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I might just take another minute to discuss the wetlands issue. The bill our chairman 

 has cosponsored goes in the right direction by recognizing and exempting prior converted 

 croplands. It goes too far in giving any person the right to appeal a wetlands decision, and 

 it does not go far enough in protecting rangelands from Sec. 404 regulations. And, 

 unfortunately, the wetlands definition in H.R. 3465 just is not workable, so we still have a 

 lot of work to do on that issue. 



Mr. Chairman, I have no idea today whether or not the Congress will complete action 

 on Qean Water Act amendments this year. I would remind my colleagues, though, that as 

 we labored over the 1990 farm bill four years ago, the House Merchant Marine committee 

 was amending the Coastal Zone Management Act, a regulatory scheme with a huge impact 

 on agriculture in the coastal states. Much of what we will be debating in the Qean Water 

 reauthorization was set in motion then, and agriculture for the most part was caught off 

 guard. Just remember: in my view, no amount of commodity program payments can offset 

 the impact on American agriculture of irrational regulators. Thank you. 



