The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“THE FARM PROVISIONS OF THE RECONCILIATION BILL” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the Senate section on pages S17998-S18002 on Dec. 5, 1995.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE FARM PROVISIONS OF THE RECONCILIATION BILL
Mr. JOHNSTON. Mr. President, we knew that when the farm provisions of the reconciliation bill were agreed to, they were bad for the State of Louisiana, but we had no idea how bad these provisions were for the State of Louisiana when they were passed.
The reason is, Mr. President, we had no opportunity to be involved in this, no input into the provisions of it, no ability to evaluate it, no ability to discuss it. It was in conference committee and the reconciliation bill. The chairman of the House Agriculture Committee met with the Speaker of the House and, boom, ipso facto, it was created out of the ashes in whole part without any input from anybody.
Mr. President, now we have evaluated this bill. I can tell my colleagues that the agricultural provisions of the reconciliation bill will simply destroy the cotton industry and the rice industry in the State of Louisiana.
Let me repeat that: The agricultural provisions of the reconciliation bill will destroy the rice industry and the cotton industry in the State of Louisiana.
Mr. President, these are two of our largest crops. They contribute over $2 billion to the State of Louisiana, 7,000 direct jobs and 27,000 indirect agriculture jobs, according to Louisiana State University and the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service.
Mr. President, they have done an analysis of what the bill does for rice and cotton. They have taken a typical Louisiana rice tenant farm, which is 287 planted acres--and this takes up about 90 percent of our tenant farms in the State of Louisiana--and they have a whole series of calculations as to what the economic effect on that rice farmer will be.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the calculations which they have done in great detail both as to the comparison of net returns for cotton, net returns for rice under the conference committee, and rice gross returns under alternative farm program, that these figures be printed in the Record at this time.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
COMPARISON OF NET RETURNS FOR COTTON UNDER CONFERENCE COMMITTEE FARM PROPOSAL AND EXTENSION OF CURRENT FARM BILL, LOUISIANA, 1996-2002
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
............
Analysis Parameters
Cotton farm acreage:
(6) (acres)
Base acres......................................... 353 353 353 353 353 353 353
Percent of base paid............................... 85 85 85 85 85 85 85
Acres planted (85 percent of base) \1\............. 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 Cotton yields:
(6) (lbs/acre)
Louisiana actual yield............................. 740 740 740 740 740 740 740
Louisiana program yield............................ 722 722 722 722 722 722 722 Current program parameters:
(6) (cents/lb)
Target price....................................... 72.90 72.90 72.90 72.90 72.90 72.90 72.90
Loan rate.......................................... 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00
Estimated deficiency payment....................... 13.22 13.22 13.22 13.22 13.22 13.22 13.22 Conference program parameters:
(6) (acres)
Estimated transition payment \2\................... 7.93 7.53 8.06 7.74 7.09 5.71 5.50
Loan rate.......................................... 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 Market price level analyzed:
(6) (cents/lb)
1990-94 Louisiana average price.................... 59.68 59.68 59.68 59.68 59.68 59.68 59.68
Estimated Net Returns (tenant operator)
Current program
(6) (Total cotton returns ($) per farm)
Total farm market returns \3\...................... 149,720 149,720 149,720 149,720 149,720 149,720 149,720
Total farm deficiency payments..................... 28,639 28,639 28,639 28,639 28,639 28,639 28,639
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total farm gross returns \4\....................... 178,359 178,359 178,359 178,359 178,359 178,359 178,359
================================================================================================
Land rent (25 percent)............................. 44,590 44,590 44,590 44,590 44,590 44,590 44,590
Net returns above land rent........................ 133,769 133,769 133,769 133,769 133,769 133,769 133,769
Variable costs ($332.73/acre)...................... 99,836 102,831 105,916 109,093 112,366 115,737 119,209
Net returns above variable costs................... 33,933 30,938 27,854 24,676 21,403 18,032 14,560
Fixed costs ($72.09/acre).......................... 21,631 21,847 22,065 22,286 22,509 22,734 22,961
Net returns above total costs...................... 12,303 9,092 5,788 2,390 (1,106) (4,702) (8,401)
Conference program:
Total farm market returns \3\...................... 149,720 149,720 149,720 149,720 149,720 149,720 149,720
Total farm transition payments..................... 17,179 16,313 17,461 16,768 15,359 12,370 11,915
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total farm gross returns \4\....................... 166,899 166,032 167,180 166,487 165,079 162,089 161,635
================================================================================================
Land rent (25 percent)............................. 41,725 41,508 41,795 41,622 41,270 40,522 40,409
Net returns above land rent........................ 125,174 124,524 125,385 124,865 123,809 121,567 121,226
Variable costs ($332.73/acre)...................... 99,836 102,831 105,916 109,093 112,366 115,737 119,209
Net returns above variable costs................... 25,338 21,693 19,470 15,772 11,443 5,830 2.017
Fixed costs ($72.09/acre).......................... 21,631 21,847 22,065 22,286 22,509 22,734 22,961
Net returns above total costs...................... 3,708 (153) (2,596) (6,514) (11,065) (16,904) (20,944)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Estimated planted acreage level at maximum deficiency payment rate under $50,000 payment limitation.
