[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 166 (Wednesday, October 25, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S15687]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ABRAHAM:
  S. 1363. A bill to terminate the agricultural price support and 
production adjustment programs for sugar on the date the President 
certifies to Congress that a General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade has 
been entered into that prohibits all export subsidies for sugar, price 
support and production adjustment programs for sugar, and tariffs and 
other trade barriers on the importation of sugar, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.


                           sugar legislation

 Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, today I am introducing a bill to 
terminate U.S. agricultural price support and production adjustment 
programs for sugar contingent upon a GATT agreement which would 
eliminate export subsidies and price supports in other countries of the 
world. While I firmly believe that the free market should be allowed to 
work, it does not make sense to put our producers at a competitive 
disadvantage in the world subsidized market.
  I can't speak for the rest of the country, but Michigan sugar beet 
producers are some of the most efficient producers in the world, yet 
without a U.S. sugar program they would most likely find it impossible 
to compete against less efficient foreign producers who are more highly 
subsidized. Other countries subsidize their sugar at a level so high 
that they are able to dump the excess sugar on the world market at a 
price well below the world's cost of production. Unilateral elimination 
of our sugar program would put the best producers of sugar in the world 
at a competitive disadvantage to less efficient producers. This simply 
does not make sense.
  We cannot give up the hope that the world will have a free sugar 
market. Through the GATT, we have begun and will continue to work 
diligently toward that goal. I am hopeful that my legislation will 
prompt other Members of the House and Senate to contact the 
Administration in favor of further GATT talks that would move us closer 
to a free world market for agriculture. Until this occurs, however, we 
must carefully examine the consequences of the steps we take to reform 
or eliminate our support programs so that we do not put our producers 
in a position of weakness compared to other countries. Furthermore, we 
cannot simply assume other countries would follow our lead if we were 
to eliminate our sugar program. In fact, the result may be quite the 
opposite. Without a trade agreement, other countries would have greater 
access to the U.S. market, helping to perpetuate these foreign 
subsidies rather than encourage their elimination.
  Mr. President, I assure you that during my tenure as a Member of this 
body I will fight diligently on the side of free trade. Understanding 
the importance of global free trade in a growing world market, I will 
continue to work to eliminate export subsidies and other price supports 
worldwide so that we may eventually achieve true free trade.

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