[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Page 1386]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   AGRICULTURAL EXPORT EXPANSION ACT

  Ms. HEITKAMP. Mr. President, I rise to talk about a bill which I 
introduced that I would love to have the Presiding Officer's 
sponsorship, given how important the Port of Louisiana is to American 
agriculture and certainly commodities that we ship across the world. It 
is called the Agricultural Export Expansion Act that I introduced with 
Senator Boozman as my cosponsor. We have a great bipartisan lineup of 
people who are interested in this.
  So what does this bill do? I will say, very rarely does a day go by--
whether I am in North Dakota or whether I am here in Washington, DC--
that I don't speak with or hear from North Dakota farmers and ranchers. 
The agriculture economy is absolutely critical to North Dakota. Almost 
one-quarter of North Dakota workers are farmers and ranchers or they 
are employed in farm-related jobs. During every meeting, farmers and 
ranchers express the urgent need--the urgent need--to open trade with 
Cuba and to stop tying the hands of our producers.
  Just on Tuesday our barley growers were in my office telling me about 
how important the market in Cuba could be. Last week it was the Dry 
Bean Council telling me what I already know from my visit with Cuba: 
The products we grow in the United States--like North Dakota pinto 
beans or Arkansas rice--are compatible with the Cuban diet, and there 
is high demand for our high-quality products.
  These aren't just crops that North Dakota grows. These are crops that 
North Dakota knows exceptionally well and that we excel in. My State is 
the No. 1 producer of barley, multiple varieties of beans, lentils, and 
certain types of wheat. Enabling agriculture exports to Cuba would be a 
huge boon for North Dakota farmers and ranchers, as well as those from 
many other States.
  Unfortunately, because of trade barriers the United States puts on 
itself, the Cuban people aren't eating North Dakota beans, Kansas wheat 
or Arkansas rice. Instead, they are importing those products from 
countries much further away--like Brazil, Canada, Europe, and even 
Vietnam. I would say not only in terms of proximity of our product to 
the Cuban market--which is a huge freight advantage--we also have the 
highest quality of products. So we are forfeiting what in fact would be 
a natural market for us. Think about that. In this day, where trade is 
so important--where improving our balance of trade is so important--we 
will not be able to access the Cuban market.
  Congress has eased some restrictions on exports to Cuba for 
agricultural products. They did that back in 2000 with the passage of 
the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act. That was a great 
first step. We did make some progress in increased sales to Cuba. 
Unfortunately, now that same law is holding us back.
  The administration made important changes to U.S. policy and opened 
some travel and some trade to Cuba starting with their January 2015 
changes. Most recently, including last month, the administration made 
more changes, including allowing for financing of authorized exports to 
Cuba. Unfortunately, those exports are other than agricultural exports. 
Because of our once forward-looking bill, agricultural exporters are 
prohibited now from offering financing that all other exporters can 
provide to Cuba. That needs changing.
  In 2014 I visited Cuba. I met with Cuban agricultural trade officials 
to discuss bilateral economic benefits of expanding agricultural 
exports from North Dakota and the United States to Cuba. These are 
conversations we need to continue to have.
  Last April I and Senator Boozman introduced our bipartisan bill to 
level the playing field for our farmers and ranchers and make sure we 
can compete with the rest of the world in Cuba. What does that bill do 
and how does it improve our trade relationship with Cuba? One of the 
greatest barriers we have in getting our products to Cuba is we can't 
finance it. Some might say: Well, we don't want to put government 
taxpayer dollars at risk. This bill does not put one taxpayer dollar at 
risk. We are talking about opening the market so we can access private 
financing for agricultural exports to Cuba. Let me repeat that. No 
taxpayer dollars are at risk. It is based entirely on individual risk 
assessment and decisions. Our bill is supported by the U.S. 
Agricultural Coalition for Cuba, a wide-ranging coalition including 
every grower group and industry association.
  This week, the Cuban Government announced that El Nino is going to 
create an even greater loss of agricultural products in Cuba. This is 
going to create an even greater opportunity for our agricultural 
exports--a greater opportunity. Why--why--why would we let other 
countries keep eating our lunch and dominating this important market, 
especially given our proximity? It is time for Congress to get out of 
American agriculture's way and let private businesses make exporting 
and financing decisions.
  I urge all of my colleagues to cosponsor and help pass our bill, S. 
1049, the Agricultural Export Expansion Act.
  Finally, I want to talk about the challenges that American 
agriculture has. Higher-dollar value has put tremendous stress on our 
products. We have seen corn prices drop, we have seen soybean prices 
drop, we have seen American agriculture challenged in ways we haven't 
seen for the last decade. How do we fix that problem? With another 
government program? Maybe we will have to help or expand the farm bill 
to deal with our food security issues created by low commodity prices. 
I will not take that off the table, but I will say the surest way that 
we can get out from underneath these challenges is export, is to 
provide for trade. It is one of the reasons I supported TPA. I believe 
it is great for American commodities to access additional markets and 
take down trade barriers to provide us with market, but why are we 
artificially standing in the way of private investment and private 
financing of American agricultural products? It is time that we do the 
right thing by American agriculture and open this market. We can take 
this incremental step without having this body agree to lifting any 
kind of embargo. We can take this incremental step without changing the 
prohibition we have on Federal-sponsored marketing programs. We can 
begin to access the Cuban market and introduce our high-quality beans, 
edible peas, and lentils. We can do that.
  I will close with a story about my great friend Maria Cantwell from 
the State of Washington. Washington also grows what we call a lot of 
cross crops--although, I would argue that ours are probably even lot 
better than what is grown in the State of Washington.
  Maria Cantwell went on a trade mission to try to sell Washington 
State lentils. After hours of listening to the trade officials and Mr. 
Castro, she was successful in convincing him to buy lentils. The 
lentils he eventually bought were from North Dakota.
  We have an opportunity to access this market--not just for North 
Dakota but for the State of Washington, for the State of Louisiana, for 
the State of Arkansas, for the State of Kansas. For all of our 
agricultural producers, open this market, give us the ability to do 
what we do in every other place. We aren't putting taxpayer dollars at 
risk. We are simply asking for access to markets.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SASSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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