"For the sake of Iowa farmers, I hope Sec. Glickman's comments do not signal a reversal of statement made last year when he promised that ?... the United States has no intention of going back to the days of intrusive government programs or telling farmers what to plant; we have made the commitment to a market-based system for agriculture, and we will stay with it.'
"No farm program can succeed without an aggressive commitment by the President to expand farm markets, both foreign and domestic. In this area, the administration's efforts have been non-existent, or worse, counter-productive. This failure has leveled the biggest blow to American farmers because out of all the economic sectors, agriculture is the most dependent on exports. Trade with other countries is essential to farm income, and only the President can negotiate trade agreements and work to break down trade barriers for the sale of U.S. farm products.
"On the domestic front, the administration has been sitting on its hands for months on an initiative that could boost corn prices 25 cents a bushel simply by replacing MTBE with ethanol under the Clean Air Act in California and other states. My fear is that the administration has decided that it is more interested in California's big oil interests than it is in the Midwest farmer, and doesn't want to make public its decision until after the Iowa caucus.
"Based on today's news conference, it looks like once again the administration is going to drag its feet on making a commitment to a disaster package for farmers. Farmers face another year of depressed farm prices, and some forecasters say we may face hostile weather conditions this coming year. The administration should be sending a clear signal right now that it will support a disaster package. It's a lot harder to build support for disaster relief than to dismantle it, and by sitting on the fence the administration sets up a long, drawn-out fight for our farmers."