\2\ Preliminary payment rates under Agricultural Market Transition Program, November 1995.
\3\ Includes sales of cottonseed valued at $0.05 per lb.
\4\ Marketing loan payments are excluded from the analysis since the provisions for a marketing loan are the same under both programs.
COMPARISON OF NET RETURNS FOR RICE UNDER CONFERENCE COMMITTEE FARM PROPOSAL AND EXTENSION OF CURRENT FARM BILL, LOUISIANA, 1996-2002
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analysis Parameters
Rice farm acreage:
(6)(acres)
Base acres........................................ 338 338 338 338 338 338 338
Percent of base paid.............................. 85 85 85 85 85 85 85
Acres planted (85 percent of base) \1\............ 287 287 287 287 287 287 287 Rice yields:
(6)(cwt/acre)
Louisiana actual yield............................ 48.00 48.00 48.00 48.00 48.00 48.00 48.00
Louisiana program yield........................... 41.31 41.31 41.31 41.31 41.31 41.31 41.31 Current program parameters:
(6)($/cwt)
Target price...................................... 10.71 10.71 10.71 10.71 10.71 10.71 10.71
Loan rate......................................... 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50
Estimated deficiency payment...................... 3.82 3.82 3.82 3.82 3.82 3.82 3.82 Conference program parameters:
(6)($/cwt)
Estimated transition payment \2\.................. 1.52 2.66 2.86 2.77 2.53 2.04 1.98
Loan rate......................................... 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 Market price level analyzed:
(6)($/cwt)
1990-94 Louisiana average price................... 6.89 6.89 6.89 6.89 6.89 6.89 6.89
Estimated Net Returns (tenant operator)
Current program:
(6)(Total rice returns ($) per farm)
Total farm market returns......................... 95,016 95,016 95,016 95,016 95,016 95,016 95,016
Total farm deficiency payments.................... 45,337 45,337 45,337 45,337 45,337 45,337 45,337
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total farm gross returns \3\...................... 140,353 140,353 140,353 140,353 140,353 140,353 140,353
=================================================================================================
Land and water rent (20 percent for each)......... 56,141 56,141 56,141 56,141 56,141 56,141 56,141
Net returns above land/water rent................. 84,212 84,212 84,212 84,212 84,212 84,212 84,212
Variable costs.................................... 67,605 69,633 71,722 73,873 76,090 78,372 80, 723
Net returns above variable costs.................. 16,607 14,579 12,490 10,338 8,122 5,840 3,488
Fixed costs....................................... 13,543 13,679 13,816 13,954 14,093 14,234 14,377
Net returns above total costs..................... 3,064 900 (1,325) (3,615) (5,971) (8,395) (10,888)
Conference program:
Total farm market returns......................... 95,016 95,016 95,016 95,016 95,016 95,016 95,016
Total farm transition payments.................... 18,040 31,570 33,944 32,875 30,027 24,211 23,499
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total farm gross payments \3\..................... 113,056 126,586 128,959 127,891 125,043 119,227 118,515
=================================================================================================
Land and water rent (20 percent for each)......... 45,222 50,634 51,584 51,156 50,017 47,691 47,406
Net returns above land/water rent................. 67,833 75,951 77,376 76,735 75,026 71,536 71,109
Variable costs.................................... 67,605 69,633 71,722 73,873 76,090 78,372 80,723
Net returns above variable costs.................. 229 6,319 5,654 2,861 (1,064) (6,836) (9,614)
Fixed costs....................................... 13,543 13,679 13,816 13,954 14,093 14,234 14,377
Net returns above total costs..................... (13,314) (7,360) (8,162) (11,092) (15,157) (21,070) (23,991)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Estimated planted acreage level at maximum deficiency payment rate under $50,000 payment limitation.
