[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 83 (Monday, May 21, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1106-E1107]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     THE INTRODUCTION OF CREATE-21

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JOHN BARROW

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 21, 2007

  Mr. BARROW. Madam Speaker, today I am pleased to introduce CREATE-21, 
a measure aimed at ``Creating Research, Extension, and Teaching 
Excellence for the 21st Century.''
  America has arrived at a critical juncture with respect to the food, 
agricultural, and natural resource sciences. Ahead of us are two paths. 
The first is the path of the status quo. It is not a bad path--after 
all, it has provided the Nation and the world with bountiful and 
affordable food and numerous other benefits. No, this path is not bad; 
it's just not as good as it should be.
  The other path--the CREATE-21 path--recognizes that the status quo, 
when it comes to the Federal-State Partnership in the Food and 
Agricultural Sciences (as that term is broadly defined by statute), is 
no longer sustainable and thus no longer acceptable. This Nation and 
the whole planet face both daunting challenges and tremendous 
opportunities that will require structural and funding improvements. 
Here are some examples:
  Challenges such as the effects of changing climate on farms and 
forests cannot be solved with an inadequate USDA science organization 
and woefully inadequate funding.
  Opportunities for replacing a substantial portion of U.S. petroleum 
consumption through increased production of renewable fuels (without 
raising grain and livestock prices unduly) cannot be attained without a 
major increase in funding for basic research and applied research and 
``integrated'' efforts (where research is combined with education and 
technology transfer through extension agents).

[[Page E1107]]

  Efforts to boost the U.S. specialty crops and organic food industries 
will not come to fruition in a timely manner--thereby threatening 
America's world leadership positions--if part of the responsibility for 
research continues to lie within one USDA agency and part in another, 
with inadequate coordination between the two!
  Problems such as the twin (and related) epidemics of obesity and 
diabetes cannot be overcome with Federal research, education, and 
extension efforts divided among two USDA agencies (and some 105 land-
grant universities) unless the Under Secretary for Research, Education, 
and Economics has under his immediate supervision a national program 
staff that can provide overarching vision, guidance, and leadership for 
those two agencies.
  Madam Speaker, these are only four examples--among dozens that I 
could have chosen--but they make the case for the comprehensive 
approach embodied in CREATE-21. They demonstrate that the opportunities 
and challenges we face demand both an improved organizational structure 
and enhanced funding.
  When the House Committee on Agriculture sits down in the next few 
weeks to develop the 2007 Farm Bill, I am hopeful that the foundational 
precepts and specific provisions embodied in the legislation I 
introduce today will form the basis for the Committee's Research Title. 
Therefore, I want to take a few minutes to highlight three key 
provisions:
  CREATE-21 will increase planning and implementation across intramural 
(e.g., ARS and ERS) and extramural (e.g., land-grant) facilities 
through a single national program staff working directly for the USDA 
Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics.
  CREATE-21 will also establish a new National Institutes for Food and 
Agriculture (replacing the current Cooperative State Research, 
Education, and Extension Service) to provide continuing and expanded 
support to America's land-grant and other universities and related 
institutions.
  Finally, CREATE-21 will double authorized funding for the food, 
agriculture, and natural resource research, teaching, and extension 
programs currently administered by Cooperative State Research, 
Education, and Economics Service in order to address the enormous 
opportunities and daunting challenges that face the country and the 
greater global community.
  Besides these distinctive elements, CREATE-21 has three other unique 
attributes:
  CREATE-21 will strengthen the land-grant system with its integrated, 
National network of State Agricultural Experiment Stations, more than 
3,000 Cooperative Extension offices, and universities in all 50 states, 
DC, and the U.S. territories.
  CREATE-21 will augment ``integrated'' USDA funding programs so that 
many more grants which integrate research with extension and/or 
education are awarded through competitive, peer-reviewed procedures.
  Lastly, CREATE-21 will bolster university capacity, especially for 
the historically black (1890), tribal (1994), insular area, and small 
1862 land-grant universities and members of the American Association of 
State Colleges of Agriculture and Renewable Resources (AASCARR).
  In addition to these provisions, the legislation I am introducing 
today contains many other amendments to USDA research, extension, and 
teaching statutes, reflecting the best thinking of a broad cross-
section of America's land grant community. These provisions include 
critical updates that will enhance, among other things, the basic 
programs providing sustenance for the 1890 land-grant institutions and 
critical food, health, and nutritional information to low-income 
families and youth through the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education 
Program. In fact, this legislation addresses ALL of the Farm Bill 
priorities outlined by the Presidents of the 1890 colleges.
  While I support the key tenets of this legislation and am pleased to 
introduce it in the House, we all recognize that difficult problems 
require consensus-based solutions and I remain open to suggestions. I 
look forward to working closely with my colleagues on the Agriculture 
Committee as we develop a Research Title for the 2007 Farm Bill that 
truly has at its core mission: ``Creating Research, Extension, and 
Teaching Excellence for the 21st Century.''

                          ____________________