[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 100 (Tuesday, July 15, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1429]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              THE WHEAT AND BARLEY PROTECTION ACT OF 1997

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DEBBIE STABENOW

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 15, 1997

  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to announce the introduction 
of the Wheat and Barley Protection Act of 1997 which will facilitate a 
national partnership and provide urgently needed funds to accelerate 
the race for a cure for a disease that is ravaging our Nation's wheat 
and barley crops.
  Wheat and barley scab has cost our national economy more than $3 
billion over the last 4 years. Michigan alone lost more than $56 
million to wheat and barley scab in 1996.
  More than 80 percent of Michigan's farmers plant either wheat or 
barley. All varieties are vulnerable to the scab, which can severely 
reduce the production and quality of these crops.
  The disease can produce vomitoxin, a toxin contaminant which has 
reduced prices to farmers and caused problems for the U.S. milling and 
malting industries.
  My legislation unifies the efforts of 12 States' land grant 
universities into a cohesive research partnership. The Wheat and Barley 
Protection Act of 1997 will authorize $5 million a year for 5 years to 
fund this national consortium that includes university breeders, plant 
pathologists, agricultural engineers, and food scientists. It will 
serve as a model for other such effective, integrated research projects 
in the future, bringing the public and private sectors together in an 
important effort to solve a national problem.
  The Wheat and Barley Protection Act is a small investment compared to 
the billions of dollars that this disease, unchecked, will cost our 
economy. I am pleased that so many of my colleagues--Democrats and 
Republicans--have cosponsored this legislation and will be working with 
me to swiftly pass this bill.

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