[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992, Book I)]
[January 13, 1992]
[Pages 75-78]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to the American Farm Bureau Federation in Kansas City, Missouri

January 13, 1992
    Thank you, Dean Kleckner. It's a great pleasure to be up here with 
so many supporters of agriculture. First, let me single out Secretary 
Madigan, who is doing a superb job as our Secretary of Agriculture. A 
former Illinois Congressman, he knows the farm business inside out, and 
believe me, agriculture has a good friend in these GATT negotiations 
with Ed Madigan. I also salute my friend, the Governor of your host 
State, Governor Ashcroft is with us; plus two great Senators, Jack 
Danforth and Kit Bond; and then also Congressman Tom Coleman. All three 
of these Senators plus this Governor are well-steeped in agriculture. 
They know the problems. They have been friends to agriculture. And 
farmers have voiced their support of all three of them plus the Governor 
over and over again.
    I just had a chance just a few minutes ago to meet with the board, 
your board. It's good to see John White again. I spent the day with him 
in Chicago last month when I spoke to the Illinois Farm Bureau.

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    I won't lead you in the singing, but if you see Ed Madigan later on 
personally, you might want to wish him a happy birthday.
    That great voice of rural America, Will Rogers, once observed, ``A 
man in the country does his own thinking, but you get him into town and 
he will soon be thinking second-handed.'' Today I want to give you my 
firsthand report on my trip to Australia, Singapore, Korea, and Japan 
and to talk agriculture.
    All of you know my real reason for going to Asia: prosperity, ours 
and theirs. That requires security; it requires stability, democracy, 
and certainly trade. Twenty-five percent of our farm product is 
exported, 25 percent. Free trade can give the American farmer new 
opportunities to save, invest, create, and dream.
    The cold war has ended. What a miraculous year it's been. We stand 
on the verge of a new age of competition. Our ideals triumphed in the 
cold war, and the new wave of democracy represents nothing less than the 
political restructuring of the entire world. That was a tough fight, a 
long fight, but it was worth it.
    Just one year ago today, one year ago, think back, we closed the 
American Embassy in Iraq, and American troops stood prepared to answer 
the call to duty, the call to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi oppression. 
That victory that ensued not only lifted the spirits of our Nation but 
clearly established the United States of America as the undisputed world 
leader, standing for what is right and decent, for democracy, for 
freedom against bullying and aggression. Go anywhere in the world, and 
you will see the respect in which we are held. Do not listen to those 
prophets of doom we hear every night, those frantic politicians who say 
we are a second-class power. We are the undisputed, respected leader of 
the world. We are the United States of America.
    One wonderful dimension of this dramatic world change is that our 
children no longer have the same worries about nuclear war that their 
parents had just a few years ago. It was the leadership of the United 
States of America that brought this about. Now, make no mistake about 
it, now we must stay involved overseas to lead in economic restructuring 
for free and fair trade, open markets all over the world.
    Open markets are the key to our economic future, both for American 
agriculture and business. That fight is going to take time, and lots of 
people will want immediate results. This new world of opportunity isn't 
going to happen overnight. But I can tell you this: Empty-headed 
rhetoric won't get us there. Hard work, savvy, experienced negotiation, 
and confidence in ourselves will get us there, proud and strong. We won 
the cold war, and we will win the competitive wars. We will do it on the 
merits, and we're going to do it the American way, through grit, through 
determination, and through quality.
    My trip to Asia was an important and successful step toward building 
that new world, not with just Japan but with the whole world. We reached 
dozens of new agreements on market openings, from computers to paper to 
glass to automotive products. In Japan alone our negotiators reached 49 
standards agreements in nonautomotive industries and hammered out 
marketing opening agreements in a variety of industrial sectors. And 
that was just a start. Japanese Prime Minister Miyazawa has agreed to 
visit Washington later this year as a followup to the trip, and both 
sides have pledged to advance the cause of open, free, and fair trade.
    Some political critics say that I shouldn't have taken the trip at 
all. They're wrong. I will continue to fight for American jobs 
everywhere. In these tough times, a President should do no less.
    Some of these critics say that I wanted to promote managed trade. 
Wrong. I oppose managed trade. What I want to get is more fair access to 
the other guys' markets, and that's exactly what we got. Not everything 
we wanted, but we made progress. We cannot ask foreign markets to buy 
inferior goods, but we can insist that our quality goods must have fair 
access to overseas markets.
    Our Asian allies understand that we don't want handouts or a home-
field trade advantage. We just want a level playing field. Give us a 
fair shot, and American workers will outthink, outwork, and outproduce 
anyone in the world. American farmers--

