[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 145 (Friday, October 24, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S11210]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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   THE NOMINATION OF PETER SCHER TO BE SPECIAL TRADE AMBASSADOR FOR 
                              AGRICULTURE

 Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I want to make a few brief 
comments regarding the nomination of Mr. Peter Scher to be the Special 
Trade Ambassador for Agriculture which the Senate approved yesterday. I 
am pleased to report that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on 
which I serve, considered the nomination of Mr. Scher and favorably 
reported his nomination last month.
  I met with Mr. Scher following his confirmation hearing before the 
Senate Foreign Relations Committee to discuss with him the problems 
Wisconsin's agricultural sector has had with our existing trade 
agreements such as the Uruguay Round of GATT and the North American 
Free Trade Agreement. I urged Mr. Scher, in his new position, to work 
diligently to ensure that our trading partners are complying with their 
agricultural trade obligations established by these agreements.
  Specifically, I asked Mr. Scher and the USTR to accept a Section 301 
petition filed by the dairy industry asking USTR to challenge the 
Canadian export pricing scheme before the World Trade Organization. 
Canada's dairy export subsidies violate the export subsidy reduction 
commitments under the Uruguay Round. These subsidies disadvantage the 
U.S. dairy industry in its efforts to compete in world markets. I also 
pointed out that Canada also has effectively prohibited our dairy 
industry from exporting products to lucrative Canadian markets. Not 
only must USTR aggressively pursue WTO dispute settlement proceedings 
against Canadian export subsidies, but it must also seek greater access 
for U.S. dairy products to Canadian markets, among others, in any 
upcoming trade negotiations.
  I am pleased that late last month U.S. Trade Representative 
Barshefsky agreed to pursue formal WTO dispute resolution proceedings 
challenging the Canadian dairy export subsidy scheme as well as 
European Union violations of the dairy provisions of the Uruguay Round. 
I appreciate the cooperation of Mr. Scher and Ambassador Barshefsky on 
this important matter.
  I also raised with Mr. Scher the problems the U.S. potato industry 
has had with respect to access to both Canadian and Mexican markets. I 
urged him to pursue negotiations with the Canadians to allow greater 
access of U.S. potatoes to their domestic markets and to aggressively 
seek accelerated reduction in Mexican tariffs for U.S. potatoes, a 
commitment made to potato growers when NAFTA was approved. Mr. Scher 
assured me that potatoes would be among the commodities to be 
considered in upcoming negotiations with Mexico.
  I believe Mr. Scher has a fundamental understanding of both the 
importance of trade to agriculture generally and of the complex trade 
problems the U.S dairy industry faces regarding compliance with 
existing trade agreements. For that reason, I have supported the 
approval of his nomination. But I expect USTR, with Mr. Scher acting as 
Ambassador, to aggressively pursue the resolution of the critical 
issues facing our domestic dairy and potato sectors. I will continue to 
work with USTR to resolve these issues and will hold Mr. Scher to his 
commitment that USTR will use all existing tools to ensure compliance 
with existing trade agreements and to pursue greater access for 
agriculture to international markets.
  I continue to have serious reservations about U.S. efforts to begin 
new trade negotiations until the problems with our current bilateral 
and multilateral agreements are successfully resolved. Wisconsin is 
home to 24,000 dairy farmers, 140 cheese processing plants and many 
other businesses associated with milk production and processing. Dairy 
contributes some $4 billion in income to Wisconsin's economy and 
provides 130,000 jobs. Wisconsin is also the fifth largest potato 
producing state with a large chip and french fry processing sector. 
Overall, Wisconsin ranks tenth in the nation in farm numbers and ninth 
nationally with respect to market value of agricultural products sold.
  Wisconsin's farmers and food processing industry could greatly 
benefit by gaining a greater share of international markets. However, 
for that to happen, our trade agreements must not only be fair, they 
must be enforceable. To date, our trade agreements have not only failed 
to provide significant benefits for many agricultural sectors, 
including dairy, they have placed some sectors at a distinct 
disadvantage. I will look at all future trade agreement proposals with 
an eye to these issues and make decisions on those proposals based, in 
part, on how they treat Wisconsin farmers.

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