[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 165 (Friday, November 19, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15096-S15098]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Mr. Craig, Mr. Smith of Oregon, Mrs. 
        Boxer, and Mrs. Feinstein):
  S. 1983. a bill to amend the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to 
increase the amount of funds available for certain agricultural trade 
programs; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.


           THE AGRICULTURAL MARKET ACCESS AND DEVELOPMENT ACT

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I rise today with Senators Craig, Smith 
of Oregon, Boxer, and Feinstein to introduce the Agricultural Market 
Access and Development Act.
  Mr. President, farmers and ranchers in our nation are hurting. Rural 
communities in my home state of Washington have been severely impacted 
by the current crisis in agriculture. The causes are complex and 
diverse, and have been discussed at great length on the floor of the 
United States Senate. Low prices, the loss of markets in Asia, foreign 
trade barriers, dumping, and industry concentration are just a few of 
the difficulties farmers and ranchers, the Administration, and Members 
of Congress are struggling to overcome.
  I am pleased Congress acted to provide emergency assistance as part 
of the fiscal year 2000 agriculture appropriations act. However, while 
this package was desperately needed, it left

[[Page S15097]]

our many so-called ``minor crop'' producers across the country. It 
failed to reform our nation's plicy on unilateral sanctions. And it 
didn't compel us to dedicate time to really resolve long-term issues 
that will put American agriculture on a more solid foundation. One 
long-term issue that deserves attention is federal support for market 
access and development.
  Today, I am introducing the Agricultural Market Access and 
Development Act to ensure our producers have the resources they need to 
expand their overseas markets. My bill would authorize the Secretary of 
Agriculture to spend up to $200 million--but not less than the current 
$90 million--for the Market Access Program. And it would set a floor of 
$35 million for spending on the foreign Market Development 
``Cooperator'' Program.
  While many Members of Congress and producers have advocated increased 
funding for MAP and the Cooperator Program, these efforts have been 
complicated by our work to balance the budget and meet other important 
national commitments. At the same time, the agricultural community is 
frustrated over the use--or lack of use--of the Export Enhancement 
Program.
  Debate will continue on the merits of using the Export Enhancement 
Program. Nevertheless, I believe we cannot afford to continue wasting 
the precious dollars we target toward agricultural trade. That is 
exactly what is happening now: hundreds of millions of dollars in the 
Export Enhancement Program remain unspent and unused while foreign 
governments heavily subsidize and protect their agricultural economies 
to the detriment of American producers.
  My bill seeks to recover some of our lost trade resources and convert 
them into new opportunities for our farmers and ranchers. My bill would 
give the Secretary of Agriculture the authority to direct a percentage 
of unspent Export Enhancement Program dollars to market access and 
development programs within the Commodity Credit Corporation. If less 
than 20 percent of funds authorized for the Export Enhancement Program 
are spent by July 1 of a given fiscal year, the Secretary could direct 
up to 50 percent of unspent EEP funds to other programs. If less than 
50 percent--but more than 20 percent--of funds authorized for EEP are 
spent by July 1 of a given fiscal year, the Secretary could direct up 
to 20 percent of unspent EEP funds to other programs.

  Mr. President, I am introducing this legislation today to advance the 
discussion on using all of our trade resources. The numbers included in 
my bill will be subject to further discussion and I welcome it. 
However, I believe this legislation represents a serious effort to use 
our scarce resources wisely.
  Our current trade negotiations on agriculture show that we must be 
willing and able to use federal resources to promote trade. If we do 
not, our negotiations and our producers cannot succeed.
  As we head into the Seattle Round of the World Trade Organization 
this fall, we need to commit ourselves to promoting trade and expanding 
market access. Without this commitment, we will lose opportunities to 
market our products overseas. Without this commitment, the changes we 
made to our farm policy in 1996 will not have a chance in the world of 
succeeding.
  As I said before, Mr. President, agricultural producers in my state 
of Washington are hurting. My state is home to more than 200 ``minor'' 
crops. Washington state is known for its productive apple industry. 
Unfortunately, that industry is in the midst of a terrible economic 
crisis. The loss of markets in Asia, non-frozen apple juice concentrate 
dumping by China, oversupply, poor weather conditions in 1998, and 
generally low prices are driving hundreds of family farms out of 
business.
  This Congress needs to do a better job of addressing the plight of 
all commodity producers, not just those who grow major commodities. My 
legislation is a step in the right direction. It seeks to increase 
funding for the Market Access Program, which is popular among fruit and 
vegetable growers. In fact, it is one of the few federal programs that 
benefit fruit and vegetable producers. Since this Congress has shown 
its reluctance to target meaningful federal aid to minor crop 
producers, the least we can do is strengthen the voluntary programs 
that work for these producers. If we do not, we will be failing to 
promote economic stability in many rural communities.
  However, my bill is not just intended to help fruit and vegetable 
producers. It also encourages transferring unused trade dollars to the 
Foreign Market Development Program, which is used by program 
commodities. Both MAP and FMD represent the kind of federal-industry 
partnerships we should be encouraging at a time of limited government 
resources.
  Mr. President, let me briefly address one criticism of the Market 
Access Program: the issue of whether it is primarily a program that 
benefits large corporations. Congress reformed MAP--known before the 
1996 farm bill as the Market Promotion Program--in 1996 to ensure that 
large corporations with no connections to producers could not access 
MAP funds. I strongly supported that change.
  The new law did allow for the program's continued use by farmers' 
cooperatives, some of which are major industry players. However, it is 
clear to me, and to others who follow the farm economy, that 
encouraging the development of farmers' cooperatives is one of the few 
bright spots in our efforts to keep family farms on the land. 
Therefore, while opponents will continue to point to a few examples of 
entities they believe in no way should be involved in the program, I 
believe my colleagues should keep the broader picture in mind. MAP 
deserves our support.
  Next year, Congress should address long-term agricultural issues. And 
one of those issues should be the transfer of unused Export Enhancement 
Program funds to market access and development programs. I urge my 
colleagues to join me in this effort.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1983

