Untitled Document

News Release
Congressman Bob Etheridge
North Carolina

August 19, 2003

Contact: Sara Lang
Phone: (202) 225-4531

Etheridge, USDA Deputy Secretary
Talk to N.C. Farmers

RALEIGH - U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-Lillington), a member of the House Agriculture Committee, yesterday held a "Farmer Forum" with the second-in-command at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Deputy Secretary Jim Moseley and more than 100 North Carolina farmers. At the meeting, farmers had the opportunity to discuss the state of North Carolina's rural economy and U.S. agriculture with a high-ranking Administration official. Farmers and friends of agriculture also sent a strong message back with Moseley about the importance of a tobacco buyout.

"Yesterday more than 100 North Carolina farmers told this Administration that they can't wait another year for the hope and relief that a tobacco buyout would bring," Etheridge said. They sent back word that the Administration needs to support buyout legislation before the Congress adjourns this year or else tobacco farmers will pay a terrible price. It's time for the Republican leadership in Congress and in the Administration to stand up and fight to protect the hard-working, God-fearing farm families of North Carolina."

North Carolina's farmers continue to face tough times. Last year's record-breaking drought was followed by heavy rains this year, damaging many crops. Coupled with rising costs and changing markets, this situation has created a tough environment for farm families. Tobacco farmers, who have seen their quota cut in half since 1997, are especially hurting. This year, tobacco quota was cut 9.5 percent, the largest cut in a generation.

Asked about the possibility of tobacco buyout legislation passing this year, Moseley said, "I do believe that something is going to happen."

Recently, the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture held a hearing on tobacco buyout legislation and heard testimony from farmers, tobacco companies and health groups. Etheridge has introduced the only fully-funded buyout bill in Congress, H.R. 245, the Fletcher-Etheridge bill. Under the Fletcher-Etheridge bill, quota owners would receive payments of $8 per pound, and producers would receive payments of $4 per pound based on 1998 quota totals. The bill also would preserve a safety net for tobacco farmers by maintaining price support for tobacco and establishing a licensing system for farmers wishing to continue to grow tobacco. Those growers willing to forfeit forever their eligibility for a license would get an additional payment based on $2 per pound.

Prior to his appointment as deputy secretary in 2001, Moseley was an Indiana farmer with 32 years farm experience. From 1989 to 1990, he served as agricultural advisor to the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and he previously served at USDA as the assistant secretary of agriculture for natural resources and environment.