\2\ Preliminary payment rates under Agricultural Market Transition Program, November 1995.
\3\ Marketing loan payments are excluded from the analysis since the provisions for a marketing loan are the same under both programs.
LOUISIANA RICE GROSS RETURNS UNDER ALTERNATIVE FARM BILL PROPOSALS, 1996-2002
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rice yields:
(6) (cwt/acre)
Louisiana actual yield................................... 48.00 48.00 48.00 48.00 48.00 48.00 48.00
Louisiana program yield.................................. 41.31 41.31 41.31 41.31 41.31 41.31 41.31
Current program:
(6) (acres)
Base acres............................................... 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Percent of base paid..................................... 85 85 85 85 85 85 85
Acres planted (85 percent of base)....................... 85 85 85 85 85 85 85
Price/payment rates:
(6) ($/cwt)
Target price............................................. 10.71 10.71 10.71 10.71 10.71 10.71 10.71
Loan rate................................................ 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50
1990-94 Louisiana average price.......................... 6.89 6.89 6.89 6.89 6.89 6.89 6.89
Deficiency payment....................................... 3.82 3.82 3.82 3.82 3.82 3.82 3.82
Estimated gross returns:
(6) (Total rice returns ($))
Total farm market returns................................ 28,111 28,111 28,111 28,111 28,111 28,111 28,111
Total farm deficiency payments \1\....................... 13,413 13,413 13,413 13,413 13,413 13,413 13,413
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total farm gross returns................................. 41,252 41,252 41,252 41,252 41,252 41,252 41,252
==========================================================================================
Conference bill:
(6) (acres)
Base acres............................................... 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Percent of base paid..................................... 85 85 85 85 85 85 85
Acres planted (85 percent of base)....................... 85 85 85 85 85 85 85
Price/payment rates:
(6) ($/cwt)
Loan rate................................................ 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50
1990-94 Louisiana average price.......................... 6.89 6.89 6.89 6.89 6.89 6.89 6.89
Transition payment....................................... 1.52 2.66 2.86 2.77 2.53 2.04 1.98
Estimated gross returns:
(6) (Total rice returns ($))
Total farm market returns................................ 28,111 28,111 28,111 28,111 28,111 28,111 28,111
Total farm transition payments \1\....................... 5,337 9,340 10,042 9,726 8,884 7,163 6,952
Percent change from current program \3\.................. -60 -30 -25 -27 -34 -47 -48
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total farm gross returns................................. 33,448 37,451 38,154 37,838 36,995 35,274 35,064
========================================================================================== House bill:
(6) (acres)
Base acres............................................... 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Percent of base paid..................................... 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Acres planted (85 percent of base)....................... 85 85 85 85 85 85 85
Price/payment rates:
(6) ($/cwt)
Loan rate................................................ 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50
1990-94 Louisiana average price.......................... 6.89 6.89 6.89 6.89 6.89 6.89 6.89
Transition payment....................................... 4.10 3.98 4.26 4.13 3.80 3.12 3.04
Estimated gross returns:
(6) (Total rice returns ($))
Total farm market returns................................ 28,111 28,111 28,111 28,111 28,111 28,111 28,111
Total farm deficiency payments \2\....................... 16,937 16,441 17,598 17,061 15,698 12,889 12,558
Percent change from current program \3\.................. 26 23 31 27 17 -4 -6
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total farm gross returns................................. 45,048 44,553, 45,709 45,172 43,809 41,000 40,669
==========================================================================================
Senate bill:
(6) (acres)
Base acres............................................... 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Percent of base paid..................................... 70 70 70 70 70 70 70
Acres planted (85 percent of base)....................... 85 85 85 85 85 85 85
Price/payment rates:
(6) ($/cwt)
Target price............................................. 10.71 10.71 10.71 10.71 10.71 10.71 10.71
Loan rate................................................ 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50
1990-94 Louisiana average price.......................... 6.89 6.89 6.89 6.89 6.89 6.89 6.89
Deficiency payment....................................... 3.82 3.82 3.82 3.48 3.23 2.89 2.66
Estimated gross returns:
(6) (Total rice returns ($))
Total farm market returns................................ 28,111 28,111 28,111 28,111 28,111 28,111 28,111
Total farm deficiency payments \1\....................... 11,046 11,046 11,046 10,063 9,340 8,357 7,692
change from current program \3\.......................... -18 -18 -18 -25 -30 -38 -43
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total farm gross returns................................. 39,157 39,157 39,157 38,174 37,451 36,468 35,803
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Marketing loan payments not included.
