37 



Some have associated me with cotton, soybeans, and certainly cat- 

 fish. But let me tell you that I don't want to be regional in scope or 

 commodity specific. I want to be one who is concerned across the 

 broad range of commodities. 



Mr. Nussle. I understand that and I respect you for that. 



In conclusion, let me just say that you are very correct that we 

 are going to have in rural America the chance to have the ear of 

 our new President, because of the fact that he comes from rural 

 America. But as I have learned, being in Washington the brief time 

 I have been here, the longer you are here the easier it is to forget 

 where you came from. Having you in there reminding him where 

 he came from I think is going to bode well for us in the long run. 



Secretary Espy. I will certainly do that. 



Mr. Nussle. Thank you. 



Secretary Espy. Thank you. 



Mr. Nussle. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



The Chairman. I thank the gentleman. 



Mr. Secretary, we know that you have a constraint on time, and 

 I would like to have every member that remains to at least wel- 

 come you, so if there is no objection I am going to ask the members 

 to limit their questions or comments to 2 minutes so that we can 

 accommodate the rest of the members that would have an opportu- 

 nity to visit briefly with you. 



Mr. Stenholm. 



Mr. Stenholm. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



Secretary Espy, welcome to the committee. I will very quickly 

 say, in the area you have already discussed, that our subcommittee 

 looks forward to working with you on the reorganization question. 

 As you and I have discussed, I think you're going to find that there 

 is a substantial amount of agreement on this committee working 

 with you and expediting this matter. This is a very timely issue as 

 we look at the budget problems heading our way. 



I also serve on the Budget Committee, and know that we are 

 going to have to make some changes on this committee, as every 

 other one will. Your timeliness on this is going to be appreciated by 

 all by the end of this year. 



With regard to the Food Safety and Inspection Service, Mr. Volk- 

 mer and I will be sitting down and working with you on that. I 

 commend you for your statement yesterday. 



My frustration today has been that we have been unable to make 

 the changes that you are suggesting we ought to look at. We should 

 have done it 5 years ago, but the reorganization will allow this to 

 happen. 



In the area of nutrition, the hunger question, this committee 

 needs to do more. We will be doing more. We are already reaching 

 out to the various groups involved in looking at how we can better 

 coordinate this effort. We look forward to working with you in this 

 area also. 



My final comment is in the area of research. An overview is way 

 overdue. I have been discussing this issue with Mr. Brown and we 

 have some ideas when you get your appropriate people into place. 

 We will look forward to sitting down and sincerely starting to 

 prioritize in regard to our research efforts. When you look at what 

 we're doing and then the real needs, like you pointed out in your 



