Pat Roberts

Mr. ROBERTS

Mr. ROBERTS. No, sir.

Mr. ROBERTS. No, sir.

Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. Chairman, the Chair, this chairman, this gentleman was in error that the bill does that. This amendment does not do that.

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

Mr. ROBERTS. I beg your pardon, it will not do that.

Mr. ROBERTS. It will be.

Mr. ROBERTS. Yes, that is correct, sir.

Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman will continue to yield, I am informed by staff that some of that was intended to clarify what was in the original bill and the second provision of the Agriculture Market Transition Act.

Mr. ROBERTS. The amendment deals with two Livingston amendments. I would say to the gentleman it incorporates two of the amendments by the gentleman from Louisiana [Mr. Livingston], with regard to the transfer of catastrophic insurance fees collected by the Department of Agriculture to private insurance companies and a change in the funding for the establishment of the Office of Risk Management. Finally, the en bloc incorporates the amendment No. 9 offered by my colleague, the gentleman from Kansas [Mr. Tiahrt], to the Ag Trade Act of 1978 that directs the Secretary in a manner consistent with our obligations under GATT to maintain our historic share of exports with regards to the sale of wheat flour. I know of no opposition to this amendment, and in regards to the Livingston amendments and the described intent of the amendments that I have described to the House previously to the gentleman's question, it was to certainly enable the Department of Agriculture to implement what we pass here in a quick and timely manner.

Mr. ROBERTS. If the gentleman would continue to yield, that is the case.

Mr. ROBERTS. I think the commonsense Brown amendment from the Senate would be the more appropriate title. That has been taken out, sir.

Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. Chairman, the gentleman has described----

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

Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I would inform Members that in putting together the current bill, the Agriculture Market Transition Act, provisions of H.R. 2854, in doing this, our committee has worked with the Consolidated Farm Service Agency at the Department of Agriculture to work out many operational and administrative details that will allow the CFSA to implement this very important legislation as quickly as possible, which is very important to farm country, more especially where spring planting will soon be starting. The changes made in the en bloc will aid the Department of Agriculture and more especially the CFSA in being able to move quickly with the implementation of the Agriculture Market Transition Act. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. de la GARZA. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Missouri [Mr. Volkmer].

Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. Chairman, I offer amendments en bloc that incorporate amendment No. 9 made in order by House Resolution 366 with a germane modification deleting the language on pages 8 and 9 of the Roberts en bloc amendment No. 1 made in order by House Resolution 366 and printed in the report accompanying House Resolution 366. This amended en bloc amendment is offered pursuant to section 2 of the rule and contains a Roberts germane amendment deleting the last amendment in my original en bloc amendment No. 1.

Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Illinois [Mr. LaHood], a very valuable member of the committee. (Mr. LaHOOD asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. I say to the gentleman from New York [Mr. Solomon], semper fi. Mr. Chairman, I do not know of any Member who has worked harder and persevered more and put up with more and received more brickbats for his efforts than Steve Gunderson. I would hope the Chair would not take that very well deserved applause out of my time. Mr. Chairman, many Members look at this issue with very parochial interests, and that is the nicest way that I can put it. Steve Gunderson loses more cows in his district every year than they have. He has worked harder and longer to achieve true dairy policy reform than anyone else; 10,000 traveled miles to conduct the field hearings. Now, it is a fact of life, nobody is ever going to be happy or satisfied with any dairy provision. My suggestion is when we go to the conference on dairy, we hold it in Sarajevo. But the committee language, and I am a little tired of trying to push this rope to try to get all of the dairy regions to work together, but the committee language represents the greatest amount of dairy program reform in its history. The gentleman from Texas [Mr. Stenholm] said it right: In terms of farm income, we increase dairy farmer income by $4 billion. The gentleman from New York [Mr. Solomon] and the gentleman from California [Mr. Dooley] cut dairy income by $3.7, a difference of $7.7 billion. We save more money. We eliminate two-thirds of the Federal milk marketing orders. With the committee bill, we are able to allow the dairy industry to compete in the international marketplace. It removes butter and powder from price supports immediately. The other folks keep that over a period of time. The Committee on Agriculture's dairy plan, with its subcommittee chairman, who has worked harder than any other individual on this farm bill that I know, is the clear choice for dairy farmers all throughout the Nation. Please support the committee. Support Mr. Gunderson and the committee's plan.

Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Goodlatte], a member of the committee, and a most valued member. (Mr. GOODLATTE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 4 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Nebraska [Mr. Barrett]. Through his leadership we have crafted an outstanding piece of legislation that deals with the conservation reserve program. He has been working very diligently in regard to trade and other matters, in regard to his subcommittee chairmanship.

Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Washington [Mr. Nethercutt]. When the Republican Party wished to set up a Republican task force on agriculture, made up of a preponderance of our new freshmen Members, the choice for the chairman of the task force was obvious, and so I am delighted to yield him 2 minutes to speak in regards to this general debate.

Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that I be permitted to share the time allocated to me with respect to managing the debate on the amendment with the ranking minority member, the gentleman from Texas [Mr. de la Garza], and that the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Combest] be designated as the majority Member responsible for controlling our respective time.

Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Idaho [Mr. Crapo], another valued member of the House Committee on Agriculture.

Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. Chairman, it is a privilege to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana [Mr. Tauzin].

Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Florida [Mr. Foley], another valued member of the House Committee on Agriculture.

Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. Chairman, it is with personal pleasure that I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Oklahoma [Mr. Lucas], a very viable member of the committee. The gentleman not only brings expertise to the Committee on Agriculture, but he is a real, live farmer and cattleman. (Mr. LUCAS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)