[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 137 (Friday, October 27, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11252-S11258]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HARKIN (for himself and Mr. Smith of Oregon):
  S. 3260. A bill to amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to establish 
the conservation security program; to the Committee on Agriculture, 
Nutrition, and Forestry.


                       conservation security act

  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I am proud to reintroduce the Conservation 
Security Act today together with Senator Gordon Smith of Oregon. This 
important bipartisan legislation represents the first meaningful step 
toward comprehensive conservation on all of America's working farms and 
ranches. Although the reintroduction of this bill comes late in the 
session, it represents the beginning of the new approach for 
conservation in the next farm bill.
  Mr. SMITH of Oregon. Mr. President, I come to the floor of the Senate 
today to speak to the important issue of conservation in agriculture. I 
am pleased to join with my friend from Iowa, the distinguished ranking 
member of the Agriculture Committee, Senator Harkin, on the 
introduction of the Conservation Security Act. The introduction of this 
legislation represents the culmination of a great deal of work on the 
part of Senator Harkin and his staff to explore new ways to address the 
needs of American farmers in the area of conservation. With the debate 
over a new farm bill on the horizon for the next Congress, I think it 
is important that we begin this dialogue now to consider how federal 
programs for farmers can be made more flexible and, frankly, more 
relevant, to farmers throughout the country.
  As some of my colleagues know, I come from rural Eastern Oregon. In 
my part of the State, which is noted for its wheat farms, it is often 
said that every day is Earth Day for farmers. And every year, as more 
and more farmland is lost to development, people from both urban and 
rural America are starting to realize how much a friend to the 
environment our farmers are. Farmers have long recognized their direct 
dependence upon the land and the blessings of nature for their 
livelihoods, and, as a result, are some of the best stewards of the 
land in this country. I think you will find, Mr. President, that when 
it come to environmental stewardship measures, farmers are almost 
always willing to step up to the plate to do their part, provided that 
they can still make a living. Too often, I believe they are simply told 
through regulation what they can or cannot do with their land. Not 
enough attention is paid to the real impact of such regulation on the 
farmer's bottom line or on the relative competitiveness of U.S. 
Agriculture to foreign competition. What good does it do for the 
environment to drive farmers out of business only to trade farmland for 
strip malls? We all know there is a place for common sense 
environmental regulation, but I don't believe we have done nearly 
enough on the incentive side of the coin.
  The Conservation Security Act is a bold step toward filling the gap 
in our current federal farm conservation regime. Simply put, this 
legislation offers compensation to farmers for voluntary conservation 
activities performed on land that is in agricultural production. 
Several aspects of this approach are significant improvements over the 
conservation tools available to farmers today.
  First, this legislation recognizes that there are a number of things 
that are beneficial to the environment that farmers can do short of 
simply idling their land. Adopting an integrated pest management plan 
that reduces pesticide use, or using soil-conserving rotational crops 
are just two examples of environmentally sensitive measures farmers can 
take while their land is still under production. Most of our spending 
for conservation programs at the federal level is geared toward paying 
farmers to set aside environmentally sensitive land altogether, such as 
under the Conservation Reserve Program. While such programs serve an 
important need, they don't address the range of conservation activities 
that farmers can, and often do, on their land in production. The 
Conservation Security Act fills this need in conservation programming 
and offers farmers the flexibility of choosing from amongst three tiers 
of conservation measures.
  A second significant feature of this legislation is its applicability 
to all farmers, not just program commodity producers. I come from a 
state that produces everything from blueberries to potatoes to 
hazelnuts and nearly everything in between. These specialty crop 
producers need to have conservation options too. I am pleased to note 
the Conservation Security Act is open to all farmers in the nation. It 
is critical that the next farm bill more effectively addresses the 
needs of specialty crop producers in this area.
  Finally, I have to note the potential for this legislation to help 
address the current farm crisis that is affecting so many of our family 
farmers. Those of us from agricultural states know too well the 
difficulties our farmers have faced in recent years, with the cost of 
production often exceeding the price paid for their commodities. While 
I believe a number of unusual circumstances have contributed to this 
problem--such as the Asian economic crisis--I also recognize that we 
must develop a more effective income support mechanism that the ad-hoc 
emergency farm spending packages we have relied upon in recent years. 
An investment in conservation, such as outlined in the Conservation 
Security Act, could contribute to that end.
  In summary, Mr. President, I believe the Conservation Security Act 
has great potential to address crying needs of farmers all across the 
nation, while encouraging enhanced environmental stewardship. These are 
goals I think we should all agree on when it comes to farm policy. Over 
the upcoming recess, Senator Harkin and I will seek more input from the 
agriculture community

[[Page S11258]]

as well as other interested colleagues on this important legislation. 
The Conservation Security Act offers a serious attempt to address the 
conservation needs of farmers as well as the troubling overall decline 
of the family farm in this country. I urge my colleagues to give in 
their consideration over this recess and look forward to reintroducing 
this legislation at the beginning of the next Congress as the debate 
over the next farm bill begins in earnest.

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