[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 4895-4896]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    MY COMMITMENT TO CROP INSURANCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Schaffer) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SCHAFFER. Mr. Speaker, low commodity prices, disease and weather-
related problems, coupled with declining export opportunities and weak 
demand, have taken a devastating toll on Colorado's agriculture 
industry. Farm income has fallen dramatically over the past 2 years, 
and it is difficult to predict how soon it might rebound. While 
Congress recently helped stave off disaster in rural America, with an 
emergency assistance package, it is evident gaping holes exist in 
federal crop insurance as a viable safety net.
  In 1996, Congress passed the Freedom to Farm Act, allowing producers 
the flexibility to adjust crop acreage in response to both economic and 
agronomic factors, while providing farms a safety net through market 
transition payments, loan rates, and crop insurance.
  Recently, some have suggested Congress return to the old system of 
deficiency payments and production quotas, and take action to increase 
loan rates and extended loan maturities in order to improve low 
commodity prices.

[[Page 4896]]



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  But because the international marketplace has grown so rapidly and 
because American exports of any particular commodity represent such a 
small percentage of world production, reducing acreage in the United 
States no longer has much effect on world market prices.
  U.S. wheat exports, for example, only account for approximately 5 
percent of global production. The future of Colorado's farm profits 
does lie outside U.S. borders. I will continue my work in Congress to 
guarantee fair and abundant trading opportunities overseas for our 
producers and their commodities.
  As this progresses, however, we must also ensure a viable safety net 
exists for farmers and ranchers in countering the effects of unexpected 
market disruptions and natural disasters. I am working alongside the 
chairman and other Members of the House Committee on Agriculture to 
develop a better, more comprehensive risk management program which will 
provide incentives for farmers to participate while protecting against 
losses and low market prices.
  This plan will allow the market to work without artificially raising 
consumer prices, without pricing us out of the export market, without 
acreage or production controls, and while adhering to Federal budget 
constraints. Furthermore, this crop insurance program must allow 
producers to recover their cost production in the case of natural 
disasters but also encourage and reward the production of the 
harvesting of crops.
  Reforming the current risk management system will take a lot of hard 
work and the interaction between Colorado producers, the Congress, and 
the President. But in order for farmers and ranchers to survive and 
thrive in market-driven systems, an adequate safety net must exist to 
account for unforeseen and uncontrollable losses. I will continue my 
work in Congress to ensure Colorado farmers and ranchers have this 
necessary option.

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