[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 10668-10669]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                    AGRICULTURAL RISK PROTECTION ACT

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, recently Congress passed the 
Agricultural Risk Protection Act. This legislation provides reform for 
the Federal Crop Insurance Program, economic assistance to farmers, and 
the establishment of new, innovative programs to assist the 
agricultural community. One of the innovative programs established in 
the bill is what I have termed the Agriculture Marketing Equity Capital 
Fund.
  The Agriculture Marketing Equity Capital Fund will assist independent 
grain and livestock producers nationwide develop new value-added 
agricultural opportunities. Independent producers will use these funds 
to develop business plans, feasibility studies, and business ventures 
with packers and processors.
  While I was able to garner the support of many of the nation's 
largest commodity organizations, I met fierce opposition from the 
American Meat Institute's Washington lobbyists. My floor statement 
during the debate over the crop insurance conference report was highly 
critical of their efforts. It is not my intent to attack the individual 
members of AMI, but I believe it is important that they understand my 
position.
  AMI's Washington lobbyists misrepresented the provision. A story 
written within ``Inside AMI'' recently explained:

       Senator Chuck Grassley pushed conferees to provide for a 
     $35 million Agriculture Marketing Equity Capital Fund. The 
     proposal was yet another attempt to fund an NPPC proposal 
     that seeks to secure government funding to establish a 
     national pork cooperative and use government funds to buy, 
     build or purchase equity in a pork slaughter and processing 
     facility.

  This a blatant misrepresentation of the facts. My provision never had 
anything to do with publicly financing the construction of a pork 
plant.
  My staff did contact AMI's Washington lobbyists who explained the 
opposition was based on the possibility of government-funded 
competition and specifically that funds would be used to develop a 
plant. In good faith, my staff offered AMI's Washington lobbyists an 
opportunity to offer their input on the legislation.
  I cannot guarantee that AMI's input would have been acceptable to me, 
but we will never know if a mutually beneficial position could have 
been established because my office never received a response. I have 
been a friend of the agriculture community for a very long time. I am 
disappointed and dismayed by the way this was handled by AMI's 
Washington representatives.
  As I promised in my crop insurance floor statement, I am today asking 
unanimous consent to place a list of AMI's member companies in the 
Congressional Record. Once again, I'm not saying that every processor 
or packer on this list knew what AMI's Washington lobbyists were doing, 
but I hope to inform every member what happened and why independent 
producers won't have the funds to reach out to processors in joint 
ventures and receive working capital to help everyone survive and 
thrive. I am also enclosing the text of a letter I recently sent to 
AMI's members.
  It is my hope that members of AMI see the value of my efforts and 
work with me in the future to improve the plight of the independent 
producer. Providing stability to family farmers through joint ventures 
with AMI's membership would only serve to benefit both parties in the 
long-run.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:
                                                     June 9, 2000.
       Dear AMI member: I am writing to express how disappointed I 
     am with your Washington lobbyists and their efforts to 
     misrepresent and thus undermine my attempts to help American 
     farmers.
       You may have read a recent ``Inside AMI'' story claiming 
     that, ``Senator Grassley pushed conferees to provide for a 
     $35 million Agriculture Marketing Equity Capital Fund. The 
     proposal was yet another attempt to fund a National Pork 
     Producers Council proposal that seeks to secure government 
     funding to establish a national pork cooperative and use 
     government funds to buy, build or purchase equity in a pork 
     slaughter and processing facility.''
       This claim is a blatant misrepresentation of the facts. The 
     truth is that the provision your lobbyists were attacking had 
     nothing to do with publicly financing the construction of a 
     pork plant. These funds are intended to be used by 
     independent grain and livestock producers to develop business 
     plans, feasibility studies, and business ventures with 
     packers and processors. While some may believe the truth is 
     no longer relevant in Washington, D.C., that attitude will be 
     given no quarter in dealings with me.
       My staff reached out to your's to make certain they 
     understood the error in their representations of my proposal, 
     as well as to request alternative suggestions. No response 
     ever came. Unfortunately, many of my colleagues were misled 
     by your staff, and my proposal was gutted.
       I wanted you to hear directly from me because I have had a 
     long and positive working relationship with many AMI members 
     over the years and I hope that this can be the case in the 
     future. I believe, however, that it would be appropriate to 
     investigate for yourself the concerns I have raised about 
     your Washington representatives.
           Sincerely,
                                              Charles E. Grassley,
                                                     U.S. Senator.

