[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 168 (Wednesday, November 19, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H11634]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       FLORIDA'S CITRUS INDUSTRY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Meek) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues from 
Florida, Mr. Putnam and Mr. Shaw, for arranging this special order this 
evening.
  Trade is a crucially important issue in Florida. With our great 
seaports and airports and our global position as the crossroads between 
North America and Central and South America and the Caribbean, Florida 
is well positioned to benefit from trade with our neighbors. However, 
in order for that trade to benefit Floridians, to create new jobs and 
new businesses and to promote the growth of existing enterprises, it 
must be conducted fairly.
  One of Florida's signature industries is citrus. Citrus is Florida's 
second largest industry, responsible for generating over $9 billion for 
the economy and providing nearly 90,000 people with jobs. The industry 
also accounts for roughly $1 billion in revenue for the State and local 
governments. Not only is this industry responsible for giving jobs to 
tens of thousands of Floridians, it also helps to fund our public 
hospitals and schools, and our fire and police services.
  But all is not well with Florida's citrus industry--primarily because 
of the impact of imports--and I urge the Bush administration to 
remember this fact when it considers requests to reduce or eliminate 
the current tariff on imported citrus juices during the Free Trade Area 
of the Americas negotiations this weekend or any other negotiations.
  There are only two regions in the world that produce a substantial 
quantity of orange juice: Brazil and the United States. There are also 
only two regions of the world that consume substantial amounts of 
orange juice: the United States and the European Union. Brazil already 
has a virtual monopoly on the EU orange juice market, while Florida's 
growers sell their product almost entirely in the United States.
  There is considerable evidence that the current tariff on imported 
juices encourages competition among producers and allows Florida's 
growers to compete on a level playing field. Florida's 12,000 growers, 
most of whom operate small family-owned operations, are the most 
efficient and environmentally responsible in the world. Without the 
tariff, however, Florida's growers cannot compete against the four 
dominant processors in Brazil, who take advantage of cheap labor and 
weak environmental laws at the expense of Florida's growers.
  The industry also provides many environmental benefits to the State 
of Florida and its citizens. A collapse of the industry would lead, 
perhaps inevitably, to more development and more congestion--and also 
to more air and water pollution and toxins in the environment. I 
understand that a collapse of the citrus industry would also threaten 
over 150 different species with extinction.
  Today, Florida's citrus industry is already suffering tremendously 
because of uncertainty over the future of the tariff. The price of 
citrus is declining. Growers are selling land because they know they 
will have no future if the tariff is reduced or eliminated. In 
addition, the huge processors in Brazil are taking steps to exploit any 
reduction in the tariff by acquiring more groves in Brazil to enable 
them to dramatically increase production and overwhelm the U.S. market. 
It would be hard for any industry to survive, and impossible to 
prosper, in this environment.
  The industry cannot afford to wait 6 more months or a year for the 
Bush administration to make a decision. This is why I urge the Bush 
administration to state clearly this week its final decision on this 
matter--to put an end to this uncertainty that is so seriously harming 
Florida's citrus industry.
  Mr. Speaker, Florida's citrus industry--unlike almost all other 
agricultural commodities--receives no U.S. subsidies. American taxpayer 
money does not subsidize this industry. The tariff is the industry's 
only lifeline.
  Again, I urge the administration to consider the ramifications of 
reducing or eliminating the tariff, which would discourage greater 
competition and would enable Brazil to secure a global monopoly over 
the orange juice market.

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