\2\ No marketing loan program in House bill.
\3\ Percent change in program payments from continuation of current program (excluding marketing loan).
COMPARISON OF GROSS RETURNS FOR COTTON UNDER CONFERENCE COMMITTEE FARM PROPOSAL AND EXTENSION OF CURRENT FARM BILL, LOUISIANA, 1996-2002
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analysis Parameters
Cotton farm acreage:
(6) (acres)
Base acres............................................... 353 353 353 353 353 353 353
Percent of base paid..................................... 85 85 85 85 85 85 85
Acres planted (85 percent of base)\1\.................... 300 300 300 300 300 300 300
Cotton yields:
(6) (lbs/acre)
Louisiana actual yield................................... 740 740 740 740 740 740 740
Louisiana program yield.................................. 722 722 722 722 722 722 722
Current program parameters:
(6) (cents/lb)
Target price............................................. 72.90 72.90 72.90 72.90 72.90 72.90 72.90
Loan rate................................................ 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00
Conference program parameters:
(6) (cents/lb)
Estimated transition payment \2\......................... 7.93 7.53 8.06 7.74 7.09 5.71 5.50
Loan rate................................................ 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00
Market price levels analyzed:
(6) (cents/lb)
10 percent above CBO baseline............................ 70.40 67.10 66.00 64.90 66.00 66.00 66.00
CBO baseline............................................. 64.00 61.00 60.00 59.00 60.00 60.00 60.00
10 percent below CBO baseline............................ 57.60 54.90 54.00 53.10 54.00 54.00 54.00
Estimated Gross Returns
``Current program'':
(6) (Total cotton returns ($) per farm)
10 percent above CBO baseline prices:
Total farm market returns............................ 156,314 148,987 146,544 144,102 146,544 146,544 146,544
Total farm deficiency payments....................... 5,416 12,565 14,948 17,331 14,948 14,948 14,948
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total farm gross returns\3\.......................... 161,730 161,552 161,492 161,433 161,492 161,492 161,492
==========================================================================================
CBO baseline prices:
Total farm market returns............................ 142,104 135,443 133,222 131,002 133,222 133,222 133,222
Total farm deficiency payments....................... 19,281 25,780 27,946 30,112 27,946 27,946 27,946
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total farm gross returns\3\.......................... 161,384 161,222 161,168 161,114 161,168 161,168 161,168
==========================================================================================
10 percent below CBO baseline prices:
Total farm market returns............................ 127,893 121,898 119,900 117,902 119,900 119,900 119,900
Total farm deficiency payments....................... 33,145 38,994 40,944 42,894 40,944 40,944 40,944
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total farm gross returns\3\.......................... 161,039 160,893 160,844 160,796 160,844 160,844 160,844
==========================================================================================
``Conference program'':
10 percent above CBO baseline prices:
Total farm market returns............................ 156,314 148,987 146,544 144,102 146,544 146,544 146,544
Total farm transition payments....................... 17,179 16,313 17,461 16,768 15,359 12,370 11,915
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total farm gross returns\3\.......................... 173,493 165,300 164,005 160,870 161,904 158,914 158,459
==========================================================================================
Percent change from current program.................. 7.3 2.3 1.6 -0.3 0.3 -1.6 -1.9
CBO baseline prices:
Total farm market returns................................ 142,104 135,443 133,222 131,002 133,222 133,222 133,222
Total farm transition payments........................... 17,179 16,313 17,461 16,768 15,359 12,370 11,915
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total farm gross returns\3\.............................. 159,283 151,755 150,683 147,769 148,582 145,592 145,137
==========================================================================================
Percent change from current program...................... -1.3 -5.9 -6.5 -8.3 -7.8 -9.7 -9.9
10 percent below CBO baseline prices:
Total farm market returns................................ 127,893 121,898 119,900 117,902 119,900 119,900 119,900
Total farm transition payments........................... 17,179 16,313 17,461 16,768 15,359 12,370 11,915
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total farm gross returns\3\.............................. 145,073 138,211 137,361 134,669 135,259 132,270 131,815
==========================================================================================
Percent change from current program...................... -9.9 -14.1 -14.6 -16.2 -15.9 -17.8 -18.0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Estimated planted acreage level at maximum deficiency payment rate under $50,000 payment limitation.