[[Page 10669]]


       P.S.: I have included a copy of my floor statement for your 
     review.
                                  ____


                    American Meat Institute Members

     Bar-S Foods Co.
     Birchwood Foods--Division of Kenosha Beef Int'l.
     Burke Corporation
     Coleman Natural Products, Inc.
     DeAns Pork Products
     Devault Foods
     Diamond Stainless
     Evans Food Products Company
     Fresh Mark, Inc.
     E.W. Knass & Sons, Inc.
     F. Wardynski & Sons, Inc.
     Farmlands Foods, Inc.
     Foodbrands America, Inc.
     Fred Usinger, Inc.
     Julian Freirich Company
     Greater Omaha Packing Co., Inc.
     Harrington's in Vermont, Inc.
     Hormel Foods Corporation
     Huisken Meats
     Indiana Packers Corporation
     Jac Pac Foods Ltd.
     Johnsonville Foods
     Kowalski Sausage Company, Inc.
     Maverick Ranch Lite Beef, Inc.
     MPCA, Inc.
     Norbest, Inc.
     Omaha Steaks, Inc.
     Provimi Veal Corporation
     Stevison Ham Company
     Sun-Husker Foods, Inc.
     Taylor Packing
     Wegmans Food Markets, Inc.
     Wright Brand Foods, Inc.
     Certified Angus Beef Program
     Foodcomm International
     International Natural Sausage Casing Association
     KoSa
     Meat and Livestock Australia
     New Zealand Meat Producers Board
     Packaging Digest Magazine
     The Schroeder Group
     ABC Research Corporation
     A.C. Legg Inc.
     Advanced Instruments Inc.
     AEW Thurne, Inc. Ltd.
     Alfacel, Inc.
     ALKAR
     Amana Appliances
     American Engineering Corporation
     Aspen Systems
     Bell-Mark Inc.
     Bell Paper Box, Inc.
     Bettcher Industries, Inc.
     BioControl Systems, Inc.
     Blentech Corporation
     BOC Gases
     Bolton & Menk, Inc.
     Bridge Machine Co., Inc.
     Bunzl Distribution USA
     Carruthers Equipment Company
     Carter & Burgess, Inc.
     Cretel Food Equipment Inc.
     Custom Metalcraft, Inc.
     CVP Systems, Inc.
     DAPEC, Inc./NUMAFA USA
     Deltrak, Inc.
     Dewied International, Inc.
     The Dupps Company
     Equipment Exchange Company of America
     The Facility Group
     The Ferrite Company
     Flavex Protein Ingredients--Division of Arnhem, Inc.
     FoodUSA.Com
     Foss North America, Inc.
     FPEC CORP of Arkansas
     F.R. Drake
     G.B.C-111 International, LTD.
     General Machinery Corporation
     GlobalFoodExchange.com
     Grain Processing Corporation
     Grote Company
     The HACCP Consulting Group, L.L.C.
     Handtmann, Inc.
     Hansen-Rice, Inc.
     Hantover, Inc.
     Harpak, Inc.
     The Haskell Co.
     HDR Engineering, Inc.
     Heat and Control, Inc.
     Henningsen Cold Storage Company
     Hollymatic Corporation
     Hutchison-Hayes Separators, Inc.
     Hyder North American, Inc.
     Hydrite Chemical Company
     IDEXX Laboratories, Inc.
     International Casings Group, Inc.
     J.M. Swank Company
     Jem Analytical Laboratory Services
     JetNet Corporation
     Jif-Pak Manufacturing, Inc.
     Koch Supplies Inc.
     Le Fiell Company
     Linker Machines
     Loma International, Inc.
     Mahaffy & Harder Engineering Company
     Maja Equipment
     Marlen Research Corporation
     Mepaco/Apache Stainless Equipment Corp.
     Mettler Toledo
     Mince Master
     Nalco Chemical Co.
     Neogen Corporation
     New Science Management
     Norwood Marking Systems, Inc.
     NSF International
     NuTEC Manufacturing, Inc.
     Planet Products Corporation
     Prime Prodata, Inc.
     Prime Label Consultants, Inc.
     Remco Products Corporation
     Ross Industries, Inc.
     Rudolph Industries
     Russell Harrington Cutlery Co.
     Karl Schnell, Inc.
     Sensitech, Inc.
     S.F.B. Plastics, Inc.
     Silliker Laboratories Group
     Speco, Inc.
     The Stellar Group
     Strahman Valves, Inc.
     Tipper Tie, Inc.
     Treif USA, Inc.
     Triton Commercial Systems
     Unitherm Food Systems
     Vande Berg Scales
     CV999 Packaging Systems
     Waterlink/Hycor
     Whizard Protective Wear Corporation
     York Saw & Knife
     Zer-O-Loc Insulated Panel & Door Systems

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