[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 16 (Monday, February 10, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1151-S1152]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     DAIRY FARMERS AND MILK PRICING

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, the dairy farmers of northeastern 
Pennsylvania, and for that matter the entire State of Pennsylvania, and 
for that matter the entire Nation, are suffering very materially 
because of low milk prices. It is a national calamity, where dairy 
farmers all across the country are facing the prospect of bankruptcy 
because the costs of producing milk have risen so tremendously and the 
price of selling milk has decreased very rapidly in the course of the 
past several weeks and several months.
  Because of this emergency state, Senator Santorum and I and others on 
the Pennsylvania delegation and really others in the Congress have been 
taking a close look at what is happening on the pricing of milk. This 
morning, the Secretary of Agriculture, Daniel Glickman, accepted the 
invitation from Senator Santorum and I and others in the Pennsylvania 
delegation to travel to Keystone College, located on the outskirts of 
Scranton, PA, to meet with and to hear the concerns of farmers. We had 
a very large crowd, hundreds of people. I am reluctant to say quite how 
many until I read tomorrow morning's newspapers, perhaps as many as 
1,000 farmers.
  At that time, we heard the economic plight of the farmers in very 
graphic and very emphatic terms. The highlight of the meeting occurred 
when a woman named Mrs. Swetter made the point, very, very 
emphatically, about the imminent difficulties faced by the farmers and 
how answers were needed now. This Mrs. Patricia Swetter made that point 
with special gusto, as did quite a number of the other farmers who 
spoke at the hearing.
  Secretary Glickman responded that there would be an effort made to do 
what was possible now but commented about the difficulties of an 
immediate solution. That prompted a discussion on one point which I 
think has the prospect of doing something immediately, and that is 
delinking the price established by the Cheese Exchange out of Green 
Bay, WI, and have the Secretary of Agriculture develop an equivalent 
price for cheese.
  Now, some may wonder why the talk of a price for cheese on the 
discussion of a price of milk. The reason is that the price of cheese 
is a very key component in establishing the price of milk. For every 10 
cents on an increase in the price of cheese, the price of milk goes up 
$1 per hundredweight. There have been some indicators that the price of 
cheese is not accurate as it has been currently established. The 
Secretary responded in a dialog that a

[[Page S1152]]

number of us had--the Secretary of Agriculture, Mr. Glickman, the 
farmers who were there, myself--that he would be willing to work now to 
develop an equivalent price of cheese, so that we could have a 
reevaluation as to the price of milk. There has been some indication 
that there has been some manipulation of the price of cheese. It may be 
that this is a subject which ought to be a matter for a hearing by the 
Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee. It may also be that there ought to be 
a hearing from the Agriculture Subcommittee of Appropriations, or from 
the Agriculture Committee, on the pricing of milk, taking a close look 
at the issue of developing an equivalent price for cheese.

  I intend, Mr. President, to submit to the Senate a sense-of-the-
Senate resolution to urge and/or direct the Secretary of Agriculture to 
move promptly on this issue of the price of cheese, with a view to 
having some immediate modification on the price of milk. Secretary of 
Agriculture Glickman has stated his willingness to do so, recognizing 
the plight of the farmers but, obviously, requiring a sufficient 
evidentiary base to be able to make that modification.
  So we are in the process now--my staff and I started in mid-morning--
to try to make the determination as to the price of cheese in America, 
because the price established by the so-called Green Bay Cheese 
Exchange is about one-half of 1 percent, and may well not--in fact, 
probably does not--reflect the price of cheese across the country.
  When we talk about helping the farmer, we talk about a great many 
items. We talk about increasing exports, which we are working on 
systematically, we talk about programs to increase cheese consumption 
at schools on programs purchased by the Federal Government. But the 
issue of milk pricing is something which requires our attention now.
  It is true that the Secretary of Agriculture has a second track to 
change the price of cheese under a procedure that calls for public 
hearings and inputs, but that doesn't eliminate the basic authority. 
The Secretary of Agriculture explained to me that he does have the 
power to go on a separate track and to unilaterally delete the price of 
cheese from the Cheese Exchange and to establish an equivalent price 
for cheese. That is a matter we are pursuing, and I think a sense-of-
the-Senate resolution would be a very substantial impetus to move that 
process along.
  So I thank the Secretary for coming to northeastern Pennsylvania. He 
was up very, very early this morning. He had commitments back in 
Washington at noontime. I met him at the Scranton Airport shortly 
before 8 a.m. this morning. So it was an early start for him and for 
the rest of us and for all the farmers who appeared there. But I do 
think something material can be done to assist the farmers on this very 
important issue of milk pricing.

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