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Roberts speaks to AFBF state presidents
On July 12, U.S. Senator Pat Roberts discussed challenges facing the agriculture community in a speech to the 2004 American Farm Bureau Federation Council of State Presidents. The following are key excerpts:
"Although the Intelligence Committee has required a large portion of my time," Senator Roberts said, "I assure you that I have also remained actively involved in agriculture and the Agriculture Committee. For a Committee that was supposed to have a light workload this Congress, it seems as though we've been having to aim a lot of fire hoses at a host of issues."
Senator Roberts praised the efforts of members of the Farm Bureau and the USDA in their rapid response to last year's announcement of the discovery of a BSE positive animal during the Christmas holidays.
"Of course," Senator Roberts said. "We still have many issues ahead of us on BSE that we must work together to address. The top issue being the reopening of the remainder of our export markets, especially Japan. There is no doubt the continued loss of this market is hurting our beef producers. But, I am pleased with the efforts of Secretary Veneman and the Bush administration to reopen this market. These discussions have been impacted by the Japanese national elections that occurred earlier this month. Now that those elections have passed, I am hopeful we will continue to move forward towards a resolution of this issue."
Senator Roberts addressed the need for sound science in determining policies BSE testing. "As we work to solve this problem, we also need to be sure we follow the principles of sound science," Senator Roberts said, "Or as one of my Kansas cowboys told me earlier this spring, 'Don't give away the farm just to get the market back.'
"I support the right of businesses to pursue the free market," Senator Roberts said, "At the same time, the actions of one should not put an entire industry at risk. All the top scientists in the world say there is no scientific basis to test every animal under 30 months of age. If the request to test every animal had been allowed to go through, I predict that we would be testing every animal slaughtered in this country, it would have cost the industry nearly $1 billion (as some estimates predicted)and there would have been little if any change in consumer demand. It also could have had a devastating impact on a host of other trade issues where the United States has argued decisions should be based on sound science, most specifically Genetically Enhanced Crops and beef hormones with the European Union."
On the issue of a national animal identification system, Senator Roberts said, "While USDA has begun to roll out a voluntary system, it is probably only a matter of time until we will have a national system. My top priority is to ensure that we have a system that is developed with the input of producers, veterinarians, and the industry that will work for all--instead of some Washington issued, top down mandate that won't work for anyone."
On trade Senator Roberts said, "We dealt with the BSE hurdles for our beef products, our farm and export programs are under attack through the Brazilian cotton case and the Doha WTO round, as are our food aid programs, and we recently negotiated a free trade agreement with Australia that exempts one commodity--sugar--at the expense of another--wheat. Ambassador Zoellick, Secretary Veneman, and the Bush administration have said they will use every appeal process available to them in fighting this case, and I assure you that I and the Congress support them in this effort.
Senator Roberts said he had real concerns with any proposal to eliminate or restructure food aid programs. "These programs do not represent an easy way to dump surplus commodities as some of our competitors claim. Rather, these programs represent our only hope of getting food to the hungry nations of the world that are too poor to buy the commodities on their own. With these programs, hungry people, especially children, around the world eat. Without them they starve. It is that simple.
"Food aid programs represent one of our most important tools in the War on Terrorism. Those societies that are hungry are unstable. Those that are unstable have less economic growth and are more susceptible to extremism. And, in many parts of the world this leads to anti-Americanism.This is why we must be sure to not give more than we get in the Doha round negotiations. We have more at stake as a country than just our agriculture programs.
Regarding the possibility of a budget reconciliation package Senator Roberts said, "I do not know what will happen next year, but if a budget reconciliation package is required, it will be difficult if not impossible for agriculture to keep from being included. All of you know exactly where I stood on this farm bill. I argued that it was being rushed along, with little or no thought given to policy and real world implications, and that it would not work when producers needed it most--when they have no crop to harvest and prices are high.
"Three or four years of continued drought in the plains states, including western Kansas, followed by higher prices have left many producers with little, if any, counter-cyclical assistance. They have seen their level of support drop just when they needed it the most, and it has left many in dire financial straits. This is why we must take another look at the counter-cyclical program and try to come up with something that provides assistance when producers actually need it.
"Despite my concerns with the farm bill, I support the agriculture baseline and will do everything I can to help protect it. I was never opposed to increased spending. In fact, I was intricately involved in the floor negotiations in 2001 that lead to the increased funding in the budget for agriculture programs. I helped craft the provision and I voted for the budget.
"But, we didn't 'lock the money up' as many claimed under this farm bill. Due to higher prices caused by tight supplies and the structure of the marketing loan and counter-cyclical programs, we have already lost much of that baseline and spending is lower than projected.
"If we are forced to do a reconciliation bill, we need to find a way to get credit for the money that has not been spent. This represents a significant chunk of change, and we need to be working together to develop a strategy sooner, rather than later, to make this argument to the budget committees."
On agroterrorism, Senator Roberts said, "It is because of this threat that I have worked to increase funding for USDA research and surveillance to battle these diseases and have a response system in place if they should ever be intentionally released into the United States.
"It is also why we have pushed for agriculture to be involved in the threat assessment process and why we now have coordination between the federal agencies, whereby the CIA, USDA, and Departments of Homeland Security and Defense, and others actually share information.
"Perhaps most significantly, earlier this year, President Bush signed Homeland Security Presidential Directive - 9 (HSPD-9). This directive recognizes agriculture as a threat potential, as an important part of our national economy and directs these federal agencies to develop a coordinated plan for protecting agriculture."
Date: 7/20/04
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