35 



come to conclusions in the least disruptive way is to get all the 

 stakeholders involved at the beginning of theprocess so that unan- 

 ticipated problems don't crop up at the end. Tnat is, they are dealt 

 with explicitly along the way. 



Mrs. THURMAN. I thank both of you and I look forward to some 

 future conversations with you both. 



Mr. CONDIT. Mr. Mendelowitz, Mr. Goldthwait, and Mr. Mackie, 

 we appreciate you being here this morning, and the fact that sup- 

 porting staffs here participated in this hearing, we appreciate that. 

 You have been very kind with your time and we may have some 

 further follow-up questions we would ask you to respond to. But 

 thank you very much. 



We will take the next panel. 



Mr. Johnson, Mr. Terhaar, Mr. Krajeck, and Mr. Notar. 



If you would just remain standing, the subcommittee has a policy 

 of swearing all witnesses in, and since I am chairing at this par- 

 ticular time, we will do that. 



Please raise your right hand. 



[Witnesses sworn.] 



Mr. CONDIT. Let the record indicate they all said yes. 



Mr. Johnson is the president of National Pork Producers from 

 Minnesota, and we appreciate him being here today. 



Actually, he is from Washington, DC; is that correct? 



Mr. Johnson. No, I am from Minnesota. 



Mr. CONDIT. You are from Minnesota. 



We appreciate you being here, we will start off with you. 



STATEMENT OF KARL JOHNSON, FRESmENT, NATIONAL 

 PORK PRODUCERS COUNCIL, ON BEHALF OF THE EXPORT 

 PROCESSING INDUSTRY COALITION 



Mr. Johnson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



I am Karl Johnson, I am a grain farmer and currently serving 

 as president of the National Pork Producers Council, as you indi- 

 cated. I am appearing this morning on behalf of the Export Proc- 

 essing Industry Coalition. That is an organization comprised of the 

 Com Refiners Association, the Millers' National Federation, the 

 National Oil Seed Processors Association, and the National Pork 

 Producers Council. 



Also, included is the industrial union department of AFL-CIO. 

 This group represents American industries and labor unions that 

 are working together to expand the U.S. share of the growing and 

 economically potent world market for processed and value-added 

 agricultural products. 



Unfortunately, the U.S. pork industry is an ideal case for Con- 

 gress and the administration to look at on the urgent need to cre- 

 ate and implement an aggressive trade policy that refocuses our ef- 

 forts on high-value products and value-added agricultural exports. 

 As you may or may not know, the U.S. pork industry is a low-cost 

 producer across the world. Yet, we export only 2.5 percent of our 

 product. 



We also are the second largest importer of pork in the world. You 

 may wonder why this happens. Well, one of the problems is that 

 we are not only dealing with our producer friends across in foreign 

 lands, but we are dealing with very aggressive foreign markets or 



