World economic production has quadrupled while per capita income more than doubled. We in the United States have a more immediate example to cite. In 1998, as U.S. farm exports worldwide declined by 6 percent, our exports to our partners in the North American Free Trade Area Canada and Mexico grew by 11 percent, to record levels, as did their exports to the United States. In his annual State of the Union address, President Clinton called on the nations of the world to tear down barriers, open markets and expand trade. Nowhere is this more important than in agriculture.
Farmers do some of the hardest, riskiest, most important work.
And, around the world today, their difficulties should remind all of us how important a robust agricultural sector is to our quality of life. Because of the volatility and unpredictability of agriculture, because we want to assure a reliable food supply, we want to do what we can to make sure that farmers have the opportunity to survive, and hopefully to prosper. I recently traveled through several states crippled by severe drought, in some cases the driest it's been in over 100 years. Difficult times, such as those we are facing with depressed farm prices and drought in the U.S., obligate the U.S. Government to address the needs of our farmers. That is exactly what we are doing with our emergency relief efforts in the United States.