[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 16 (Tuesday, February 6, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S884-S885]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   AGRICULTURAL MARKET TRANSITION ACT

  Mr. GRAMS. Mr. President, as the Nation's farmers look ahead to the 
new planting season, I rise today in support of moving forward on much-
needed farm bill legislation.
  Over the past year, I have met with farmers, businesses, bankers, and 
community leaders across Minnesota. They have told me of the urgent 
need to develop a farm bill which will show them the direction farm 
policy will move over the next couple of years.
  Clearly, our farmers and agribusinesses deserve a reasonable and 
responsible roadmap of the Nation's long-term agricultural policy. If 
Washington continues to delay action, decisions about planting, 
equipment purchases, fertilizer and seed sales, and credit hang in the 
balance. And as a result, our agricultural economy will suffer.
  This current predicament is a perfect example of how Government 
interference in the area of agriculture has taken its toll on the 
productivity of our farmers, agribusinesses, and the other sectors of 
our economy which depend on them.
  By expanding the role of Government so deeply into the business of 
farming, Washington has taken much of the decisionmaking authority away 
from the real experts--those who have planted, plowed, and harvested 
for generations--and handed it over to bureaucrats, some of whom are 
thousands of miles away from America's heartland.
  I have always said with pride that Minnesota's farmers are among the 
most productive in the world. Historically, Minnesota agriculture has 
ranked first in sugarbeet production, third in spring wheat and 
sunflower production, fourth in barley and oat production, sixth in 
corn production, third in swine products, and second in turkey 
processing. Of course, Minnesota has always been among the Nation's 
leaders in milk and cheese production. It is also quickly becoming a 
leading exporter of raw and value-added products. 

[[Page S885]]

  But there is so much more that our farmers can do, if only we would 
free them from the burdens of inflexible regulations, high taxes, and 
the overreaching arm of Government. Government should not get in the 
way of farmers. It should set a level playing field so that farmers 
from across the country can compete fairly with each other, regardless 
of geographic region or commodity item. We owe it to our farmers to do 
nothing less--and nothing more.
  We also owe it to the American taxpayers--the people who pay for the 
jumbled agricultural policy Washington has created--to fix the failed 
policies of the past and ensure that their tax dollars are put to work 
most efficiently.
  First and foremost, we must provide greater flexibility for our 
farmers. Current Federal policies dictate decades-old planting patterns 
set by Washington and require every farmer to visit USDA annually to 
comply with its seemingly endless paperwork requirements.
  Today, the Senate can help alleviate some of those burdens by passing 
a bold, new approach called the Agricultural Market Transition Act.
  This innovative plan, initially crafted by Majority Leader Dole, 
Agriculture Committee Chairman Lugar and other members of the 
Agriculture Committee, offers farmers the flexibility they will need to 
remain strong into the next century.
  Under this proposal, farmers can plant for what the marketplace 
demands, not what traditional Government crop subsidies have dictated. 
It would give farmers in Minnesota additional flexibility in meeting 
the needs of value-added cooperatives and their customers who use 
products like ethanol.
  This bill also simplifies paperwork requirements for farmers. Instead 
of the current annual paperwork load they face today, passage of this 
legislation means many farmers may only need to visit the local CFSA 
once as part of a 7-year contract.
  The Agricultural Marketing Transition Act also gives farmers the 
needed certainty of a fixed, 7-year payment with fixed parameters. Many 
farmers in Minnesota, especially in the younger generation, need this 
certainty for long-term loans and other financial decisions.
  For these and other reasons, farm groups in Minnesota, such as the 
wheat growers, barley growers, corn growers, bean growers, the 
Minnesota Farm Bureau, and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture have 
endorsed passage of this bill. They know it will give them the 
flexibility and the opportunity for long-term growth potential in farm 
income.
  But while I enthusiastically support much of this bill because it 
helps both Minnesota's farm community and the American taxpayer, I must 
raise my strong concerns about its failure to enact substantial 
progress in the area of dairy reform.
  Having sought the counsel of Minnesota's dairy industry, I am well 
aware of the problems caused for milk producers, taxpayers, and 
consumers by our archaic dairy program. For instance, Federal milk 
marketing orders have helped cause the loss of thousands of dairy farms 
in Minnesota alone over the last decade.
  Under this troubled business climate, Minnesota continues to lose an 
average of nearly three dairy farms per day.
  In addition, the Minnesota dairy industry is adamantly opposed to the 
Northeast Dairy Compact. I firmly believe this well-intentioned 
proposal will lead to a regional balkanization of the dairy industry 
and threatens to make our dairy program even more unwieldy for the 
dairy processors and producers that I represent.
  Instead of letting protectionism get in the way of our dairy 
producers, we should begin enacting long-term, common-sense reforms 
that deregulate the Federal Dairy Program.
  I understand that the regional politics currently tying up this bill 
prevent us from making these long-term dairy reforms. At the very 
least, however, I believe we should consolidate milk marketing orders, 
eliminate costly producer assessments, and reduce the price supports 
for dairy commodities to a reasonable level.
  By establishing a level playing field for dairy producers, we can 
dramatically improve and preserve a vital segment of our agriculture 
industry as a whole. I hope to have the commitment of the chairman and 
the ranking member of the Agriculture Committee to work with me in the 
future on these and other reforms.
  Enacting a more productive farm policy must be our goal, and we can 
begin this process by freeing farmers from Government interference, 
encouraging the use of market discipline in farm decision-making, while 
at the same time protecting the American taxpayers.
  This bill makes that important first step and gives our farmers, 
small business owners, and lenders what they need--a roadmap to guide 
them in the important decisions ahead.
  I encourage my colleagues to support this legislation and the cloture 
motion before us today.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, what is the regular order?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Senators can speak up to 5 minutes in morning 
business.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Thank you, Mr. President.

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