[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 11 (Friday, January 26, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H916-H917]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HELPING FLORIDA TOMATO GROWERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida [Mr. Goss] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor to catalog the 
extraordinary, bipartisan, bicameral efforts now underway to provide 
urgent relief for Florida's winter fruit and vegetable industry, 
particularly the tomato growers. We in Florida have been acutely aware 
of the damage that has been done to those growers because of import 
surges from Mexico. Thanks to our Florida delegation's efforts these 
past days, this problem has become a priority at the highest levels in 
Washington, in this Congress and downtown in the administration. 
Everyone now understands that, although NAFTA has generally been 
working well for our State and the rest of the United States, there has 
been a clear breakdown of safeguard and relief measures for some of our 
winter produce industries. Yesterday the Florida delegation--including 
both Senator Mack and Senator Graham--made a bipartisan push to attach 
relief language to the continuing resolution to correct a technical 
problem faced by Florida growers because of existing definitions in 
section 202 of the 1974 Trade Act.
  Appropriations Chairman Bob Livingston, busy as he was worrying about 
keeping the Government open as budget matters are sorted out, 
made heroic attempts to clear the path for this important fix. And he 
succeeded in the House. Unfortunately, we hit a snag in the other body 
relating to adding last minute measures to the bill, and the effort 
failed. But this fight is not over. We are exploring every possible 
avenue for getting this done before the upcoming recess begins. Failing 
that, the plan is to get this language onto the next train that comes 
through--we expect that train to be the debt limit legislation coming 
in the end of February.

  The section 202 change will not fix everything, but it will help and 
it will put our administration in a stronger position going into 
discussions with the Mexican Government. To their credit, Trade 
Representative Ambassador Kantor and Agriculture Secretary Glickman 
have been working closely with the Florida delegation on this issue. 
The Ambassador and the Secretary joined us for a meeting this week in 
which we agreed on a list of measures that the administration and the 
delegation can pursue immediately. Section 202 changes are at the top 
of our task list and that is what the current push is focused on.
  In addition, the Ambassador and the Secretary agreed to seek to open 
negotiations with the Mexican Government on this issue, to support 
section 202 legislation and packing legislation, to work with Customs 
and USDA services to ensure that inspections and monitoring are done 
effectively at the border, and to provide an umbrella under which 
United States and Mexican growers can meet and work together to solve 
the current crisis.

  If all of these efforts fall short, I am prepared to take more 
drastic steps. Today, I am introducing legislation that would direct 
the President to suspend current NAFTA arrangements as they relate to 
winter tomato production, pending his certification to the Congress 
that the safeguard provisions and relief measures are functioning 
effectively and efficiently. This is a more extreme step than I would 
like to take, because it would violate the NAFTA Agreement. But if that 
is what it takes to fulfill our commitment to Florida growers, 
shippers, packers, and truckers trying to stay in business, feed their 
families, and contribute to the U.S. economy, then I am prepared to 
move forward.
  Florida growers perform a unique function for this country. They 
compete head-to-head--not with other American producers, but with 
foreign producers--to provide winter fruits and vegetables for 
Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, I know when Mom and Dad say ``Eat your vegetables'' to 
the youngsters in our Nation, they maybe do not all rise up in 
applause, but the fact of the matter is that we do need to eat our 
vegetables, and most of them come from Florida, the domestically 
produced in the winter, and that is an area that we have to focus on 
and allow those folks to continue in business.

[[Page H917]]

  The devastation of that industry I think is truly a matter of concern 
to all Americans and it would be foolish not to take the necessary 
legislative steps to repair the problems for which we have clearly 
identified that we have proper solutions.

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