    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
    [March 12, 1991]
    [Pages 249-251]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Swearing-In Ceremony for Edward R. Madigan as Secretary
    of Agriculture
    March 12, 1991

        The President. Thank you all very, very much for that welcome. Thank
    you, Bob. Thank you, Congressman Michel; and Mr. Speaker, delighted to
    see you, sir; members of the President's Cabinet here today. Monsignor
    O'Dea, nice to see you and meet you; your altar boy's come a long way.
    [Laughter] May I greet the former Secretaries of Agriculture and the
    distinguished Members of the House and Senate, so many with us here
    today.
        It's a great pleasure to witness the swearing-in of the newest
    member of our Cabinet team, Secretary Ed Madigan. He brings personal
    qualities to the job that farmers and ranchers hold dear: honesty and
    integrity. You ask anybody, any of his colleagues, any of us here in
    Washington that know him, or go back in Illinois and talk to his friends
    there: honesty and integrity is what Ed Madigan is all about. When Ed
    says he's going to do something that will be in the best interests of
    the farmers and America's consumers, you can rest assured he's shooting
    straight.
        But before I go any further, I'd like to put the momentary spotlight
    on another individual--outstanding individual. I know Ed Madigan shares
    my high esteem for the first-class performance of his predecessor,
    Clayton Yeutter, who's here with us. Clayt, stand up. [Applause] Let it
    be said of Clayton that he's moved on to another fertile field.
    [Laughter] But I do count my blessings that I keep Clayton's good
    counsel and that I now add Ed Madigan to our Cabinet team.
        Ed's experience is going to be put to immediate use, as everybody in
    this building knows. He's spent 16 of his 18 years in the House on the
    Ag Committee, 8 of them as the ranking Republican. He played a leading
    role in the writing of both of the past two farm bills. And that's a
    major reason that we've been able to build more free market flexibility
    into our Federal farm policy.
        Ed takes the reins at USDA at a critical time. The new farm bill
    must be implemented. And that's going to be a challenge because farmers
    have a lot more decisions to make for themselves. And Ed's guiding hand
    will be a steadying influence on the process.
        This Department is fortunate to have a Secretary with Ed Madigan's
    experience. And he's not only from the land of Lincoln; he's from the
    town of Lincoln, in the midst of some of the Nation's most fertile
    farmland. He knows firsthand about the modern miracle that is American
    agriculture, the special combination of hard work and high tech that
    enables this small percentage of the American work force to feed a
    nation and the world.
        And Ed knows the farming business. Back where he grew up,
    agriculture is the economy. Of course, agriculture is today a critical
    area in international trade and a critical element of the American
    economy. Agriculture is one sector that maintains a positive trade
    balance for this nation.

    [[Page 250]]

        And now, I know that farmers are up against the elements every day,
    and maybe there's nothing farmers can do about drought and natural
    disaster, but American farmers should not have to fight foreign
    government subsidies that give our competitors unfair advantage. And I
    know that Ed will work just as closely as Clayton had with our Trade
    Representative, Ambassador Carla Hills, to ensure that trade is free and
    fair.
        And at this point, let me simply emphasize that the renewal of Fast
    Track authority is, in my view, vital to the best interest of the United
    States of America. It's absolutely essential. And Ed, I want to pledge
    to you that I will work with you as I have with Clayton and Carla Hills
    to encourage Congress to move forward on the Fast Track authority.
        Trade and farm policy are only a part of the agricultural agenda.
    Agriculture is carving out a key place in service to our environment
    with the planned increase in grain-based alternative fuels. Agriculture
    also administers the tremendously successful WIC program--WIC, the
    Women, Infants, and Children initiative--which I've urged Congress to
    expand to serve an additional 200,000 needy children.
        From soil conservation to food stamps, from rural development to
    forestry, the USDA is involved in far more than helping farmers put food
    on the table. In every one of these areas, Ed is fortunate in having the
    very best, a Department of dedicated professionals to help him meet the
    many challenges that he'll face.
        You know, back when Ed was a student at Lincoln College, Ed carved
    his name into a wooden desk. And years later, when Ed had gone on to
    become Congressman Madigan, his college made him a gift of that desk.
    And in two decades' time, Ed has made his mark up there on Capitol Hill,
    and I am confident that he's destined to make his mark as one of our
    very greatest Secretaries of Agriculture.
        So, once again, I thank all of you for this warm welcome. To those
    who have not met their new boss, their new associate, Ed Madigan, you're
    in for a treat. You've got a class-act Secretary. And it is my pleasure
    now to watch him take the oath of office.

