32 



plant breeding community and one that is quite new. For the plant 

 breeder, essential derivation is the cornerstone for establishing the 

 parameters and thresholds of research. It is, most simply, the dif- 

 ference between my variety and your variety in cases where the ge- 

 netic blueprints are very close. 



In dealing with essential derivation it is important to point out 

 that H.R. 2927 reinforces the existing research exemption and that 

 ASTA fully supports the free exchange of germplasm. 



Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for inviting the ASTA to this hearing. 

 On behalf of the entire ASTA membership I look forward to work- 

 ing with you and the full committee on this issue, and I believe 

 that we are well on our way to securing, protecting, advancing 

 American agriculture, and I certainly would be ready to answer 

 any further questions, provide any details. I have submitted a full 

 report in writing. 



Thank you very much. 



[The prepared statement of Mr. Schmidt appears at the conclu- 

 sion of the hearing.] 



Mr. Stenholm [resuming chair]. Thank you. Next, Mr. Keeling. 



STATEMENT OF JOHN KEELING, DIRECTOR, GOVERNMENTAL 

 RELATIONS, AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION 



Mr. KEELING. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the 

 subcommittee. I thank you for the opportunity to be here. 



My name is John Keeling. I am director of governmental rela- 

 tions for the American Farm Bureau. I look forward to the oppor- 

 tunity to continue working with members of the committee and the 

 staff as we move forward to see that this legislation is enacted in 

 a form that is beneficial for all of agriculture. 



We have submitted a statement, and I would assume it would be 

 made a part of the record. 



I will briefly discuss a few of what we believe to be the key issues 

 that remain to be resolved and try to give a little background about 

 how Farm Bureau arrived at our policy in this area. 



We spent a considerable time looking at this issue, and as Mr. 

 Roberts alluded to, it is a complex and difficult issue, and it is nec- 

 essary to balance many competing interests when you start to try 

 to resolve a policy like this. 



As you know, Farm Bureau has very strong policy on property 

 rights. We believe strongly in the protection of intellectual property 

 rights. We also believe in the need to protect farmers from being 

 put in a situation where they are forced to violate the law in what 

 is essentially normal practices of farming, so we had to balance all 

 those concerns. 



We looked at State farm bureaus, quite frankly, who wanted to 

 be able to save and sell any quantity they wanted to and some that 

 wanted no sales, so we had to work through much of the same 

 process that the committee has had to look at to resolve those is- 

 sues. 



Let me talk a little bit about a couple of key issues, and they 

 have been mentioned before. One is the conditioning issue. We be- 

 lieve that the language in the House bill right now creates an am- 

 biguous situation that a farmer or a custom conditioner might face 