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Agricultural Market Access 
     and Development Act of 1999''.

     SEC. 2. MARKET ACCESS PROGRAM.

       Section 211(c)(1) of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 (7 
     U.S.C. 5641(c)(1)) is amended by striking ``and not more than 
     $90,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1996 through 2002,'' and 
     inserting ``not more than $90,000,000 for each of fiscal 
     years 1996 through 1999, and not less than $90,000,000 nor 
     more than $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2000 through 
     2002,''.

     SEC. 3. USE OF EXPORT ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM FUNDS FOR MARKET 
                   ACCESS OR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS.

       Section 301(e) of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 (7 
     U.S.C. 5651) is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(3) Use of export enhancement program funds for market 
     access or development programs.--
       ``(A) Less than 20 percent use.--If on July 1 of a fiscal 
     year less than 20 percent of the maximum amount of funds 
     authorized to carry out the program established under this 
     section have been expended during that fiscal year to carry 
     out the program established under this section, the Commodity 
     Credit Corporation may use not more than 50 percent of the 
     unexpended amount to carry out market access and development 
     programs of the Commodity Credit Corporation during that 
     fiscal year.
       ``(B) Less than 50 percent use.--If on July 1 of a fiscal 
     year less than 50 percent, but more than 20 percent, of the 
     maximum amount of funds authorized to carry out the program 
     established under this section have been expended during that 
     fiscal year to carry out the program established under this 
     section, the Commodity Credit Corporation may use not more 
     than 20 percent of the unexpended amount to carry out market 
     access and development programs of the Commodity Credit 
     Corporation during that fiscal year.''.

     SEC. 4. FOREIGN MARKET DEVELOPMENT COOPERATOR PROGRAM.

       Section 703 of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 
     5723) is amended to read as follows:

     ``SEC. 703. FUNDING.

       ``The Secretary shall use to carry out this title for each 
     of fiscal years 2000 through 2002 not less than $35,000,000 
     of the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation.''.

 Mr. SMITH of Oregon. Mr. President, I rise before the Senate 
today to express my support for legislation, introduced by Senator 
Murray and others, that would allow the U.S. Department

[[Page S15098]]

of Agriculture to allocate to the Market Access Program unused Export 
Enhancement Program funds.
  I have long been a supporter of the Market Access Program, which was 
designed to promote American agricultural products in foreign markets. 
Since its inception, it has proven to be a model program and has 
successfully fostered the growth of American agriculture producers 
through the expansion of exports. For smaller states like Oregon, the 
Market Access Program has played a critical role in getting the word 
out on an array of agricultural goods that otherwise have difficulty 
penetrating overseas markets. Many Oregon commodities, such as grass 
seed, tree fruits, and potatoes have benefitted greatly in recent years 
from the Market Access Program funding. For example, last year the 
Market Access Program enabled a delegation of Oregon grass seed growers 
to travel to China to meet with government officials interested in 
finding quality grass seed to stabilize river banks near the Three 
Gorges Dam project on the Yangtze River. There are numerous other 
examples where Oregon commodities have been able to make good use of 
these federal dollars.
  Despite the achievements of the Market Access Program in recent 
years, funding for the program has been capped at $90 million. I am 
pleased today to cosponsor this bill which authorizes the Secretary of 
Agriculture to increase the Market Access Program funding up to a total 
of $200 million using unapportioned Export Enhancement Program funds.
  This proposal has widespread support in my state from farmers and the 
agricultural groups that represent them. they recognize, as I do, that 
expanding markets overseas will be key to restoring the farm economy.
  Mr. President, I am hopeful that the Senate will take up this issue 
early in the next session. I urge my colleagues to join in support of 
this legislation to enhance American agricultural export efforts and 
the family farms that depend upon them.
                                 ______