Date: 1990-03-27
Speaker: DE LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to rise in support of H.R. 2209. the Soybean Promotion. Research. and Consumer Information Act. The soybean is one of the most versatile and economically important plants grown in the world today. It is the worlds major source of vegetable protein and oil in the human diet and an important feedstuff for the livestock industry. Not only is the soybean used for food. it has many other nonfood uses. We now have soybased inks which are being used by a growing number of newspapers around the country. This is just one of the many promising new uses of this plant that are being brought to commercial reality. There are approximately 450.000 farmers growing soybeans in the United States each year. Half of what our farmers produce is destined for the world market. Although the United States remains the worlds largest producer and exporter of soybeans. weve seen our market share dropping since the early 1980s. If current trends continue. lowcost competitors in South America could replace us as the leading producers and exporters of soybeans in the coming decade. Even the European Community. one of our biggest soybean markets. is gradually increasing its production. This competition is affecting our sales of the other major marketsthe Soviet Union. Japan. South Korea. and so forth. Mr. Speaker. at hearings we have held on this bill and in connection with the 1990 farm bill. our soybean farmers tell us they want to maintain and expand market share. They want to see a greater investment in research to improve our efficiency and find new uses for soybeans and soybean products. Our soybean farmers want to promote their fabulous product. The purpose of H.R. 2209 is to allow soybean farmers to establish their own national farmer financed. farmer directed research. promotion. and information program. This program is structured in a way that does not affect the jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means. The assessment under H.R. 2209. like those for other commodities. is not a tax. nor does it yield revenue for the Federal Government. These are producer funds raised by producers for the benefit of producers. In general. H.R. 2209 follows the model we have established for a number of other. quite successful commodity research and promotion programs. These include the national programs for beef. cotton. and dairy to name just a few. H.R. 2209 will enable soybean farmers to fund and operate their own national program to develop and expand U.S. export markets. This legislation * will provide our soybean farmers with the ability to educate both the foreign and domestic markets of the health. environmental. and industrial benefits of using soybeans and its byproducts. This bill will also allow our soybean farmers to fund much needed research to develop and refine new uses for soybeans and soybean byproducts and to better understand consumer trends. Mr. Speaker. I want to commend the gentleman from Kansas the principal author of this legislation who also serves as the distinguished chairman of the House Agrlculture Subcommittee on Wheat. Soybeans. and Feed Grains. Congressman GLICKMAN as well as other members of the subcommittee and the full House Agriculture Committee worked long and hard to ensure that this bill was the best possible legislation we could bring forward. Early on in the legislative process there were some concerns expressed about the proposed structure of the national soybean board and how this board would interact with existing organizations. With the able leadership of the gentleman from Kansas. the committee has addressed these concerns in a forthright and unbiased manner. The legislation we have brought to the House floor today provides for a diversity of views on the national board. It establishes checks and balances to ensure that the operations of the board are carried out according to the intent of the legislation. And it ensures accountability of the board to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and. most of all. to the Nations soybean producers. Mr. Speaker. the future profitability and competitiveness of U.S. agriculture will depend greatly upon our ability to become leastcost producers of highquality agricultural commodities and derived products. With passage of H.R. 2209. we can give our Nations soybean farmers an opportunity to fund and implement activities to improve the competitiveness of the U.S. soybean industry. as well as expand and increase demand for soybeans in the domestic market. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. Mr. Speaker. I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Kansas . our distinguished colleague and chairman of the subcommittee that handled this legislation.