    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [October 22, 1999]
    [Pages 1854-1855]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Radio Remarks on Signing the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and
    Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2000
    October 22, 1999

        Today I am signing into law the agriculture appropriations bill.
    This legislation provides critical funding for the Department of
    Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration programs, including basic
    farm support programs, WIC, food safety efforts, and other measures to
    protect and support our rural communities.
        It also provides emergency funds to assist our Nation's farmers and
    ranchers who are suffering the second year in a row of plummeting crop
    prices and, for many, record livestock losses from severe drought and
    flooding.
        Let me say that I am disappointed that Congress didn't come through
    with more assistance for farmers and ranchers who suffered this year.
    This summer's drought and Hurricane Floyd and other natural disasters
    have inflicted literally billions of dollars in agricultural damage, and
    we need to do more to help those farmers who

    [[Page 1855]]

    have incurred these losses through no fault of their own.
        Congress also has not responded effectively to the crisis facing
    many farms because of the sustained low prices of most commodities. This
    is the second year in a row that substantial Federal assistance has been
    needed above and beyond our regular farm programs.
        Now, while these additional funds have been absolutely critical, the
    very fact that we've needed them points out the underlying flaws in the
    1996 farm bill. For all its positive features, that bill simply did not
    do enough to help our farmers and ranchers cope in crisis. It doesn't
    give the USDA the tools it needs to help farmers and ranchers thrive in
    the short and long term. It doesn't direct payments to where they're
    most needed. And it's providing payments to those who aren't even
    farming anymore.
        The bottom line is this: We need to revise, revamp, and improve the
    1996 farm bill. It is not providing adequate support that our farmers
    need to prosper. So once again, I urge Congress to work to fix the farm
    bill permanently so American farmers can have an adequate safety net,
    just as the Vice President and I have worked hard to reinvent Government
    and give Government more impact and more effectiveness, even though we
    have the smallest Federal Government since 1962. We must take those
    kinds of steps, the necessary steps to rewrite this flawed farm
    legislation. The men and women who work every day to give us the world's
    most affordable and abundant food supply deserve nothing less.
        So this is not a perfect piece of legislation, but I am signing it
    because our farmers are facing a true emergency and they can't wait.
    Their livelihoods, in some cases their very survival depend upon getting
    this bill signed and assistance delivered now.
        Franklin Roosevelt once said that our farmers are the source from
    which the reservoirs of our Nation's strength are constantly renewed. We
    must strengthen and support our farms and farm families, just as they
    have sustained us throughout our history and will into the future.
        Thank you.

    Note: The President's remarks were recorded at approximately 11:30 a.m.
    in the Oval Office at the White House for later broadcast. H.R. 1906,
    approved October 22, was assigned Public Law No. 106-78. These remarks
    were also made available on the White House Press Office Radio Actuality
    Line.