Jo Ann Emerson

Mrs. EMERSON

Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. McInnis).

Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent, if the gentleman from California would be willing, to extend our time 7\1/2\ minutes on each side, because we have numerous speakers and not enough time, unless the gentleman from California would like to yield us some of his time. This is an important discussion and I think it is a good one that is worth having.

Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I might add quickly here that, while the people in opposition to this amendment keep saying, do not blame any industry, do not blame any industry, we all have to work together, I would ask what they all have been doing blaming the gun industry, then, for all these weeks? Mr. Chairman, I am very happy to yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Knollenberg).

Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Chairman, my unanimous consent request would allow each side to have 7\1/2\ additional minutes, 15 minutes total.

Mrs. EMERSON. I think the gentleman would agree it is worthwhile.

Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Wamp).

Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Idaho (Mrs. Chenoweth).

Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume to say to the gentlewoman with all due respect, whom I consider a good friend and for whom I have great respect, there have been a thousand studies in the last 45 years on the issue of violence and its impact on aggressive behavior with children, most all of which have shown a positive correlation. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Kingston).

Mrs. EMERSON

Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, I want to also rise in opposition to this amendment that would severely undermine the USDA's Wildlife Services Program. While I do not have a district out in the West but rather in the Midwest, it is very rural, and it is very big, and the fact of the matter is this program is a critical resource for the farmers and ranchers in my district who face the threat of crop and livestock damage. As a matter of fact, wildlife causes as much as $1.6 billion in damage to agriculture each year. Given the fact that our farmers, right now their entire livelihoods are threatened with uncertain markets, unpredictable weather, some of the lowest prices we have ever seen in decades, this additional threat of losses due to wildlife is really above and beyond all the other factors. It is something that we have to be very mindful of. I also want to make another point which is often overlooked. Our farmers and ranchers are among the best stewards of the land anywhere. They are our best conservationists. Their land provides wildlife habitat. Their production methods promote wide stewardship of that land. So let us not point the finger at the family farmer and rancher when, in fact, they are doing good things for the environment and things that are good for the American consumer. I oppose the amendment, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

Mrs. EMERSON

Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Coburn).

Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, I yield to the gentleman from Oklahoma.

Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, I yield again to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Coburn).

Mrs. EMERSON. I yield to the gentlewoman from New York.

Mrs. EMERSON

Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in recognition of a young man that understands the meaning of heritage and tradition. Hank Williams III is the third generation of country music performers to come from the legendary Hank Williams family. Hank Williams III has strong ties to the great State of Missouri as he spent most of his childhood in Jane, a small town in southwestern Missouri. On June 5, 1999, Hank Williams III will help maintain those strong Missouri ties by performing for the Malden Chamber of Commerce's annual country music concert. The concert originally started as a benefit show that was performed by country legend Tammy Wynette. Unfortunately, due to Ms. Wynette's untimely death, the Chamber had to find a replacement act. What better person could the Chamber have chosen to help out but Hank Williams III? All three generations of the Hank Williams family should be commended for their contributions to our American culture. Hank Williams, Sr. was country music's first super star. Hank Williams, Jr. was one of the first artists to combine southern rock music with country music, and he is credited by many for his role in broadening the popularity of country music. Hank Williams III is now carrying on an already stellar family name and working to further enhance the country music industry that rests on the foundation built by his grandfather and father. The rich tradition of the Williams family and their positive contribution to our American culture is truly an inspiration to us all.

Mrs. EMERSON

Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Chairman, I want to take a moment to express my appreciation to the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Skeen) for the hard work he has done in putting together this piece of legislation before us today. Given the tight budget constraints that we face, the chairman has had to make difficult decisions and balance a lot of different needs. He knows, and I think all our subcommittee members know, that this bill will not, as the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) said, address all of the many urgent needs that are there out on the farm right now. Funds are desperately needed for farm programs because of the low prices and tough market conditions for farmers and ranchers all over the country. However, I think the gentleman from New Mexico has worked with the numbers that he was given and done a tremendous job and the best job possible to meet the many needs of farmers and ranchers, and I just want to thank him for the outstanding job he has done. Let me just take a minute too to highlight some of the aspects of this bill that are critically important to agriculture. Total dollars for agriculture research are up by $61 million. The bill rejects the cuts in Hatch Act and extension research funding that were proposed by the administration. Export programs, such as P.L. 480, Titles I and II, are funded at or near last year's levels, again rejecting large cuts by the administration. Many farm State Members of Congress have expressed a concern, as I have, about increased concentration in agriculture markets, and I am pleased this bill includes a $636,000 increase for packer competition and industry concentration, as well as $750,000 strictly for poultry compliance activities. There is much needed oversight and enforcement money to ensure our beef, pork and poultry producers are treated fairly. Now, I personally believe that we should do more and have mandatory price reporting for livestock, but this is a function of the authorizing committee, not the Committee on Appropriations, and I will look forward to working with my colleague from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) on this legislation later on this year. Our bill also increases farm loan accounts, such as farm ownership, farm operating, and emergency loans from $2.3 billion to $3 billion. Not enough, and we will probably need more later, but because there is an increasing demand for these loans due to the hardships in the farm economy, we need the money now and, as I said, we will need more later. For soybean producers in Missouri and around the country there is continued funding needed to fight the cyst nematode pest. Continued research will help develop soybean varieties that are resistant to the yield and profit endangering pest. I would simply add this is an extremely tough time for our farmers and ranchers. As the gentlewoman from Ohio noted, this is an issue of national security. My farmers tell me that it is as bad as it has been in decades. Not years ago, but decades. And while this bill does not address all of the problems in the farm economy, particularly as it relates to the staffing in the Farm Services Agency and the National Resource Conservation Service, it is a positive step in the right direction and I would urge a strong ``yes'' on the bill.

