[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 42 (Monday, March 17, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3765-S3766]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     CELEBRATE AMERICAN AGRICULTURE

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, we have an opportunity this week, as we 
do every year, to celebrate American agriculture. This is the week we 
traditionally recognize. It is called National Agriculture Week.
  Ask any friend or neighbor what is eating them and you are likely to 
get an earful about rising gas prices, military action in Iraq, the 
high cost of health care, prescription drugs, or the downturn in the 
U.S. economy.
  In my most recent town meetings, I listened to Iowans express anxiety 
about job security, retirement security, health care security, energy 
security, national security, and homeland security. But never once did 
I have a single person in my State list as one of their concerns the 
concern of food security. That is because we in the United States are 
blessed with a rich agricultural bounty to provide more than enough 
food to feed U.S. consumers and a growing world population. American 
farmers are the most productive food producers in the world and, as a 
result, each American farmer can feed more than 120 people at home and 
abroad.
  That is reason enough to give Americans an extra peace of mind. Yet I 
guess a majority of Americans take their food and how it got to their 
fork somewhat for granted. That is, in fact, a shame.
  American agriculture serves an instrumental role in the life of every 
American. As George W. Bush has noted:

       A nation that can feed its people is a nation more secure.

  Beyond the benefits to national security, American agriculture also 
anchors the economy because the production of food and fiber from the 
farm to the consumer represents one-fifth of the U.S. economic pie. It 
props up our balance of trade. Agricultural exports exceed $1 billion 
per week. It creates jobs. Twenty percent of America's workforce is 
employed in the food chain from production to processing, marketing, 
and retailing. It saves the American consumer money because each 
American consumer spends only 9 percent of their income on food, the 
lowest percentage in the world.

  Every year in March those of us with interests in agriculture join 
forces to celebrate National Agriculture Week and spread the word about 
agriculture's affordable, high-quality abundance and its social, 
economic, and environmental influences on America.

[[Page S3766]]

  Located in the heart of America's breadbasket, Iowa's agricultural 
heritage goes back many generations. Iowans appreciate how significant 
our food system is, not only to basic human existence, but to the 
State's economy and also to our way of life.
  As the leading producer of corn, soybeans, hogs, and eggs in America, 
Iowa's high-quality agricultural bounty would make George Washington 
proud. The farmer and our first President, George Washington, once 
said:

       Agriculture is the most healthful, most useful, and most 
     noble employment to man.

  At the turn of the 21st century, Iowa is working to stay on the 
leading edge of the research and use its bounty to benefit 
biotechnology and advances in life science. Whether growing crops for 
pharmaceutical use or raising cattle capable of producing proteins that 
can be used for human drug therapies, Iowa has significant potential to 
create good, high-paying jobs and reap economic benefits in ways 
unimaginable at the turn of the last century when the production of 
food was all that was on farmers' minds.
  With several farmer-owned ethanol plants up and running, Iowa also is 
fueling local economic activity and helping to increase our energy 
independence by turning home-grown corn into ethanol, lessening our 
dependence upon a foreign source such as Iraq, for instance.
  As a life-long family farmer, I take advantage of every opportunity 
in Washington, DC, in Congress, like now in this Senate Chamber, to 
serve as a farmer's advocate because I want to make sure that family 
farmers' voices are heard at the policy tables in Washington. 
Notwithstanding the need to keep our food production and supply system 
safe from sabotage, Americans are blessed to live in a Nation where 
food security does not mean wondering if there is enough food available 
to feed one's family every day.
  National Agriculture Week, March 16 to 22, is a good opportunity to 
showcase American agriculture and to give thanks to those who work hard 
to get high quality, affordable food from the farm to our table. I hope 
every one of those people living in urban America who might think that 
food grows in super markets rather than on farms would give a thought 
to the usefulness of the family farm and what it contributes to the 
quality of life of Americans.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I first want to commend the Senator for 
his eloquent statement. I think it is always important to remind 
Americans, no matter where they live, of the productivity of American 
agriculture and the importance, particularly, of our family farmers. 
There is no one who is a greater advocate for America's farmers than 
the Senator from Iowa. So I am very pleased to have had the privilege 
of hearing his comments today.
  (The remarks of Ms. Collins pertaining to the introduction of the 
legislation are located in today's Record under ``Statements on 
Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')

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