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requirements at home and overseas. In fact, there have been periodic accusations that 

 FAS is perhaps too close to its client group ~ a seeming contradiction to the 

 recommendations coming from the TPCC. 



Point two reads "Allocate Resources Strategically: Develop a unified export promotion 

 budget that will permit the US to set clearer priorities and serve US commercial 

 interests more efficiently". There is a lot of mention in the TPCC report of creating 

 "one-stop shops" that will provide all of the federal export promotion and trade 

 finance programs under one roof. 



Mr. Chairman, I would submit that FAS is the original "one-stop shop" for the full 

 range of agricultural commodities and processed products. If you want statistics - FAS 

 has the premier database on world supply and demand of most agricultural products. 

 In fact, other countries often do not bother to keep their own supply and demand 

 information because FAS's is better than anything they could produce locally. Want 

 financing? - FAS has everything from a $5.5 billion per year credit guarantee program, 

 to 30-year low-interest loans, to food and feed assistance programs. Have problems 

 with price competitiveness because of unfair foreign competition? - FAS has programs 

 to ensure U.S. price compedtiveness (HEP, COAP, DEIP, SOAP). Need help with 

 contacts overseas? FAS has a network of attache and agricultural trade offices located 

 on the spot in more than 80 posts and covering more than 100 countries. Need trade 

 leads? ~ FAS has hard copy and electronic dissemination of Trade Leads and Buyer 

 Alerts , along with computerized delivery of an array of additional trade information. 



I could go on and on with the services FAS provides all under one roofl I have seen 

 companies go to other U.S. government agencies to explore alternanve financing or 

 export promotion assistance, only to come back eventually to FAS because they could 

 indeed get better service and the full range of services from a single agency dealing 

 with products they were familiar with and interested in facilitating. 



Point three reads "Involve the Private Sector: Combine resources of the private sector 

 and state/local governments with those of the federal government wherever possible 

 to expand and improve service and financing...". For all 40 years of its existence FAS 

 has worked hand-in-hand with the Cooperator Market Development Program; a 

 coalition of product-specific and national trade associations, regional export groups, 

 and the private producers and processors they represent for one single purpose - to 

 promote the exports of U.S. agricultural products. Other sectors have tried over the 

 decades to emulate this highly successful public\private sector cooperation for export 

 promotion and, to my knowledge, none has yet come even close. 



Point four reads "Advocate Aggressively: Greatly expand official, high-level 

 government advocacy for U.S. firms seeking contracts from other governments, and 

 create mechanisms to level the playing field by effectively countering the advocacy 

 practices of other governments". Mr. Chairman, U.S. agriculture has always enjoyed 



