[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 122 (Tuesday, September 24, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S9122]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HOLLINGS (for himself and Mr. Cleland):
  S. 2995. A bill to improve economic opportunity and development in 
communities that are dependent on tobacco production, and for other 
purposes, to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
  Mr HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I rise to introduce a bill that the 
distinguished Senator from Georgia, Mr. Cleland, and I are sponsoring 
to assist rural farming communities that have become dependent on 
tobacco in finding ways to diversify.
  Right to the point: The tobacco program as we know it today is not 
sustainable for tobacco producers or the communities that have become 
dependent on tobacco for their standard of living. For too many years, 
too many people in this Chamber ignored the problem of the tobacco 
program, while addressing every other farm issue under the sun, and we 
now run the risk of putting tobacco farmers out of business with no 
concern for the impacts on rural communities. It is in the best 
interest of not only tobacco farmers and their communities, but of the 
future health of Americans, to pass this legislation
  South Carolina has about 2,000 honest, hard-working tobacco farmers 
who, of late, can't make ends meet because the demand for tobacco is 
down so far. It's not that everyone in the world has all of a sudden 
stopped using tobacco. It's that American companies are using foreign-
grown tobacco. It's cheaper for corporations to go to Brazil, or China, 
or Vietnam, than to buy tobacco from South Carolina or Georgia. The 
same thing that happened to textile workers in this country is now 
happening to our farmers, who have bills to pay, and children to send 
to college, and everything else like that.
  In addition to low demand, farmers are in trouble because of past 
Federal policies intended to encourage farmers to get out of this 
business, which have instead led them to totally rely on tobacco. At 
the recommendation of the President's Tobacco Commission, we need to 
kick the habit of quota subsidies for tobacco farmers or this charade 
will never end.
  Any legislation that fails to focus on the tobacco problem as a 
community, is not dealing with the problem as a whole. We have to help 
tobacco communities diversify their economic base, or they will plummet 
into further economic distress. This legislation provides these 
communities with the tools to attract new industries and, thus, new and 
different kinds of jobs for the area. We can't expect to buy farmers 
out, try to take care of them with a short-term fix, and not take care 
of the communities' long-term future.
  This legislation does just that by making quota buy outs for farmers 
mandatory, offering special incentives for growers who transition their 
land from tobacco production and providing meaningful community 
assistance to bring economic development and diversify the rural 
economy.
  Obviously, every one in this Chamber will want to know: how will we 
pay for it? What will these buyouts cost a government that this year is 
running a $412 billion budget deficit? It will not cost the American 
taxpayer a single dime. I will be paid for by fees assessed on 
manufacturers based on market share. We used a similar funding 
mechanism in the LEAF Act that had the full support of tobacco growing 
states.
  When you come right down to it, this is a balancing act to fix a 
broken farm program without decimating rural communities and without 
cost to the American taxpayer. This is as balanced a way as Senator 
Cleland and I know how to deal with this. The legislation has the 
support of the health care community and the tobacco growers alike. We 
have received letters of support from the Alliance for Health Economic 
and Agriculture Development, the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, the 
South Carolina Tobacco Growers Association, the South Carolina Farm 
Bureau, Flue-Cured Tobacco Cooperative Stabilization Corporation, and 
the Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association. We urge your 
support.
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