[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 119 (Thursday, September 10, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H7558-H7559]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      LOW PRICES ARE WRECKING AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY IN OUR COUNTRY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from South Dakota (Mr. Thune) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. Speaker, this evening I would like to just very 
briefly discuss with fellow Members some of the things I discovered 
while traveling in my State of South Dakota over the August recess. It 
seemed like every place I went in the State, whether it was in the 
southeastern corner, where we grow corn and soybeans; or whether it was 
in the wheat producing section, the middle of our State; or whether it 
was in the ranching area, in western South Dakota, from which I come, 
the message was the same over and over and over: Low prices are 
wrecking the agricultural economy in our State and across this country.
  It did not matter where I went or what the subject was. We had 
meetings on Social Security, we had meetings on other subjects through 
the August recess, but the focus shifted back to the same subject, and 
that is that low prices are strangling our agricultural producers in 
South Dakota.
  We do have an economic disaster in our State. When we look at where 
prices are today versus where they have been, the prices are at the 
lowest levels that we have seen, historically low levels both when it 
comes to grains and livestock. Fat cattle trading below $60 a head, or 
a hundredweight, and hogs trading down in the quarter range per pound.
  So we have got just a tremendous problem out there, and it has been 
complicated this year by a number of factors. And, frankly, I do not 
think anybody knows that there is a silver bullet that will be one 
solution that will solve this problem. There are a number of things. We 
have had a collapse in Asia, the economy there. We have economic 
problems around the world, from South Korea, to Indonesia, to Thailand, 
to Malaysia, and that continues to dampen the demand for our 
agricultural products. And those are some of our biggest trading 
partners.
  Those are things we do not have a lot of control over. To the degree 
we do, we need to address it by bringing on additional funding for the 
International Monetary Fund so that we can help stabilize those parts 
of the world that serve as the biggest customers, the biggest markets 
for agricultural products.
  The other thing we heard over and over and over again is that our 
people are frustrated. They are disgusted by the fact that we are 
seeing these trade agreements trampled on that we have agreed to, the 
issue with Canada in particular and the dumping of wheat. We have seen 
the laundering of cattle coming in from Australia through Mexico and 
into our country, and producers are frustrated that the trade 
agreements that are there, the sanctions that are there, the remedies 
that are there are not being utilized by our government. I think we 
have a responsibility to address this.

  As a matter of fact, there is a group that has been formed out there 
called the R-CALF group, which is a group of ranchers who have decided 
to take matters into their own hands, and they are going to bring legal 
action against the International Trade Commission because they do not 
believe it is doing their job. And I happen to agree with them.
  I read in the Wall Street Journal the other day a story about how we 
are imposing penalties, sanctions, in effect, on Italy because they are 
dumping wire rods in America. And we have something that is fundamental 
to the existence of our country, and that is the food that we produce, 
and we have Canadian cattle coming in across the border and also coming 
in through Mexico that are being transshipped or laundered across the 
border, and it is not being addressed. And they are saying that the 
frustration they are experiencing is causing them to take matters into 
their own hands.
  I think we have a responsibility as a government to sit down in an 
honest way and challenge and engage these countries in border-to-border 
discussions to figure out what to do. Our governor, starting Monday, is 
going to start stopping Canadian trucks at the border of South Dakota 
to inspect them. That is what we have had to do. We have forced the 
States to take matters into their own hands.
  So I believe this Congress, before we go home this year, as we look 
at how we can address the problems of agriculture, needs to get its 
arms around this issue, needs to address some of the concentration 
issues, the vertical integration that we are seeing in agriculture that 
really is taking the lifeblood right out of our small producers.
  I also believe that our producers, in visiting with them, are hard-
working people. They are people who have a history, a tradition, of the 
family farm. They have been close to the ground. They have a great work 
ethic. And they can compete with anybody in the world. We have the best 
technology. We have the finest farming techniques. But what they cannot 
compete with is the German taxpayer, the French taxpayer or the British 
taxpayer. We have countries that continue to subsidize their farm 
economies, and we do not have a level playing field.
  This Congress and our government have a responsibility, I believe, to 
ensure that our producers, those people who are producing food and 
fiber for this country, can continue to make a living until we do what 
we need to do, and that is tear down those barriers around the world 
that are causing our producers to be on an unlevel playing field and 
putting them at a distinct disadvantage, on a level they will never be 
able to compete.
  This is a crisis. It is a very, very serious crisis. And we do not 
have to go far in agricultural country around the various States, and 
it is not just my State of South Dakota, we are hearing it all over, in 
Kansas and Oklahoma and others have been on the floor today discussing 
that. But if our producers are

[[Page H7559]]

going to be able to make a living and to do what they do best, and that 
is produce the food that feeds our country, that feeds the world, we 
have to allow them to do it on a level playing field.
  We are going to have a meeting tomorrow in the House Committee on 
Agriculture to discuss what we can do to respond, but one thing is 
clear, and that is before we adjourn this Congress, we need to respond 
to the crisis that is out there in a way that will allow our farmers 
and ranchers to get their legs under them and get back on their feet 
and make it through this year and on to a better year. And we need to 
do the job that we have to do, and that is to continue to expand 
exports and improve trade so they can compete on a level playing field.

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