Larry Combest

Mr. COMBEST

Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Chairman, just so the record is clear and for those people who have not followed this quite as carefully as we have on this committee, this process started well before the decision about who the current administration was, I think before either nominee actually even was nominated. This year, we started very early on in this calendar year having hearings all throughout the process, asking people what it was that they wanted. Let me ask the gentleman from Texas, how many times did the Secretary of Agriculture or anyone from the Department of Agriculture come before our committee and give us any suggestions?

Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Simpson).

Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Norwood).

Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would just want to say in closing, Mr. Chairman, I want to thank all of the members of the committee and all of the Members not on the committee who have come over and taken such an active role in this. As we can see, the interest of agriculture spans well beyond just those members on the Committee on Agriculture. I thank the gentleman for the courtesy with his time. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank him for his courtesy in discussing his amendment process with us prior to offering it. I would say that there is no one in the House who can stand taller than the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hall) in his concern about hunger around the world. I respect him for that, and am very happy to accept the amendment.

Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment. Mr. Chairman, let me, first of all, say there is no one on our committee who works harder in behalf of his farmers than the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Boswell). There is no one on our committee that I have more respect for than the gentleman from Iowa. But I do rise in opposition to the amendment, Mr. Chairman, basically for two reasons. Number one is the most critical. As I have indicated, one of the words you are going to hear throughout the discussion of this farm bill for the next however long is going to be balance. The maintaining of that balance is important because that is what has been brought together as far as a broad base of support. Now, granted, the gentleman in making some changes in the fixed decoupled payment does not greatly rob that account, but I am also aware that there are numerous amendments that, bit by bit by bit by bit, begin to attack that. I am concerned about going down that road, because if this balance becomes undone, I think this thing may go into free-fall. Secondly, in terms of what the amendment does, we discussed this subject in the committee during markup of this bill. I can appreciate where the gentleman is coming from, but I have concerns about a program which sets up reserves of commodities. History historically has shown us that reserves can result in large quantities of commodities that eventually may become government stocks. I think it creates the removal of commodities from the market in order to put into storage, which I think gives a false market signal; and I think it can have some impact on production. Under current law, and I think most of us agree, the government is not and should not be in the business of managing supply. Eventually, with stocks as they build up, it leads to lower prices, therefore, I think potentially costlier program payments in order to keep the farm economy going. I am not questioning the intent, but I think what this does is it establishes a precedent for reserve programs of the past that have not worked well. They have been tried, and they have failed. Finally, I think what it does is it takes from again a balance that reaches across-the-board and it shifts that balance into only dealing with and providing assistance for a much smaller number of people. For that reason, Mr. Chairman, I would oppose the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the gentleman's yielding, and want to also indicate again for the record that this is a no cost amendment. There are a number of people in rice-producing areas of Texas that share the gentleman's concerns, as I do; and I would be happy to accept the amendment.

Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Chairman, absolutely, I am happy to support the gentleman's amendment and appreciate his tenaciousness in this area.

Mr. COMBEST

Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Speaker, we pray for and extend our sympathies to those who have lost friends and loved ones. We commend and celebrate those who are working day and night to serve the injured and the harmed. This is American resolve at its best, and it is this resolve that should shake the souls of those responsible for this act. Yesterday, they hit us hard and they hurt us terribly. They watch as we pick up the pieces, as we bandage our wounds, and as we bury our dead. They joy in our pain, they relish in our losses. And they made a big mistake, and they should get prepared, for they are about to feel our pain.

Mr. COMBEST

Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent for the Committee on Agriculture to have until 5 p.m. on September 4, 2001 to file a supplemental report to accompany H.R. 2646, the Farm Security Act of 2001.

Mr. COMBEST

Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that my name be removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 2149.

Mr. COMBEST

Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2213) to respond to the continuing economic crisis adversely affecting American agricultural producers, as amended.

Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to advocate passage of H.R. 2213, a bill to provide economic assistance to farm producers for the 2001 crop year. The current farm recession, in its 4th year, ranks among the deepest in our Nation's history, along with the Great Depression, the post-World War I and II recessions and the financial ruin of the 1980s. There are many factors that contribute to this dismal situation. First, energy prices have skyrocketed, pushing diesel fuel and fertilizer to more than twice last year's prices. Second, overseas markets continue the slump that started with the Asian financial crisis, and that has been compounded by the steadily increasing strength of the dollar abroad. USDA estimates that the value of the dollar is up to 25 percent relative to our customers' currencies and up 40 percent relative to our competitors' currencies, making our farm commodities significantly less marketable in overseas markets. Finally, tariff charged in our agricultural exports remain high, averaging 5 times those levied by the U.S. Clearly, additional assistance for our farmers is needed. H.R. 2213 makes a good start on providing such assistance. With the help of the Committee on the Budget, the gentleman from Iowa (Chairman Nussle), in this year's budget, Congress made available funding for fiscal year 2001 and fiscal year 2002 specifically to address the need for the assistance in the 2001 crop year. The legislation before us today makes $5.5 billion available for that purpose. In my opinion, this amount is not sufficient to meet the needs of our producers, and I intend to work further as this bill moves forward through the legislative process to improve that message. But today the important point is to move the process along, because the fiscal year 2001 funds will expire unless delivered to hard-pressed farmers by the end of September, it is imperative that a bill be sent to the President for signature before the August recess. To ensure that outcome, the House must move the legislation this week. Despite its current imperfections, farmers need House passage of H.R. 2213 today. The Committee on Agriculture is now in the process of writing a new multiyear farm bill that will end the need for these annual emergency packages. We expect to bring that bill to the floor before the end of the year and hope to have it in place for next year's crop. But today we are dealing with the immediate crisis facing farmers in this year's crop, and that is why I am asking my colleagues to support passage of H.R. 2213. Additionally, Mr. Speaker, it has come to my attention that there are some misconceptions currently being spread about the bill, including one suggesting that H.R. 2213 will extend the Northeast Dairy Compact. This is simply not the case. First of all, dairy compacts are not within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Agriculture and, therefore, are not germane to any legislation that our committee would report. Second, there are simply no dairy provisions of any kind in H.R. 2213, as amended. When I introduced the bill originally, it did include a simple extension of the dairy price support program due to expire at the end of this year, but even that provision has been removed from the amended version. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nussle), the chairman of the Committee on the Budget.

Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Chambliss). (Mr. CHAMBLISS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Montana (Mr. Rehberg).

Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Pickering).

Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Lucas).

Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Kennedy).

Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hayes).

Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence).

Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner).

Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Speaker, how much time is remaining?