    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 25 (Monday, June 26, 2000)]
    [Pages 1415-1416]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    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 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

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    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.