Etheridge Meets with Area Farmers

(Congressman Etheridge was introduced by U.S. Representative David Price, the 4th District of North Carolina.)

Thank you David. I want to echo David's welcome to the Commissioner and all of you, and add my thanks for joining us this morning for our annual farm breakfast.

David and I really appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedules to be here today.

We know what kinds of challenges you face on the farm. Every morning, you wake up, put on your brogans, strap on your overalls and get to work before the sun rises.

You've confronted declining tobacco quotas, natural disasters, low prices and declining markets and managed to survive.

So it means a great deal to David and me that you chose to take part of your precious time to leave the fields and come down to talk with us about agricultural issues.

David touched upon some aspects of the President's budget, I want to talk about others.

As I listened - as I'm sure many of you did - to President Bush speak last week before Congress, I heard many things that I liked: more money for education, support for character education, and estate tax relief for farmers and small businesses.

But I was disappointed that the President did not more forcefully address in his speech the problems that farmers and rural communities currently experience.

Finding few answers from his remarks, I turned to the President's budget blueprint released last Wednesday.

Folks, I got to say that Bush's budget blueprint had few answers and only raised more questions.

A more detailed budget plan will be released by the White House in April, but from what I've seen and read so far, I'm worried about what the President intends for agriculture.

For example, for the Department of Agriculture, the President's blueprint says, and I quote, "The Department will review the efficiency of USDA's remaining field office structure, recognizing that many farmers and other rural customers want to use computers and fax machines to transact business with USDA."

Now I've heard this song and dance before from the previous Administration when I came to Congress in 1997. Back then, "efficiency" for field offices meant cuts of FSA offices, plain and simple.

North Carolina farmers grow more than 2 or 3 major crops. We produce a wide variety of major, minor and specialty crops, and farmers require frequent visits to these offices, often as many as 10 visits a year or more.

I accept the President's premise that many farmers like using computers and fax machines to do business with USDA.

But I KNOW, MORE farmers don't want to have to drive across the state when they need to go to an FSA office and talk to a live person.

I opposed attempts by the previous Administration to close down our state's field offices, and I sure as heck won't tolerate it from this one.

I fought it back then, and if the Bush Administration tries to close our offices, BY GOD, YOU CAN BE SURE I WILL FIGHT THEM NOW!

Meanwhile, I'm also still waiting to hear President Bush's proposal for fixing that failed experiment, Freedom to Farm or, as I call it, Freedom to Go Broke.

As these past few years have shown us, the safety net for family farmers has too many holes in it. When we have to beg the House Committee on Appropriations, year after year for legislation providing billions of dollars in emergency payments to farmers, a serious problem exists with our farm policy.

We must develop a real safety net that will support farmers during the tough times, but allow them to prosper and succeed in a competitive market during the good times.

I am looking forward to working with the President and his Administration in crafting a new safety net for farmers.

While not mentioned in the President's budget blueprint, I also have concerns about the Administration's intentions toward the Market Access Program (MAP).

As many of you know, MAP provides funds for consumer promotions, market research, technical assistance, and trade servicing to agricultural industry trade associations, cooperatives, and state or regional trade groups each year.

I am a strong supporter of MAP because it provides an additional means to promote U.S. agricultural commodities overseas.

In fact, I plan to introduce legislation allowing MAP funds to be utilized to promote our high quality U.S. tobacco leaf. Currently, all tobacco and tobacco products are prohibited from using MAP.

Lately, I have heard reports that the White House is seriously considering cutting or eliminating funding for MAP and other programs that promote U.S. agricultural products.

At a time when our competitors, particularly the Europeans, are spending billions of dollars in subsidies and market promotion for their agricultural products, it would be unilateral disarmament to cut our funding for similar programs.

I already have written the President, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, and the Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget expressing my strong opposition to cuts in MAP funding.

Be assured that I will continue to fight against any effort to eliminate or cut America's market promotion programs.

I understand that the President's budget blueprint is simply an outline, and, like most outlines, it is lacking in details. But we all know the devil is in the details.

When the President releases his full budget plan in April, I plan to examine it thoroughly to determine how he is treating the American farmer. Of all people, farmers do not deserve to be shortchanged in this budget.

As a member of the House Committee on Agriculture, I fight for the policies and programs that help you survive and thrive in the marketplace.

David, as an important member of the House Committee on Appropriations, fights to fund these programs and policies adequately.

Together, we fight for you in the halls of Congress.

Now, I want to introduce someone who also fights for you, Commissioner Meg Scott Phipps. As you know, the Commissioner represents farmers before many forums.

She fights for North Carolina farmers in the Council of State, in the State Legislature, in foreign nations, before the Bush Administration and even before Congress.

Although she is new to the job, she's not new to the farm. The granddaughter of a previous Agriculture Commissioner, Kerr Scott, Meg has agriculture in her blood and dirt under her nails.

I am proud that she is representing North Carolina agriculture, and I hope you will join me in giving a warm welcome to Commissioner Phipps.

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