[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 85 (Thursday, June 25, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1222]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1999

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                             HON. VIC FAZIO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 23, 1998

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4101) making 
     appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and 
     Drug Administration, and Related Agencies programs for the 
     fiscal year ending September 30, 1999, and for other 
     purposes:

  Mr. FAZIO of California. Mr. Chairman, I rise in reluctant opposition 
to the Dooley amendment.
  Mr. Dooley has been the chief proponent of increased resources going 
to agriculture research, and he labored mightily within his committee 
and at the conference committee on the recently-passed ag research 
bill, which was signed this morning by the President.
  He knows as I do that research has always been the key to U.S. ag 
productivity and that as we turn to a more market-oriented ag economy, 
ag research will be even more important in sustaining the U.S. lead in 
this field.
  California's specialty crop agriculture has known this for many 
years.
  One key to our success has been market promotion with such successful 
programs such as the Market Access Program, but we have a very close 
relationship with the research going on at our ag schools and getting 
those results into the field.
  Formula funds for our land-grant schools are important.
  The competitive funds within the National Research Initiative are 
important.
  We hope the new initiatives--such as the Fund for Rural America and 
now the new research program in the ag research bill--will play an 
important role in the future in putting additional resources into 
research--the committee has been chagrined this year at having to look 
to these new and promising initiatives for offsets in order to make our 
bill whole.
  But special research grants are also important to our overall 
research effort.
  These are cooperative efforts between industry and our research 
institutions.
  Unlike competitive research which is wholly-government funded, 
industry is making significant contributions--typically 50%--to these 
limited-duration agriculture projects affecting commodities of local or 
regional importance.
  But Mr. Dooley does us a real service with his amendment in pointing 
out the real difficulties we are struggling with in every bill this 
year.
  These are difficult choices, and the committee had a Hobbesian choice 
in either letting the new ag research program go forward or making cuts 
in virtually every other agricultural program in our bill.
  Unfortunately, the amendment presents another difficult choice in 
determining the direction of our ag research efforts--whether to 
abandon the special research initiatives which have traditionally 
served us well in order to move a new research initiative forward.
  I appreciate Mr. Dooley raising these important issues--in the field 
of ag research, there is no legislator who has labored longer or has 
greater standing to comment on these issues.
  Although I reluctantly oppose him today, I know that together we will 
be doing all we can to see that agricultural research gets the 
resources that pay off so mightily for our nation.

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