[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.