Boozman, fellow GOP senators hit Biden, Democrats for failing farmers in fiery floor speech

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EXCLUSIVE: A group of GOP senators will head to the chamber’s floor Wednesday to hit President Biden and the Democrats for their spending proposal that they argue will adversely affect the agriculture sector.

Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member John Boozman, R-Ark., will be leading a handful of his colleagues on the floor to hammer the Democrats over the effects of their "reckless" spending and taxing plan on farmers and ranchers.

According to remarks obtained exclusively by Fox News, Boozman will criticize Biden and the Democrats for their proposed "changes to capital gains tax rates, stepped-up basis and the use of like-kind exchanges" that could put family farms and ranches "at risk."

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Highlighting the "unprecedented challenges" faced by family farmers and ranchers recently, Boozman warned that the "next generation of family farmers will face devastating consequences" if the Democrats’ proposals are adopted.

Boozman also called out Biden and his allies in Congress for claiming "ninety-eight percent of farms will not be impacted" by their infrastructure plan, without providing any evidence to back the claim up.

"And they have been asked to provide that, directly, by myself and a majority of the Republican side of the [Agriculture] Committee," the remarks state.

"We essentially asked USDA to show its math. That request has gone unanswered," Boozman plans to say, also adding that the GOP senators expect that an answer from the Agriculture Department is "unlikely."

"We asked the highly-respected team at the Agricultural and Food Policy Center (AFPC) at Texas A&M University to conduct a study on legislation that mirrors tax increases President Biden and Congressional Democrats have floated to pay for their massive ‘human infrastructure’ plan," Boozman will say.

"The results confirm exactly what we suspected — these proposed changes are going to crush rural America," the top Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee warns.

Boozman warned the AFPC data projected a "$720,000" tax liability per farm for "ninety-eight percent of family farms included in AFPC's study" if the proposed changes are implemented.

The senator specifically points out the danger of the "stepped-up" basis in the Democrats' plan, which "allows the tax basis of an inherited asset to be stepped up at death" up to fair market value at the date of death.

"Add in the higher capital gains tax rates Democrats have proposed and limitations to like-kind exchanges — which allow taxpayers, including family farmers, to exchange property and defer the capital gains tax — and you can see why so many fear for their livelihood," the remarks read.

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"If changes of these magnitude are implemented, the economic harm it will cause will have a lasting impact on rural America," the senators warn.

Boozman will be joined on the floor Wednesday by Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Roy Blunt of Missouri, John Hoeven of North Dakota, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Jerry Moran of Kansas and Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi.