[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
[June 20, 2000]
[Pages 1192-1193]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Statement on Signing the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000
June 20, 2000

    Today I have signed into law H.R. 2559, the ``Agricultural Risk 
Protection Act of 2000,'' which authorizes permanent reforms to the crop 
insurance program, provides temporary farm income assistance in FY 2000, 
and provides funding and authorities for other agricultural and 
nutrition programs for FY 2001.
    I support the reform of the crop insurance program that is included 
in this bill, because it is generally consistent with principles my 
Administration has advocated over the last 2 years. I have heard many 
farmers say that the crop insurance program was simply not a good value 
for them, providing too little coverage for too much money. My FY 2001 
budget proposal and this bill directly address that problem by making 
higher insurance coverage more affordable, which should also mitigate 
the need for ad hoc crop loss disaster assistance such as we have seen 
for the last 3 years. The reforms in this bill will put risk management 
where it belongs: in the hands of producers. The bill will also expand 
coverage to more crops and provide incentives for new insurance product 
development, which will extend risk management to more producers and 
foster innovation in the risk management marketplace.
    The bill includes a number of other provisions that I also support. 
The bill expands research authorities and funding for biomass and 
bioproducts, including next-generation ethanol, which will benefit 
producers by increasing the demand

[[Page 1193]]

for agricultural products, and will diversify rural economies while 
cleaning our air and fighting global warming. The bill also provides 
income assistance to producers of a number of different crops, such as 
fruit and vegetable growers, and producers whose crop and pasture land 
has been flooded. In addition, the bill includes important reforms I 
requested to the Child and Adult Care Food Program and allows the use of 
school lunch application data to identify more children eligible for 
Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
    However, I am signing H.R. 2559 with reservations because its income 
assistance component is not targeted, is counter-cyclical, and does not 
require recipients to enroll in crop insurance. If there was any doubt 
that the 1996 Farm Bill failed to provide an adequate farm safety net, 
it should be dispelled by this bill that provides significant 
supplemental farm income assistance for the third year in a row.
    As I said when I signed the 1996 bill, the fixed Agricultural 
Marketing Transition Act (AMTA) payments simply do not adjust to changes 
in crop prices or revenues, and the prolonged financial stress in the 
farm sector has required the Congress to repeatedly step in on an ad hoc 
basis to supplement farm bill assistance. To respond to the needs of 
producers suffering from continuing low crop prices and inadequate farm 
bill assistance, and to provide a sensible approach for the 
reauthorization of the farm bill in 2002, I proposed counter-cyclical 
farm income assistance in my FY 2001 Budget, which would provide higher 
payments on those crops with the most depressed prices and revenues. I 
am disappointed that the Congress did not adopt this proposal, and 
instead chose again simply to double the AMTA payments without regard to 
the hardships facing individual producers this year. Payments in this 
bill will be based on what producers grew prior to 1996, not what they 
are growing now, and some payment recipients may not even be growing 
covered crops anymore, having switched to other commodities or livestock 
production. We need to move beyond this kind of untargeted, patchwork 
fix to secure a stronger, more reliable farm safety net that provides 
dependable assistance to family farmers based on their current farm 
income.
    Another crucial component of my farm safety net proposal is to 
significantly increase funds for conservation programs, such as the 
Conservation and Wetlands Reserve Programs, and a new Conservation 
Security Program. These programs can boost farm income to a wide range 
of producers, while providing environmental benefits for all Americans. 
I am disappointed that virtually no funds were included for these 
programs, and I will continue to seek substantially increased funding 
for them this year. Additionally, we want to work with the Congress to 
prevent an unintended sequester.
    This bill's farm income assistance will help many producers get 
through what is shaping up to be another tough year, and the crop 
insurance reforms should enhance producers' ability to survive natural 
disasters for years to come. But I would hope that the experience of the 
last 3 years has taught those who shape farm policy on Capitol Hill--as 
farm families across the country have learned first-hand the hard way--
that we need to build a stronger, better farm safety net on which 
American producers, their families, and communities can depend.

                                                      William J. Clinton

 The White House,

 June 20, 2000.

  Note:  H.R. 2559, approved June 20, was assigned Public Law No. 106-
224.