[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 132 (Tuesday, August 8, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11805-S11806]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               FARM BILL

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, every 5 years, Congress has the 
opportunity to review the Government's role in sustaining domestic 
agriculture production and determine the effectiveness of those 
programs. That effort is underway as we begin, again this year, the 
legislation that modifies and extends USDA programs. The multiyear farm 
bill allows us to step back and shine the light on current conditions 
on each and every one of the programs affected by this legislation.
  As the Senate Agriculture Committee took its first look under the 
hood earlier last month, it is already clear that some of the programs 
need a tune-up, some need a complete overhaul, and still others may 
need to be hauled away.
  No piece of legislation Congress takes up this year will affect the 
lives of South Dakotans and rural Americans more than the 1995 farm 
bill. Commodity support programs, trade, conservation, research, 
domestic food assistance, rural credit, and the rural development 
programs will all be under very close scrutiny.
  In my years in Congress, I have had the honor of representing the 
interests and concerns of South Dakota farmers and ranchers in a number 
of these farm bill debates. In close consultation with the agricultural 
community, I have worked to improve farm income and bolster the rural 
economy by offering amendments that were eventually incorporated in the 
final legislation.
  Nonetheless, as each of these bills have come up for final votes, I 
have had to ask myself whether they truly represented our best effort 
to respond to legitimate needs of the agricultural sector. I sincerely 
hope this year, as we begin to weigh pros and cons of the legislation, 
that we recognize that the stakes could not be higher.
  As we debate the 1995 farm bill in the coming months, I hope the 
Democrats and Republicans alike can move beyond the partisanship that 
so often dominates Congress and work together to draft a farm bill that 
truly reflects the genuine appreciation for an agricultural community 
that is too often taken for granted. On many issues, I am optimistic 
that broad consensus is possible and, indeed, likely. As in years past, 
however, there are those in Congress who will push for drastic and 
disproportionate cuts in agricultural spending, claiming that in these 
times of tight budget constraints, we can no longer afford to support 
American agriculture, including family farmers.
  I say we cannot afford to. American agriculture is making an 
extraordinarily important contribution to the national economy. In a 
time when our manufacturing base continues to decline, agriculture 
contributes more to our exports and produces one of the largest 
positive balances of trade of any sector within our economy.
  Let me remind my colleagues of the extent to which the agriculture 
sector has already contributed significantly to deficit reduction in 
the last several years. Since 1986, agriculture spending has been cut 
by 60 percent, from $26 to $9 billion today. If other Federal programs 
had been slashed as severely as agriculture over the last 10 years, the 
U.S. Government would now have a budget surplus.
  Such past contributions will not and should not preclude the Federal 
agricultural programs from being thoroughly reviewed once again. The 
farmers I talked to realize and accept this proposition. They are as 
concerned about the Federal deficit as anyone. Amidst ever-increasing 
production costs and stagnant commodity prices, they know how difficult 
it is to balance a budget, but they do it in their daily lives and 
expect us to do it as well. Farmers and ranchers are willing to lend 
their hand to the effort. They simply ask that once a hand is extended, 
it receives a fair shake.
  Our task is to ensure fairness and responsibility in drafting a new 
farm bill. Farm programs are like many other Government programs: They 
can be refined; they can be streamlined. Their costs can be reduced and 
their effectiveness can be increased.
  All agricultural policy initiatives must be crafted with the 
intelligence and with the simultaneous appreciation for the role that 
family farmers play in the daily lives of all Americans and the 
budgetary constraints in which we now find ourselves.
  We must not, however, let those woefully ignorant of farming 
realities run roughshod over sound agricultural policy under the guise 
of fiscal responsibility. Farmers across the country know the 
difference between political expedience and fiscal responsibility, even 
if we in Congress confuse the two.
  Fashioning a farm bill that will reduce the cost and still provide 
the necessary services and support for agriculture is one of the top 
priorities in 

[[Page S 11806]]
this session of Congress. I have four primary goals as we look at the 
upcoming farm bill.
  First, we need to increase the market income of family farmers. 
Farmers are the backbone of rural America and an essential part of the 
foundation of our entire economy. The new farm bill should be 
structured to maximize net farm income and reduce reliance on 
Government payments.
  Farmers tell me time and time again that they want to receive more 
income from the market and less from the Government. The income support 
programs in the farm bill must give farmers the flexibility to respond 
to market conditions while still providing an economic safety net. I am 
firmly convinced the market can and should more fairly compensate 
farmers for the long hours and large amounts of capital they invest in 
producing our food.
  Second, we need to promote the production of innovative value-added 
agricultural products that will expand the markets for American 
agriculture and enhance the incomes of all of our producers. USDA 
research dollars should be targeted toward the expansion of these 
market opportunities.
  The American farmer is the most productive in the world, but 
production in and of itself does not pay the bills. We need to 
facilitate the creation of new markets in which agricultural products 
can actually be sold. This will stimulate our small communities by 
bringing new industries to rural areas and improving the economic 
stability of all family farmers.
  Third, we need to drastically simplify Federal programs. I have had 
the opportunity to work in a South Dakota county ASCS office and see 
the excessive paperwork and redtape. Any of us would get hopelessly 
lost in the maze of base acres, deficiency payments, marketing loans, 
payment acres, program crops, nonprogram crops, and target prices that 
producers must navigate each and every day. These programs cry out for 
reform and simplification. Most farmers will tell you that if we could 
do any one of them a favor, this would be it. Let us allow farmers to 
get back to doing what they do best: Growing safe and abundant food.
  Finally, we need to find innovative ways to assist young and 
beginning farmers. The future of rural communities is really in their 
hands. Far too many young South Dakotans are forced to leave our State 
every year in search of opportunities in urban areas. Loans, assistance 
programs and, most of all, a good price are needed to encourage young 
people to begin farming. We are almost unanimous in support of this 
goal, but the challenge here is perhaps greater than anyplace else, 
given the severe budget restrictions we face over the next few years. I 
hope we can find the creativity necessary to meet this particular 
challenge.
  In the context of the extensive cuts the current budget resolution 
will inflict upon rural America, our actions on the farm bill are 
magnified in importance. We simply cannot let the farm bill deteriorate 
into a political squabble between parties or, for that matter, regions. 
If that happens, everybody will be busy scoring political points, and 
the only real loser will be agriculture. It is time we stopped taking 
our safe and abundant food supply, and the farmers and ranchers who 
produce it, for granted. We must use this opportunity to craft a farm 
bill that reflects the need to preserve rural America and the farms 
that produce the world's safest and most abundant food supply.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  

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