[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
[July 30, 1999]
[Page 1359]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Radio Remarks on Proposed Legislation To Help Farmers
July 30, 1999

    As America's farmers look ahead to this year's harvest, what should 
be a time of reward and satisfaction is instead becoming a time of 
disappointment and for some, for too many, a time of ruin.
    From dropping crop prices to diminishing foreign markets to 
devastating droughts in some parts of the country, many of our farmers 
and ranchers are facing the worst crisis in a decade. My administration 
has done what we can to ease this crisis, from increasing our food 
purchases for humanitarian aid around the world, to speeding up farm 
program payments, to ensuring $6 billion in emergency aid last year to 
help farmers in need. To really help our farmers and ranchers, we have 
to fix the underlying problem.
    Let's just face it: The 1996 farm bill simply does not do enough to 
help our farmers and ranchers cope in hard times. It doesn't give me or 
the United States Department of Agriculture the tools we need to help 
farmers and ranchers thrive over the long term, from providing critical 
income assistance to farmers who need it most in bad years to making it 
easier for farmers to buy crop insurance and improving our crop 
insurance program to continuing our efforts to expand markets abroad and 
ensure fair practices here at home. That's the right way to help our 
farmers and ranchers over the long term.
    I am committed to working with Congress to provide the resources to 
help our farmers and ranchers by dealing with today's crisis and by 
fixing the farm bill for the future. We must do so in a way that 
maintains the fiscal discipline that has created our prosperity and that 
now makes it possible for us to save Social Security, to strengthen and 
modernize Medicare with a prescription drug benefit, and to pay off our 
national debt, guaranteeing our long-term financial prosperity. These 
things are good for America's farming and ranching families, too, and 
they're good for all Americans.

Note: The President's remarks were recorded at approximately 10 p.m. 
aboard Air Force One at Aviano Air Base, Italy, for later broadcast. The 
transcript was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on July 31. 
These remarks were also made available on the White House Press Office 
Radio Actuality Line.