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and I saw this and heard it loud and clear on this trip--already do 
that.
    Our farmers and ranchers thrive in the international marketplace 
despite the barriers that other governments throw in their way. As I 
said earlier, a full 25 percent of our agricultural production gets sold 
abroad. You don't complain; you get the job done.
    Look, we all know that protectionism boils down to defeatism. If you 
don't trust your product, you try to keep others from sampling the 
competition. But if you trust your handiwork, you see foreign markets as 
a great opportunity.
    And here's another point that I've made over the years: A capital 
gains tax cut would reduce the cost of capital and increase investment 
in business. Traveling in Asia, I was once again reminded of how we put 
ourselves at a competitive disadvantage with this high capital gains tax 
rate. Now more than ever, a capital gains tax cut will help our economy 
back on track. It will put more real value on America's farms and homes. 
It is good for everyone in our economy and especially for you, the 
American farmer. And I need your help to make the Congress understand 
this once and for all.
    Consider the payoff. Every $1 billion of American agricultural 
exports means 25,000 American jobs. Farm exports should exceed $40 
billion in 1992. In this time of trade deficits, that's a farm trade 
surplus of $17 billion, and 1 million good American jobs.
    Now we hear it again, we hear some politicians want to set quotas, 
want to legislate balance of trade. Do you know who would get hurt the 
most by this? The American farmer.
    Don Shawcroft knows what I'm talking about. Japan imports $1.7 
billion in beef, and 53 percent of that beef comes from America. This 
helps cattle ranchers like Don, who runs a 600-head beef herd with his 
dad in Alamosa, Colorado.
    Five hundred miles away lives Arlene Wessel, who produces farrow-to-
finish hogs, dryland wheat, corn, on her family's farm near Huron, South 
Dakota. Arlene also knows how to keep America's standard of living 
number one in the world: not by building a fence around America but by 
convincing other countries to tear their fences down. I want to give all 
farmers, the grain farmers, the rice farmers, those who grow the best 
produce in the world, a fair shot at selling their goods everywhere.
    To achieve this, of course, will require diligence and patience. I 
recall an old Quaker farmer who would never take the name of the Lord in 
vain. Perhaps you have heard of him. But one day his mule, who was 
hitched to a hay wagon, wouldn't budge an inch. The farmer tried every 
bit of coaxing. No success. Finally, he reached the end of the rope. 
``Mule,'' he said, ``I cannot beat thee or curse thee or abuse thee in 
any way. But mule, what thou doesn't know is that I can sell thee to an 
Episcopalian.'' [Laughter]
    In that context, and as an Episcopalian, let me say a few words 
about export subsidies. Ultimately, they stifle growth, burden the 
taxpayer, cost consumers, and make industry less competitive. I also 
know that I must and will safeguard the interests of American farming. I 
will not let American agriculture disarm unilaterally.
    Today, the trade practices of the European Community hurt American 
farmers. Our agricultural Export Enhancement Program, the EEP, is 
specifically designed to counter the EC's massive export subsidies. 
Without this effort, which is less than one-tenth the size, I might say, 
of the EC subsidy, American farmers would lose even greater market 
shares to the EC.
    Yes, we want to end export subsidies; we must do that. But we will 
not do it until other nations do the same thing. I am not going to put 
our farmers at an unfair disadvantage. Sooner or later, the EC must stop 
hiding behind its own iron curtain of protectionism. Meanwhile, we will 
remain leaner, tougher, and more competitive.
    The world's future progress and prosperity really depend upon free 
trade. I am working to conclude the Uruguay round of the GATT 
negotiations successfully. I especially appreciate, and I've told Dean 
Kleckner this, the Farm Bureau's steadfast support for free and fair 
trade. GATT will help the world move toward broader economic 
integration, not trading blocs.
    Our administration will settle for nothing less than a GATT 
agreement that expands

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markets and increases opportunities for our exporters. We want free 
trade, and we want fair trade. And we want abundant trade. And GATT, 
believe me, really holds the key. I know the EC's behavior threatens 
progress, but I am optimistic there will be an agreement. And I will not 
be a part of an agreement unless it's a good agreement for America.
    While my administration supports American business abroad, we're 
also doing our best to help at home. In that spirit, I recall something 
written about people who grow up close to the soil: ``There's something 
about getting up at 5 o'clock, 5 a.m., feeding the stock and chickens 
and milking a couple of cows before breakfast that gives you a respect 
for the price of butter and eggs.'' That writer knew that when it comes 
to farming, Washington does not know best. American farmers do.
    In 1990, I worked hard with the legislative leaders, two of whom are 
here today, in the Senate and one of whom is in the House, here today 
with us, to get congressional approval of a farm bill that is even-
handed and level-headed. That bill helped reduce interest rates, slash 
inflation, and increase flexibility for farmers to decide what to grow.
    I've promoted firsthand thinking in farm policy from day one. We set 
out to reduce farm debt and increase farmers' independence, and there 
have been good results. Farmers' equity has grown $45 billion in 3 
years. Meanwhile, agricultural sales, gross cash receipts, have risen 
$17 billion since I took office, to $168 billion. Again, real results.
    We are committed to common sense in a wetlands policy. My direction 
to Vice President Quayle's Council on Competitiveness was to protect 
environmentally sensitive wetlands and protect the property rights of 
landowners. I've asked the board here to send in specific 
recommendations during this hearing period. Our new guidelines will 
distinguish between genuine wetlands, which deserve to be protected, and 
other kinds of land, including your farmlands.
    Also, last month I signed a bill making nearly $1 billion in 
disaster relief available to producers for 1990 and '91 crop losses.
    Put these initiatives together, and you get a farm policy that lets 
farmers do what they do best: farm and compete all over the world. Our 
policies reflect the values that we all cherish: self-reliance, 
generosity, family, community. They draw upon your strengths, your 
intelligence, diligence, determination, and faith.
    Today we meet in a city that testifies to all these virtues. Kansas 
City has braved three major floods this century and risen to new 
greatness each time. Ninety-two years ago, the Convention Hall burned to 
the ground. Proud men and women rebuilt it in 90 days. ``In Kansas 
City,'' someone explained, ``we don't know what `impossible' means.'' My 
friends, I am still convinced that in America we don't know what 
``impossible'' means.
    The American dream isn't an impossible dream. Don't listen to all 
those gloom-sayers around this country saying that we are a nation in 
decline. We are, once again, the respected leader of the entire world. 
And working together, we are going to make the lot of every single 
American better.
    Thank you very much. Thank you very, very much. And I am proud to 
lead an America that leads the world towards new freedom and prosperity. 
Thank you. And may God bless you all. Thank you.

                    Note: The President spoke at 10:46 a.m. at the 
                        Municipal Auditorium. In his remarks, he 
                        referred to Dean Kleckner, national president of 
                        the American Farm Bureau Federation, and John 
                        White, Jr., president of the Illinois Farm 
                        Bureau.