    [At this point, Secretary Madigan was sworn in.]

        Secretary Madigan. We only get this President for a few minutes.
    [Laughter] Mr. President, I have to tell you at the outset, somebody
    stole that desk. [Laughter] We put it in the barn out at my dad's house,
    and when I went to get it, it was gone. So, whoever has it now has the
    desk of the Secretary of Agriculture. [Laughter]
        Mr. President, thank you for the confidence that you have shown in
    me by appointing me to this job. It is an honor, a very distinct honor,
    to join the Cabinet of the most popular President in American history.
        And Bob Michel, I want to thank you for showing me through the years
    what the right demeanor for a Member of Congress is and should be. You
    are not as popular as the President, but you're right up there.
        Some of you folks who are newer to this town may not know that Tom
    Foley was the chairman of the Agriculture Committee for a good period of
    the time that I served on that committee. And Speaker Foley, I want to
    thank you for your example in teaching people like myself how you deal
    with the disparate interests that are American agriculture. Did you
    notice that he has that oath memorized? [Laughter]
        Kika and all my House colleagues, I thank you for 19 years of
    wonderful friendship. And I thank the Senators, not only for their
    friendship but also for their support; and Pat Leahy and Dick Lugar, for
    the expeditious way that you moved my nomination through the Senate. You
    probably want to know why I was in such a hurry: Sid Yates wants my
    Rayburn office. [Laughter] That's kind of an inside joke, but Members of
    Congress understand it. [Laughter]
        Most of all, I want to thank Evelyn Madigan for never once--never
    once in 25 years--complaining about being a politician's spouse. God
    bless you.
        Along with my Ag Committee buddies, we've been through some good
    times and some bad times, Mr. President. We went through the good times
    in the 1970's when we were selling everything that we could grow. And we
    went through the bad times in the 1980's when we lost our markets to

    [[Page 251]]

    unfair competition. And during those 1980's we spent billions and
    billions of dollars and still lost farmers. There's a lesson there for
    us, and that lesson is that agriculture's future is in fair trade.
        And the President is absolutely right that we owe much to Clayton
    Yeutter and Carla Hills for bringing us so close to the point of being
    able to get a trade negotiation that is good for agriculture. I join
    with the President in saying that I certainly hope that we see this
    through, because not doing so would be like folding your cards when the
    odds are that you probably have the winning hand.
        Along with all the very talented people here at the Department, we
    look forward, Mr. President, to using all of the tools at our disposal
    to make things better for American farmers and ranchers. I look forward
    to working with you and with this wonderful Cabinet that you have, and I
    thank you for this wonderful opportunity.
        I have to tell you a story about Monsignor O'Dea. He was my parish
    priest when I was a little boy. I was his altar boy. He taught me how to
    drive a car. I drove his car right into the side of his garage.
    [Laughter] He never gave up on me. [Laughter] Monsignor, thank you very
    much.

                        Note: The President spoke at 11:37 a.m. on the Patio
                            at the Agriculture Building. In his remarks, he
                            referred to Representative Robert H. Michel, who
                            introduced him; Thomas S. Foley, Speaker of the
                            House of Representatives; Msgr. Joseph P. O'Dea,
                            who gave the invocation; Clayton K. Yeutter,
                            chairman of the Republican National Committee
                            and former Secretary of Agriculture; and Carla
                            A. Hills, U.S. Trade Representative. The
                            Secretary referred to Representatives E ``Kika''
                            de la Garza and Sidney R. Yates; Senators
                            Patrick J. Leahy and Richard G. Lugar; and his
                            wife, Evelyn.