON. Certainly for the benefit of that small amount of trade, we could not afford to increase the administrative costs very much.

Dr. CLARKSON. No, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Saylor, very much, for your appearance.

Mr. SAYLOR. Thank you, gentlemen.

The CHAIRMAN. Gentlemen, I am sorry that we cannot get to these other 2 bills. We will have to call you back again at an early date. Off the record.

(Discussion off the record.)

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much.

The committee stands adjourned until 10 o'clock, tomorrow morning.

(Thereupon, the committee proceeded to other business.)

LOAN INSURANCE AUTHORITY

LOAN INSURANCE AUTHORITY

TUESDAY, JULY 12, 1955

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE,
Washington, D. C.

The committee met at 10 a. m., Hon. Harold D. Cooley (chairman) presiding.

The CHAIRMAN. The committee will please be in order.

I will call out of order H. R. 6914 and we will hear from a repreresentative of the Farmers' Home Administration, Mr. McLeaish, Administrator.

Mr. McLeaish, will you please come around and explain the purpose of the provisions of H. R. 6914 and give us your views with reference to it?

(H. R. 6914 follows:)

[H. R. 6914, 84th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To amend the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act, as amended, to modify, clarify, and provide additional authority for insurance of loans

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act, as amended (7 U. S. C. 1000 and the following), is further amended as follows: Title I of the Act is amended by the addition of the following new section 16: "SEC. 16. (a) The Secretary is authorized to insure and to make commitments for the insurance of loans made for the purposes specified in this title (including those made in accordance with the Act of October 19, 1949) and to take as security for the obligations entered into in connection with such loans first mortgages on the farms with respect to which such loans are made and such other security as may be required by the Secretary. Such mortgages shall create a lien running to the United States for the benefit of the fund, notwithstanding the fact that the note may be held by the lender or his assignee.

"(b) Loans insured under this section shall be subject to all the provisions of this title, except as otherwise provided in this section, and with respect to such loans, the terms used in this Act shall have the following meanings as the context requires :

"(1) 'Mortgage' shall mean 'loan' or 'the instruments relating to a loan'; "(2) 'Insured mortgage' shall mean 'note endorsed for insurance';

"(3) 'Mortgagor' shall mean 'borrower' or 'obligor on the note';

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(4) 'Mortgagee' shall mean 'lender' or 'holder of insured note';

"(c) Any mortgage heretofore insured or any loan heretofore made under this Act may be converted to an insured loan under this section at the discretion of the Secretary, and any expenses in connection with such conversion may be paid out of appropriations for administrative expenses.

"(d) In connection with loans insured or converted under this section (1) the holder of the insured note shall be entitled to receive the benefits of the insurance as provided in section 13 (a) only in accordance with an agreement pursuant to section 12 (j) or when the assignment of the note is required by the Secretary, and (2) notice of default to the lender under section 12 (f) shall not be required."

67427-56-7

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