Date: 1994-09-28
Speaker: DE LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Chairman. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Chairman. let me begin by saying to Mr. SOLOMON. I appreciate his enthusiasm. and I am glad we were able to accommodate his great desire to have open rules. My only question is. Why start with us? Otherwise. let me mention very briefly. because I know Members would like to conclude at an early hour today. that this bill has nothing to do with the programs at USDA. This bill Is solely to consolidate. reorganize. and streamline. If anyone has any interest or concern in the programs. that will be dealt with next year on the farm bill. This is also not about money. although this bill saves some money. about $2.5 billion. But what we do in Agriculture is serve all of the people. Since it was started by President Lincoln. the guidance and the direction is to serve farmers and ranchers. to promote economic and community development in rural areas. to provide good assistance and educate the general population about proper nutrition. That is across the spectrum in the United States. To promote soil and water con1servation. clean air. clean water. to meet other environmental gbals in rural areas. to ensure the quality and safety of our food. and to carry out agriculture research. economic analysis. and educate the American public: This is the Extension Service. the research. the land grant institutions. all of those areas are covered under the mandate of the Department of Agriculture. But this consolidation and streamlining under H.R. 3171 Is done to accommodate the changing times. Let me say that in the beginning. that now. from the peoples Department of President Lincoln. it is still the peoples Department. But almost 60 percent of the Department of Agriculture budget is devoted to domestic nutrition programs. Only 20 percent of the budget is devoted to the farm commodity program. So the reorganizing we are dealing with here and the streamlining of USDA--60 percent entails the domestic programs..It deals with the nutrition. food stamps. feeding the elderly. nutrition information--60 percent. Also we have the Forest Service and Soil Conservation. That is only like about 9 percent. Rural Development is about 8 percent. And. as I mentioned. the commodity program. But everything that USDA does entails supporting programs that bring income. The balance of trade. where we deal with the world. everything on agriculture. manufactured items. there is one here. one there. that is selling. But collectively. we have a deficit of about $125 billion. a deficit. The only thing that brings money in collectively is agriculture. about $18 to $20 billion. And I have a chart here. the green part. that is agriculture collectively. The red part. that is everybody else. So that is what we are dealing with. Also. let me state--the top 10 entitlements. the bottom one of the entitlements Is the price support programs that we have for agriculture. But of the top 10 entitlements. it is the only one projecting a decrease in cost. 1.4 percent in the years between 1991 and 1997. We are dealing with food safety. we are dealing with all of the agencies of the Department of Agriculture. all of the offices out there in the countryside. And this bill gives the Secretary authority that he does not have to reorganize and to meet the challenges that the people of this country have presented to us. The bill also requires the Secretary to reduce personnel and staff over the next 5 years. We have local elected farmer committees closer to field offices. That might save some money. So. Madam Chairman. the bulk of this legislation is basically technicalto consolidate. to streamline. and to make. in 1994. the Department of Agriculture what President Lincoln wanted it to be in 1862. Madam Chairman. I reserve the balance of my time.