\2\ Preliminary payment rates under Agricultural Market Transition Program, November 1995.
\3\ Marketing loan payments are excluded from the analysis since the provisions for a marketing loan are the same under both programs.
[[Page S 18001]]
COMPARISON OF GROSS RETURNS FOR RICE UNDER CONFERENCE COMMITTEE FARM PROPOSAL AND EXTENSION OF CURRENT FARM BILL, LOUISIANA, 1996-2002
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analysis Parameters
Rice farm acreage:
(6) (acres)
Base acres............................................... 338 338 338 338 338 338 338
Percent of base paid..................................... 85 85 85 85 85 85 85
Acres planted (85% of base)\1\........................... 287 287 287 287 287 287 287
Rice yields:
(6) (cwt/acre)
Louisiana actual yield................................... 48.00 48.00 48.00 48.00 48.00 48.00 48.00
Louisiana program yield.................................. 41.31 41.31 41.31 41.31 41.31 41.31 41.31
Current program parameters:
(6) ($/cwt)
Target price............................................. 10.71 10.71 10.71 10.71 10.71 10.71 10.71
Loan rate................................................ 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50
Estimated deficiency payment............................. 3.82 3.82 3.82 3.82 3.82 3.82 3.82
Conference program parameters:
(6) ($/cwt)
Estimated transition payment \2\......................... 1.52 2.66 2.86 2.77 2.53 2.04 1.98
Loan rate................................................ 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50
Market price level analyzed:
(6) ($/cwt)
1990-94 Louisiana average price.......................... 6.89 6.89 6.89 6.89 6.89 6.89 6.89
Estimated Gross Returns
Current program:
(6) (Total rice returns ($) per farm)
Total farm market returns................................ 95,016 95,016 95,016 95,016 95,016 95,016 95,016
Total farm deficiency payments........................... 45,337 45,337 45,337 45,337 45,337 45,337 45,337
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total farm gross returns \3\............................. 140,353 140,353 140,353 140,353 140,353 140,353 140,353
==========================================================================================
Conference program:
Total farm market returns................................ 95,016 95,016 95,016 95,016 95,016 95,016 95,016
Total farm transition payments........................... 18,040 31,570 33,944 32,875 30,027 24,211 23,499
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total farm gross returns \3\............................. 113,056 126,586 128,959 127,891 125,043 119,227 118,515
==========================================================================================
Percent change from current program:
Percent change in market returns......................... 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Percent change in program payments....................... -60.2 -30.4 -25.1 -27.5 -33.8 -46.6 -48.2
Percent change in gross returns \3\...................... -19.4 -9.8 -8.1 -8.9 -10.9 -15.1 -15.6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Estimated planted acreage level at maximum deficiency payment rate under $50,000 payment limitation.
\2\ Preliminary payment rates under Agricultural Market Transition Program, November 1995.
\3\ Marketing loan payments are excluded from the analysis since the provisions for a marketing loan are the same under both programs.
Mr. JOHNSTON. Mr. President, when you boil the figures down, what it shows is that the average rice farmer in 1996 has a net income of minus
$13,314. The average rice farmer in Louisiana for 1996 loses $13,314. In 1997, it is $7,360.
