[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 26 (Monday, June 29, 1998)]
[Pages 1194-1195]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Signing Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education 
Reform Act of 1998

June 23, 1998

    Today I am pleased to sign into law S. 1150, the ``Agricultural 
Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998.'' This bill is an 
example of the Federal Government at its best: the Congress and the 
Administration working together on a bipartisan basis, bringing together 
a broad coalition of individuals and groups to address the important 
needs of our citizens in a fiscally responsible manner. I want to thank 
Senators Lugar and Harkin and Representatives Smith and Stenholm, whose 
efforts to forge this compromise were tireless, as well as all the other 
Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives who voted for S. 
1150. Their support reflects the strong consensus in this country for 
the reforms and funding contained in this bill.
    S. 1150 and last year's Balanced Budget Act go a long way toward 
fulfilling the commitment, which I made when I signed the 1996 Personal 
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, to reverse the 
unfair treatment of legal immigrants included in that legislation, which 
had nothing to do with welfare reform. The Food Stamp provisions of S. 
1150 restore benefits to 250,000 elderly, disabled, and other needy 
legal immigrants, including 75,000 children who lost such assistance 
under the 1996 Act.

[[Page 1195]]

The Food Stamp provisions in S. 1150 build on our success last year in 
restoring Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid benefits to 420,000 
legal immigrants who lost such assistance under the 1996 Act. S. 1150 
also restores benefits to Hmong immigrants from Laos who aided our 
country during the Vietnam War and extends the period during which 
refugees and asylees may qualify for Food Stamps while they await 
citizenship. We will continue to work to ensure that those who honor our 
laws and contribute to our society can be free from hunger.
    Similarly, when I signed the Federal Agriculture Improvement and 
Reform Act of 1996 (1996 Farm Act) that radically changed the decades-
old Federal programs to balance crop supply and demand, I made a 
commitment to work with the Congress to strengthen the farm safety net. 
With the bill I am signing today, our Nation's farmers know that crop 
insurance will be there for them if disaster strikes, with the program 
fully funded for the next 5 years.
    To improve farming productivity and efficiency, we must increase our 
investment in agricultural research. In the 1996 Farm Act deliberations, 
the Congress believed the agricultural research title to be so important 
that work on it was postponed so it could receive the time and 
consideration that it deserved. The research provisions in S. 1150 were 
worth waiting for, and I commend the Congress for its work.
    The Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems in S. 1150 
will channel an additional $120 million a year over the next 5 years to 
vital investments in food and agriculture genome research, food safety 
and technology, human nutrition, and agricultural biotechnology. These 
investments will lead to advances in new production systems for crops 
and livestock. This will help farmers and agricultural processors 
produce an abundant supply of safe food, with less impact on the 
environment, and meet the challenge of new, more virulent pest and 
disease outbreaks. In addition, the bill reforms the working 
arrangements between the Secretary of Agriculture and the universities 
that carry out important agricultural research. These changes will 
encourage and enable universitas to take on larger-scale challenges and 
enhance their integration of research, education, and extension 
functions while improving the accountability and management of their 
programs.
    Rural communities cannot rely on agriculture alone to sustain their 
economy and quality of life. That is why, throughout my Administration, 
I have strongly supported increasing the investments in rural 
development, and pushed to find innovative solutions to unique local 
needs. We worked hard with the Congress in the 1996 Farm Act to create 
the Fund for Rural America, which provided funds for rural development 
and innovative agricultural research. I am pleased that S. 1150 provides 
$300 million for the Fund and extends it funding through FY 2003.
    While signing S. 1150, I am concerned that some in the Congress are 
already threatening to block significant portions of its funds from 
being spent in FY 1999. Appropriation actions in the House and Senate 
would deny any funds from being used for the Fund for Rural America, and 
the House bill would also block any research funding in this bill from 
going forward next year. I strongly object to such ill-advised cuts in 
these vital programs. I call on the Congress to provide the needed funds 
for these important activities.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
June 23, 1998.

Note: S. 1150, approved June 23, was assigned Public Law No. 105-185.