Mrs. EMERSON

Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to rise in support of H.R. 883. I do want to say to my friend, the gentleman from California (Mr. Farr), that I know that there are many places that perhaps are honored to have these designations bestowed upon them. On the other hand, in my district, a designation was going to be thrust upon people without any local input and I think that is what this legislation is trying to clarify. I do want to thank the gentleman from Alaska (Chairman Young) for his strong leadership on this issue and, in fact, the leadership he shows on many private property rights issues, and the work that he has done on behalf of private property owners. I would also like to extend a similar thanks to the gentlewoman from Idaho (Mrs. Chenoweth), who chairs the Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health, who has been a devoted champion of private property rights. She recently came to my district in southern Missouri to represent the Committee on Resources and to chair a hearing on the legislation we are talking about today. We heard from a lot of local people, farmers, county officials, ranchers, small businesspeople, property owners, those people who have the most at stake when international land designation issues arises. Let me just talk a little bit about what the gentlewoman from Idaho (Mrs. Chenoweth) and I learned during the recent field hearing in the Missouri Ozarks, but I am just going to take a second before that to talk about how I became involved in this issue. Back in 1996, as I was traveling across my district, in every single little town in the center of my district, which is part of the Mark Twain National Forest, in which there is tourism that really promotes the local economy and some timber sales everywhere, Ellington, Van Buren, Salem, to name a few, people were concerned about these designations and particularly about something called the Ozark Man and the Biosphere program that basically would take 15 Missouri and Arkansas counties and put them into a biosphere reserve. Let me say there was no local input involved whatsoever, and that my folks had to scrape and claw their way to find out anything about this. They were simply tipped off one day by a friend on the conservation commission. The amazing thing was, when they went to the agencies, the Department of Interior, specifically to ask about exactly what was happening, the Interior Department said, do not worry about this; it was going to be fine; we have talked to lots of local citizens around the district. Well, the fact of the matter is, every single county in my district that would be impacted by this had absolutely no public solicitation by the Interior Department, Fish and Wildlife, whomever was involved, whatsoever. Not one county commissioner was called, not one local citizens group, and it was not until we had enough cattlemen's associations, enough farm bureau associations and finally all of the county commissions writing their own resolutions that this was a bad idea that the designation was dropped and these 15 counties in Missouri and Arkansas were saved from having to have a biosphere reserve designation put on them because, quite frankly, my citizens were afraid that once the designation happened then the government would find more and more reasons to seize the contiguous property around, and that would be their private property. I think this really shows that we have a broken process and that experience makes the case for our bill today. All this bill would do would be to establish an appropriate process for biospheres and heritage area designations and ensure that local input and participation of Congress is involved. I do not think that is asking too much. I think it is very, very reasonable. I will say, back when the gentlewoman from Idaho (Mrs. Chenoweth) and I were in Missouri, we heard from 12 different panelists, one of whom was a county commissioner; one was the former chairman of the Missouri Conservation Commission; several private citizens, but Leon Kreisler, who was a cattleman, and a landowner in Salem, Missouri, said, and I quote, ``We feel strongly about property rights not because we share a common desire to abuse our natural resources but because landowners are often best suited to ensure productivity for our families and those of future generations. The Ozarks are a natural wonder and we intend to keep them that way, but national or international designations are not the answer.'' Mr. Kreisler makes the point that I would like to reiterate, that our farmers and our ranchers are among the best conservationists anywhere because they depend on the land for their livelihood and they know that if they do not take care of the land then the land is not going to take care of them. We had also an owner from a sawmill in Potosi, Missouri. He spent 20 years as an analyst for Price Waterhouse before buying the sawmill. Needless to say, Carl Barnes, the sawmill owner, talked about the threats from this coordinated resource management system and the threats that this would have upon outdoor recreation because they listed farming and mining as threats to outdoor recreation and our ecosystem health. The fact of the matter is we can do it all, and I think that we do it all responsibly. We simply need to have this program put in place so that local citizens who live in areas for proposed designations have input, that is all it is, and that Congress have input, too. I urge a yes vote on H.R. 883.

