SETTING PRIORITIES FOR AGRICULTURAL 

 RESEARCH FACILITIES 



THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 1993 



House of Representatives, 

 Subcommittee on Department 



Operations and Nutrition, 

 Committee on Agriculture, 



Washington, DC. 

 The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:35 a.m., in room 

 1300, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Charles W. Stenholm 

 (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. 



Present: Representatives Sarpalius, Inslee, Bishop, Volkmer, 

 Clayton, Lambert, Smith, Gunderson, Allard, and Canady. 



Staff present: Jan Rovecamp, clerk; Stan Ray, Merv Yetley, and 

 Pete Thomson. 



OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. CHARLES W. STENHOLM, A 

 REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF TEXAS 



Mr. Stenholm. The subcommittee will come to order. 



Today we continue a series of hearings looking at our Nation's 

 agricultural research capacity. Many are suggesting that we need 

 a new direction in our agricultural research establishment. The 

 land-grant system, which has served our Nation so effectively in 

 the past, needs to be reevaluated in light of the future needs of our 

 Nation. We need to reinvigorate our research establishment to posi- 

 tion it to most effectively serve the needs of both producers and 

 consumers as we enter the 21st century. 



Substantial evidence indicates that many agricultural research 

 facilities are antiquated and in need of modernization. Recent testi- 

 mony before this subcommittee indicates that agricultural research 

 facilities are in severe disrepair. Repair costs alone for Agricultural 

 Research Service facilities are nearly $350 million. This is substan- 

 tial even when compared to the current year's ARS budget of near- 

 ly $700 milhon. 



Many facilities are also understaffed, they have a poor ratio of 

 support staff to scientists, and are often located in remote areas. 

 We heard testimony indicating that the process of placing facilities 

 is highly politicized and that no clear set of consensus priorities 

 drives the process of facility placement. We also heard testimony 

 calling for a moratorium on current facility construction until a na- 

 tional consensus of strategic priorities for agriculture is in place. 



The issue of facilities is not unique to agriculture. Current esti- 

 mates of the cost to modernize or replace research facilities 

 throughout our research establishment are between $5 billion and 



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