You say, why would he lose twice as much in 1996 as he would lose in 1997? The reason is, under this bill, incredibly, they have to pay back the payment they received for the last quarter of calendar 1996. They have to pay that back, so that you actually lose $13,314.
It gets worse from there. In 1998, $8,162; in 1999, $11,092; in the year 2000, $15,157; in 2001, $21,070; and 2002, $23,991.
Mr. President, these are not rich farmers but the average rice farmer in Louisiana who has planted 287 acres. Mr. President, this is not some Democratic Policy Committee who has come out with these figures; it is the Louisiana State University Agriculture Department.
Mr. President, this is actually not going to happen. The reason is that they are not going to plant the rice. With these kind of economic figures shown to the bankers, no banker is going to lend any money to plant this crop. So you will not have these losses. You will not have a rice industry in the State of Louisiana because it shows a negative cash flow for each of these years through the year 2002.
Again, Mr. President, this is the Louisiana State University who has come up with these figures.
Mr. President, it is only slightly less bad for cotton. Under cotton--and all of the figures under which we calculated each one of these figures has now been put into the Record--for the average cotton farmer, that is 300 planted acres, he makes $3,708 in 1996, begins to lose the next year, and by the year 2002 he is losing a net of $20,944.
This, again, Mr. President, is the average cotton farmer in the State of Louisiana.
You say, how in the world could they have done such folly in this bill? Mr. President, they did it without hearings, they did it without consultation, they did it without input. The Speaker got together with the head of the Agriculture Committee in the House and, bam, here it came. Here is the result.
Mr. President, this is an emergency. I think sooner or later this is going to be straightened out, because, as George Bush said about the invasion of Kuwait, this cannot stand. It just cannot be, Mr. President.
This Congress has done some dumb things, Mr. President, but we have never that I know of intentionally wiped out an industry--the cotton industry, the rice industry--in a State. If this is happening in the State of Louisiana, it is going to happen elsewhere across the country. We cannot intentionally do this.
Mr. President, it is an emergency that needs to be corrected now because if we wait, we are going to miss this crop year. Typically, Mr. President, the preparations for the crop year begin in December. The farmers decide what kind of money they are going to need to borrow, what kind of crops they want to plant, how much it is going to cost, et cetera, and they begin those negotiations with the bank, typically, in December. Certainly by the middle of January, they must have their bank arrangements pretty well in line because they have to plant that crop in the spring.
They have to not only order the seed, insecticide, pesticide, and the other things they will need for that crop, but their suppliers need to know sufficiently in advance how much they will need to order, how much seed to have on hand, how much insecticide.
Mr. President, you cannot pass a rule one week and expect the crop to be planted the next week.
Mr. President, you might ask, without support, if the Louisiana rice industry cannot survive, why is it that we plant rice in the United States? Why not just let the whole thing move overseas?
The reason is, Mr. President, that the subsidy, the support which we have for agriculture in the United States for rice, is a fraction of what it is in the European market, Japan, and our other foreign competitors. The fact of the matter is the EU, the European Union, subsidizes their farmers three to five times more than they do in the United States. They place high tariffs on some U.S. agricultural products which create artificially high prices.
I am informed, Mr. President--and I will get the exact figure and supply them for the Record later--I am informed that rice can fetch as high a price as $27 per 100-weight in Europe, compared to $6 in the United States.
Mr. President, if we intentionally wipe out the rice industry and the cotton industry in the State of Louisiana and elsewhere in our country, then we will be subject to the manipulation of foreign suppliers who will dominate and monopolize the whole market.
Mr. President, I do not believe there is time to legislate this year. Regulations must be put out under any new legislation that comes out, and regulations are going to take many weeks in order to determine how to interpret whatever law finally comes out. I believe it will be too late for the planting season even assuming that there is a veto of the reconciliation bill, which surely there should be if these are representative of the kind of provisions that are in that bill. If the Congress passes a new bill, I do not believe there is going to be time to get the regs out to borrow the money, to make the preparations in order to get the crop out this year.
So, Mr. President, what I am saying is the Congress needs to act as in an emergency and to extend the present law. We need to extend that present law so we can get the crop in the ground this year. If we do not do that, and if we have the reconciliation bill as passed, then we are going to wipe out the cotton and rice industry in the State of Louisiana and elsewhere in this country.
____________________
