[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 145 (Tuesday, October 13, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H10816]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      AMERICAN AGRICULTURE NEEDS SUPPORT OF PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Bob Schaffer) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BOB SCHAFFER of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I wish to associate my 
remarks with the comments of the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moran) and 
the gentleman from South Dakota (Mr. Thune). Both of those gentleman 
represents States very similar to mine when it comes to agriculture and 
the prominence of agriculture in our economy in our home States.
  Mr. Speaker, every day I receive calls from the people who sent me 
here to represent them, and every day I get letters and messages 
describing the need for relief from excessive regulation.
  I am proud to represent the people of the 4th Congressional District 
of Colorado, and I have done my very best to represent them well. The 
people of the High Plains are good, hard-working people who love their 
families and whose values I am proud to say coincide with my own.
  So today, I want to say a few words in particular about the farmers 
and ranchers who live and work on the Eastern Plains of Colorado. These 
producers, for the most part, are descendants of the first settlers of 
the West. They work the same fields and provide the affordable food 
that makes America a great place to live.
  They take a lot of things in stride with their heads held high. They 
persevere in the face of a lot of things they cannot change. Drought, 
excessive rains, low crop prices, and the actions of foreign 
governments are all things beyond a farmer's control.
  Farmers get a sense of pride doing the work they do, helping to feed 
the Nation and seeing the result of a year's work at harvest time. 
Farmers only ask to be able to do the work and live like other 
Americans. And right now, they cannot do that for a couple of reasons. 
Reasons the Republican Congress is attempting to address. See, the 
relative economic prosperity that the country is enjoying right now has 
left agriculture behind in many sectors.
  Mr. Speaker, last week, the President vetoed the Agriculture 
Appropriations bill. Without warning nor legitimate reason, he placed 
the financial condition and trade competitiveness of America's farmers 
in grave jeopardy. These people expect their elected officials to know 
and understand them, to represent them in policy and in belief. I can 
tell my colleagues how challenging it is to face farmers at home and 
try to explain the behavior of our President in vetoing a bill so 
central to agriculture in America.
  Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States has been wholly 
unconcerned about the people who are now suffering because of White 
House politics, the farmers and ranchers in Colorado and throughout the 
country.
  Mr. Speaker, farmers face commodity prices that would drive any other 
business out of business. Take for example wheat, one of the staples of 
the American diet. It was priced at $2.35 just last week, yet wheat 
costs over $3 just to grow and harvest. Corn and cattle prices are 
yielding record low prices also.
  Mr. Speaker, on October 2, this House of Representatives recorded 333 
votes for the Agriculture Appropriations bill. Just a few days later, 
on October 6, the Senate voted the exact same measure off of the Senate 
floor. Yet when the President was given the bill, one of the only bills 
to pass with such a commanding bipartisan majority, sadly he let our 
farmers down.
  Our bill provided $4.2 billion, and I say $4.2 billion to provide 
emergency aid. This money could be used to help people who have been 
victimized by declining crop prices, drought, flood, fire, disease and 
so on.
  Pulling the rug out from under the Agriculture Appropriations bill, 
the farmers and ranchers of America, has a debilitating financial 
impact. There are many financial services, financial markets, insurance 
policies and provisions, bankers, that rely on the figures that are 
derived from the Agriculture Appropriations bill to set the planning 
prices, to set the financial figures for the next growing season. All 
of that, of course, is delayed now as Congress negotiates downstairs 
with the insiders from the White House and the Members of Congress who 
are negotiating with the White House to get this bill passed and 
concluded.
  Every day that we engage in those kinds of debates we are delaying 
the ability of farmers and ranchers to move forward on financial 
planning and cash management on the farm.
  Our approach in this bill was heavy on trade expansion. This is 
something that is very, very important, and a huge distinction between 
our values in a Republican pro-trade House and a White House that seems 
to be ignorant of the need to expand trade markets.
  In fact, we have budgeted, set aside significant funds for the Export 
Enhancement program and this White House has refused to release those 
dollars in a way that can really help some of the hurting farmers 
throughout the country.
  This bill is also heavy on research. Cutting-edge research is what 
has allowed American farmers to maintain their competitive edge around 
the world. Let me give a perfect example: The Russian wheat aphid. It 
was introduced into North America not too long ago. It is a very 
resistant variety of aphid, of insect. It has a remarkable ability to 
modify itself to various chemical applications. This research is 
important.
  We also need tax relief. Farms are where we look to preserve the 
American culture. Rural America is a place where every American ought 
to be concerned. Rural America is the part of the country today that 
preserves strong families, good schools, close communities, strong 
economies, where we still honor the values of honest hard work. And I 
think it is inward to rural America where we need to look today for the 
values that will carry us into the next century.

                              {time}  2030

  Mr. Speaker, having our President veto the agriculture appropriations 
bill in my estimation was a very bad mistake. I am confident that our 
Republican Congress will always keep the needs of farmers and ranchers 
in the forefront as we proceed in the closing days of this Congress and 
return home to those constituents that sent us here to operate 
faithfully and justly, not in a partisan sort of way. We will keep the 
farmers and ranchers foremost in our minds as we proceed.

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