Mrs. EMERSON

Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, May 15, 1999, the American Legion Post 595 in New Madrid, Missouri, will be honoring Mr. Bryan Swilley at their annual Armed Forces Day Ceremony. At the age of 102, Mr. Swilley is the sole World War I veteran in Missouri's Eighth Congressional District, and his name will be added to the World War I veterans wall being constructed in Poplar Bluff, MO. Mr. Swilley was born on December 27, 1897, to Tib and Louise Swilley in Portageville, New Madrid County, MO. During the over 100 years of his life, Mr. Swilley lived within a five mile radius of his current home in Portageville. He attended the local schools where he competed on the Country Track team and learned to play the violin. After graduating high school, Mr. Swilley spent a few months in St. Louis with a high school friend. Mr. Swilley then returned home to New Madrid County to pick cotton. He usually picked 400 pounds of cotton in a day--placing it in a nine foot sack on which he had written his name with pencil in Old English. Through this experience, Mr. Swilley became so skilled in identifying the grades of cottons that in 1927 he won a $10 gold piece for his high rank in cotton classing contests held in New Madrid, Caruthersville, and Kennett. Mr. Swilley also worked as a night watchman for Swift and Co. Oil Mill and taught at two local schools where he was beloved and respected by his students. During World War I, Mr. Swilley served at the Student Army Training Corps military camp located on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis. Perhaps Mr. Swilley's greatest achievement was his 76 year marriage to Lena Frizzell. Mr. Swilley and Ms. Frizzell were married on September 8, 1920, and the couple had six children, Mozart, Neva, Bryan ``Bo,'' J.K., B.W., and Donald. The Swilleys observed their 75th wedding anniversary the year before Lena's passing on February 20, 1996. Mr. Swilley is truly a wonderful example of an American dedicated to family, country, and the rural way of life. I want to thank Mr. Swilley for the contributions he selflessly made to our country during the Great War. May he be in our thoughts and in our prayers on this Armed Forces Day.

Mrs. EMERSON

Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mrs. EMERSON. So that our FSA offices will get that money together with. I thank the gentleman.

Mrs. EMERSON. First of all, Mr. Chairman, let me thank the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Latham) and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) for allowing this money to be included in the emergency supplemental. It is absolutely critical for our farmers. In my particular district I have got 26 counties, all of which are dependent on agriculture, and they are hurting and hurting worse than they have in decades, and the fact is that we got to get the money to them immediately. While this is, as my friend from Ohio says, a paultry sum, it is still better than nothing, at least to start the ball rolling so that the creditors can, in fact, advance the money to our farmers for their spring planting, at least the northern part of my district where they are still doing it. In the southern part they have already done it, but I do want to commend both of my colleagues for their work in getting this included. I did want to ask the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Latham) a question, and that has to do with the money to administer the loans: Is there a fact, our FSA office is going to have the ability to administer that $1.1 billion of loan guarantees that this bill would underwrite?

Mrs. EMERSON

Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw my name as a cosponsor of H.R. 1598.

Mrs. EMERSON

Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Dr. Raymundo D. Talaban who is retiring from Madison Medical Center after 28 years of dedicated service to the medically under served people of southern Missouri. Dr. Talaban is a doctor of medicine, (an accomplishment that earns accolades by itself), but more importantly he is a doctor in a part of my District which typifies rural America. Some may have a hard time understanding the problems with health care access in rural America. Mr. Speaker, in southern Missouri there are only three health care professionals for every 100 people, and the average hospital is located anywhere from 35 minutes to two hours away from the next hospital. Many times people must take time from work and drive hours to the nearest hospital to receive what other people would consider a routine procedure or checkup. So you see, in this part of America, Dr. Talaban is not just another doctor, he is one of a few who brings care and attention to many. Dr. Talaban's wife, Nenita, has proudly shared with me some of the her husband's wonderful accomplishments. I would have to say that Dr. Talaban's most outstanding achievement must be his family, including his three daughters: Caroline, Catherine, Andrea and his three grandchildren. I'm sure they realize what a wonderful father and grandfather they have, a role model and a man who spent the entirety of his life helping others. Dr. Talaban received his medical degree from Far Eastern University Medical School in Manilla, Phillippines. Before he came to Madison Medical Center, Dr. Talaban worked at Missouri Baptist Hospital and St. Louis State Hospital. The folks of southern Missouri were lucky enough to have him come on board at Madison Medical Center in 1971. There Dr. Talaban held two prestigious positions as Vice Chief of Staff and Chief of Surgery. He not only established a record of outstanding care, but also a history on unfailing compassion. Dr. Talaban also found time to volunteer his services to the American Red Cross and advisor to the American Cancer Society. His membership in many prestigious groups including the Philippine Medical Society of Greater St. Louis, the American Medical Society, The American Society of Abdominal Surgeons, the Missouri State Medical Society, and the St. Louis Metropolitan Medical Society enhanced his ability to give quality health care to the people of Madison County. Dr. Talaban, I want to thank you for dedicating your life to helping others. Although we all will be sorry to see you leave Madison Medical Center, we hope that you will heartily enjoy the years of your retirement. My thoughts are with you, Dr. Talaban, as you, your family and friends come together to celebrate all the important years that you dedicated to our community. You had a very positive impact on peoples' lives in rural southern Missouri, and we will never forget your dedication and service to our community.

Mrs. EMERSON

Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 72 and 73, I was not present due to a family emergency. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mrs. EMERSON

Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 61, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Mrs. EMERSON

Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 60, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''