[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 64 (Tuesday, May 19, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H3478-H3479]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 OPEN MARKETS, REMOVE SANCTIONS AND AGGRESSIVELY PROMOTE AGRICULTURAL 
                                EXPORTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moran) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address a serious 
problem facing the First District of Kansas and, indeed, all of rural 
America.
  Over the past 2 years, prices for wheat and other major agricultural 
commodities have been in a free-fall. Cash wheat today in Dodge City, 
Kansas, closed at $2.86 per bushel. That is almost $2 less per bushel 
than just 1 year ago and other commodities have experienced similar 
price declines.
  Soon the combines will start their annual trek north from the Great 
Plains of Texas to Canada. If current harvest projections hold true, a 
large U.S. wheat crop will put further downward pressure on already 
depressed prices.
  While there is no silver bullet, there are several important steps 
the President and Congress can take to improve the economic outlook for 
this Nation's farmers and ranchers. According to USDA, exports are 
predicted to be down at least $4 billion this year. This is a clear 
signal that Congress and the President must be aggressive in opening 
markets and promoting agricultural exports.
  We should start by using the tools we already have at our disposal. 
Since

[[Page H3479]]

coming to Congress about a year and a half ago, I have communicated 
regularly with Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman on the importance of 
using the Export Enhancement Program for wheat and flour. While wheat 
flour and wheat exports have been seriously injured by European trade 
barriers and sizable foreign subsidies, under USDA's current plan wheat 
and flour will receive no assistance from EEP.
  I know Secretary Glickman cares deeply about the problems faced by 
Kansas wheat farmers, but I am concerned that he receives insufficient 
support from the Clinton administration in implementing policy changes 
that could assist agricultural producers. Recently Secretary Glickman 
announced the use of EEP to combat specific injurious trade barriers. 
While I support this action, I remain concerned that when the Europeans 
spent $7.7 billion on export subsidies, the United States only spent 
$56 million.
  This is an example of what we face. The European Community is 
spending almost $47 billion annually in 1997 in assistance and 
subsidies to agriculture. Of that, about $7.7 billion is in assistance 
and subsidies toward exports, while in the United States we spend only 
$5.3 billion annually, almost an 8-time difference we face as a 
disadvantage. And this line we cannot even see, this blue line, is what 
we spend in assisting agricultural exports in this United States for 
American agricultural producers.

  We may not be waving the white flag in defeat, but we are certainly 
far from putting up the necessary fight on behalf of the American 
farmer. This is not to say that all efforts have been in vain. This 
past year Secretary Glickman has been successful in increasing the GSM 
102, export credit guarantee program, from $3 billion last year to 
almost $6 billion this year. This support has been beneficial but much 
more needs to be done.
  Market access for agricultural products must also be improved. Our 
farmers continue to suffer the consequences of foreign policy decisions 
that shut them out of markets around the world. It is time for these 
markets to be opened.
  Wheat imports to North Korea, Cuba, Iran and Iraq have all doubled 
since 1995 and now account for over 10 million tons of wheat. These 
growing markets are off-limits to U.S. producers but not to Canadians 
and not to Australian farmers. Our sanctions now wall off 11 percent of 
the world wheat market, a segment larger than the lost sales of the 
Soviet grain embargo several years ago. In today's global economy, 
unilateral sanctions by the U.S. unfairly penalize our producers, 
reward our competitors, and have little impact on changing behavior in 
the target country. The American farmer is tired of paying the price 
for failed U.S. foreign policy.
  Mr. Speaker, the last farm bill asked American farmers to take 
agriculture in a more market-oriented direction. But in order to have 
true market orientation, we need markets. The only way to improve 
prices on a long-term basis is to pursue aggressive, evenhanded trade 
initiatives. The decisions made here in Washington, D.C. have real 
world implications for agricultural producers. Now is the time to open 
markets, remove sanctions and aggressively promote agricultural exports 
to give our farmers a fighting chance. Mr. Speaker, it is time to 
trade.

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