[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 22 (Thursday, February 6, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2044-S2045]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE FOR FARMERS

  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I rise today to express my disappointment 
and dismay that the Secretary of Agriculture has failed to meet the 
deadline mandated by Congress to establish a program of Trade 
Adjustment Assistance for Farmers.
  In the Trade Act of 2002, Congress directed the Secretary to get this 
program running by no later than this week, February 3, 2003.

[[Page S2045]]

  It is running? No. Is it even close to running? No.
  In fact, the Department of Agriculture tells me that their 
anticipated startup date is still another six months away. Meanwhile, 
the $90 million that Congress set aside for this program in fiscal year 
2003 has no way of reaching its intended beneficiaries. This is simply 
unacceptable.
  Senators Grassley and Conrad recently joined me in a letter making 
this very point to secretary Veneman. We told her then--and I repeat it 
now--that we hold her personally accountable for dropping the ball on 
TAA for Farmers. Frankly, I expected better.
  The Trade Act of 2002 renewed the President's trade promotion 
authority after a lapse of 8 years. In exchange for Congress', and the 
Nation's, renewed commitment to trade liberalization, the President 
agreed to expand the trade adjustment assistance program to better meet 
the needs of those who might be negatively impacted by trade.
  A critical part of the President's commitment was the creation of a 
trade adjustment assistance program for farmers, ranchers, and other 
agricultural producers.
  We all know that opening foreign markets to American agricultural 
products can provide great advantages to U.S. farmers and ranchers. 
Already, nearly one-fifth of Montana's agricultural production is 
exported. For Montana wheat, a full two-thirds is exported. And opening 
foreign markets is the best way to create new opportunities for our 
farmers and ranchers.
  This is one reason I have always been a strong supporter of trade 
liberalization and an equally strong advocate for a level playing field 
for our farmers in world markets.
  But trade liberalization can have a downside as well. It can leave 
our farmers and ranchers more vulnerable to sudden import surges, 
devastating commodity price swings, and other countries' unfair trading 
practices. That is why they need this TAA program.
  The Department of Labor's TAA program for workers has nominally 
covered family farmers, ranchers, and fishermen all along. But hardly 
any have participated. They usually can't qualify because they don't 
become unemployed in the traditional sense.

  After decades of trying without success to squeeze farmers into 
eligibility rules designed for manufacturing workers, it was time to 
try something new, something that would help farmers adjust to import 
competition before they lost their farms.
  What the Trade Act does is create a TAA program tailored to the needs 
of farmers, ranchers, and fishermen. Basically, the program creates a 
new trigger for eligibility. Instead of having to show a layoff, the 
farmer, rancher, or fisherman has to show commodity price declines 
related to imports.
  The trigger is different, but the program serves the same purpose as 
all our trade adjustment programs. It assists the farmer, rancher, or 
fisherman to adjust to import competition, to retrain, to obtain 
technical assistance, and to have access to income support to tide them 
over during the process. And the income support is capped to make sure 
that the program is not being abused.
  So last summer the President made a commitment--to the Congress and 
to the American agricultural community--to make this program a reality. 
I think it is fair to say that this was one of just a few key elements 
that got the President those critical few votes he needed to pass TPA 
in the House and the pass it with a strong bipartisan vote in the 
Senate.
  And now I say to the President, and to Secretary Veneman: the farmers 
and ranchers of Montana--and indeed throughout America--continue to 
wait for your administration to fulfill this commitment.
  I hope this will happen sooner, rather than later.
  Indeed, there is absolutely no excuse for a 6-month delay in getting 
this program off the ground. There certainly wasn't a 6-month delay in 
launching negotiations for four new free-trade agreements under TPA. 
There shouldn't be a delay here either.
  My staff and I stand ready to assist in any way we can to kick start 
this process. But Secretary Veneman needs to do the heavy lifting here. 
And that is my challenge to her today.

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