ECONOMIC SITUATION FACING U.S. 

 AGRICULTURE AND RURAL AMERICA 



WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1993 



House of Representatives, 

 Committee on Agriculture, 



Washington, DC. 



The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:05 a.m., in room 

 1300, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. E (Kika) de la Garza 

 (chairman of the committee) presiding. 



Present: Representatives Brown, English, Glickman, Stenholm, 

 Volkmer, Penny, Johnson, Long, Condit, Peterson, Clayton, Minge, 

 Hilliard, Inslee, Barlow, Holden, McKinney, Baesler, Thurman, 

 Bishop, Roberts, Emerson, Gunderson, Lewis, Smith, Combest, 

 Camp, Allard, Barrett, Nussle, Boehner, Ewing, Doolittle, Kings- 

 ton, Goodlatte, Dickey, Pombo, and Canady. 



Staff present: Vernie Hubert, chief counsel and legislative direc- 

 tor; Fred J. Clark, deputy chief counsel; Gary R. Mitchell, minority 

 staff director; William E. O'Conner, Jr., policy coordinator; John E. 

 Hogan, minority counsel; Dale Moore, legislative coordinator; 

 Glenda L. Temple and Jan Rovecamp, clerks; and Howard Conley. 



OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. E (KIKA) de la GARZA, A 

 REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF TEXAS 



The Chairman. The committee will be in order. 



We meet today for the first time in the new Congress in the 

 Committee on Agriculture. Unfortunately, there are other meet- 

 ings going on today. There is a meeting of the Steering Committee 

 from which I have just come; there will be a meeting of the Demo- 

 cratic Caucus, and we have a couple of regional meetings. Our first 

 witness, the distinguished Secretary of Agriculture, is running a 

 trifle late as he came in early this morning from Washington 

 State. So we are going to have to improvise as we go along. 



Fortunately, the second witness this morning was to be our dis- 

 tinguished colleague and the chairwoman of the Congressional 

 Rural Caucus. She is agreeable to proceed with her statement at 

 this time. 



I had a prepared statement, which I will submit for the record at 

 this time. 



Likewise for our distinguished ranking minority member, Mr. 

 Roberts, and for any other member who may wish to submit a 

 statement for the record at this point. 



[The prepared statements of Mr. de la Garza, Mr. Roberts, Mr. 

 Smith, and Mr. Kingston follow:] 



(1) 



