[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 20 (Monday, May 20, 2002)]
[Pages 808-810]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Signing the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002

May 13, 2002

    The President. Good morning, and welcome to Washington's grand old 
building, the Eisenhower Executive Office Building--or as we now call 
it, the Ike. [Laughter]

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    Today's event is being broadcast by Farm Radio to farmers and 
ranchers all across our country. Hardworking farmers and ranchers, 
whether they be from Texas or Maine, from Mississippi or California, are 
up early and are working hard. And this morning I want to talk about the 
tremendous contributions that they make, that our farm and ranch 
families make to America, the support they deserve, and why I am pleased 
to sign the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002.
    I want to thank the Members of Congress who are here: Senator 
Harkin, Congressman Combest, the leaders in both the House and the 
Senate. I appreciate you all coming. And when I sign this bill, I'd like 
for you all to come up here and watch me sign it.
    I appreciate Secretary Ann Veneman, who is here. I want to thank her 
for her hard work and her staff for their hard work as well.
    And I want to thank the members of the farm and agricultural groups 
who represent the people who work the land. I want to thank you all for 
your efforts and for your concern.
    American farm and ranch families embody some of the best values of 
our Nation: hard work and risktaking, love of the land, and love of our 
country. Farming is the first industry of America, the industry that 
feeds us, the industry that clothes us, and the industry that 
increasingly provides more of our energy. The success of America's 
farmers and ranchers is essential to the success of the American 
economy.
    I was honored to be the Governor of the second-biggest farm State in 
the Union. I understand how hard farmers have to work to make a living. 
I know they face tough challenges.
    I recently spent some time with some of my neighbors at the coffee 
shop in Crawford, Texas. I know how hard many struggle. Their livelihood 
depends on things they cannot control, the weather, crop disease, 
uncertain pricing. They need a farm bill that provides support and help 
when times are tough. And that is why I'm signing this bill today.
    This bill is generous and will provide a safety net for farmers, and 
it will do so without encouraging overproduction and depressing prices. 
It will allow farmers and ranchers to plan and operate based on market 
realities, not Government dictates.
    In the past, loan rates and the minimum price farmers and ranchers 
received for some of their commodities were set too high. This practice 
made the problem worse by encouraging surplus production, thereby 
forcing prices lower. This bill better balances loan rates and better 
matches them to market prices.
    It reduces Government interference in the market and in farmers' and 
ranchers' planting decisions. The farm bill supports our commitment to 
open trade and complies with our obligations to the World Trade 
Organization.
    Americans cannot eat all that America's farmers and ranchers 
produce, and therefore, it makes sense to sell more food abroad. Today, 
25 percent of U.S. farm income is generated by exports, which means that 
access to foreign markets is crucial to the livelihood of our farmers 
and ranchers. Let me put it as plainly as I can: We want to be selling 
our beef and our corn and our beans to people around the world who need 
to eat.
    My administration is working hard to open up markets. I told the 
people, I said, ``If you give me a chance to be the President, we're not 
going to treat our agriculture industry as a secondary citizen when it 
comes to opening up markets.'' And I mean that. I understand how 
important the farm economy is to the future of our country.
    To help, this new law helps keep our international trade 
commitments, and that's important for America to understand. And because 
I believe the best way to help our farmers and ranchers is trade, I need 
trade promotion authority, particularly from the Senate. The House has 
passed it; I need it from the Senate--soon. [Laughter]
    This bill offers incentives for good conservation practices on 
working lands. For farmers and ranchers, for people who make a living on 
the land, every day is Earth Day. There's no better stewards of the land 
than people who rely on the productivity of the land. And we can work 
with our farmers and ranchers to help improve the environment.

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    To help them live up to the newer and higher environmental 
standards, this bill expands the ECP program, which provides financial 
assistance to our farmers and ranchers to encourage sound conservation. 
And the bill will greatly enhance the abilities of our farmers and 
ranchers to protect wetlands, water quality, and wildlife habitat, and 
that's important.
    This bill breaks a bad fiscal habit. In the past, Congress would 
pass a multi-year farm bill and then every year after continue to pass 
supplemental bills. These unpredictable supplemental payments made it 
difficult for Congress to live within its budget. It also created 
uncertainty for farmers and ranchers and their creditors. This bill is 
generous enough--the bill I'm going to sign is generous enough to 
eliminate the need for supplemental support later this year and in the 
future and therefore adds the kind of reliability that farmers and 
ranchers need.
    This bill is also a compassionate bill. This law means that legal 
immigrants can now receive help and food stamps after being here for 5 
years. It means that you can have an elderly farm worker, somebody here 
legally in America who's worked hard to make a living and who falls on 
hard times--that person can receive help from a compassionate 
Government.
    It means that you can have a head of a family who's been working 
hard, been here for 5 years, been a part of our economy, been legally 
working, and that person falls on hard times--our Government should help 
them with food stamps, and this bill allows that to happen.
    It's not a perfect bill, I know that. But you know, no bill ever is. 
There's no such thing as a perfect bill; otherwise I'd get to write 
every one of them. [Laughter]
    You know, for example, I thought it was important to have what they 
call farm savings accounts to help farmers and ranchers manage the many 
risks they face. I thought that should be an important part of the bill. 
It didn't happen; I'm going to continue to work for it, work with the 
Members here on it.
    I also believe strongly there's more that we should do for our farm 
community. You know, one of the best things we have done for ranchers 
and farmers is to eliminate the death tax. It's a really important part 
of making sure that farms and ranches stay in our families. The death 
tax needs to be--the repeal of the death tax needs to be made permanent. 
That happened in the House; I hope it happens in the Senate soon. It's a 
good signal that we care deeply about those who live on the land and 
make a living.
    The farm bill is important legislation, and it meets important 
needs. The bill will strengthen the farm economy, and that's important. 
It will strengthen the farm economy over the long term. It will promote 
farmer independence and preserve the farm way of life for generations. 
It helps America's farmers, and therefore, it helps America.
    It is now my honor to sign the bill. And for any of the Members who 
dare have their picture taken with me--[laughter]--I welcome.
    Senator Leahy. Or vice versa.
    The President. Yes, or vice versa. [Laughter] That wasn't just--for 
those listening on radio, that wasn't just some quack yelling out. That 
was a Member of the United States Senate. [Laughter]
    Please come for the bill signing. Welcome.

Note: The President spoke at 7:46 a.m. in Presidential Hall in the 
Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building. In his remarks, he 
referred to the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) administered by 
State and county Farm Service Agency committees. H.R. 2646, approved May 
13, was assigned Public Law No. 107-171.