284 GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 



Secretary Brannan. That is right. 



Mr. Andresen. Woukl you expect to treat the farmers in different 

 sections of the country any different on milk than you would for any 

 other commodity? 



Secretary Brannan. No, unless the chcumstances warranted that. 

 Now, you would have to take into consideration the existence of 

 marketing agreements, milk marketing agreements which are now in 

 force and effect, and try to balance them out against the over-all task. 

 Under the present law he is guaranteed $3.55, and your midwest 

 farmer is not getting that, either. Is he? I see nothing in the law 

 which would go into effect in 1950 which has any direct objective to 

 equalize. 



Mr. Andresen. That which goes into effect in 1950 is such that 

 3^ou can pay 110 or 125 percent of parity if you want to in the interest 

 of national security. 



Secretary Brannan. Well, yes. 



Mr. Andresen. Getting more milk to the people, as I understand 

 you, and I am in accord with it, would be in the interest of national, 

 secm'ity. 



Secretary Brannan. That is an opinion. 



Mr. Pace. Will the gentleman yield? 



I do not want the record to show that under the interpretation 

 given us by the solicitor that increasing the supply of milk would 

 admit of an interpretation under the Aiken bill of being in the interest 

 of national security. 



Secretary Brannan. I did not so say. 



Mr. Pace. I know you did not. What you request is authority to 

 increase the supports in order to secure increased production. 



Secretary Brannan. Right. 

 . Mr. Pace. That is what we want. 



Secretary Brannan. That is right, sir. 



Mr. Andresen. But that is in the interest of the national welfare, 

 to get more milk, dairy production, and more meat to the people, at 

 lower prices. 



Secretary Brannan. It may be, but there may be a very important 

 distinction between the "national welfare" and the "national security." 



Mr. Andresen. That is up to you. 



Mr. Pace. Exactly. 



Secretary Brannan. And what you could do on one occasion and 

 what you could do on the other might be very different. 



Mr. Andresen. The law gives you the authority to do it, and I 

 doubt very much if your solicitor, your employee, would question 

 you on that after you had once made a decision. 



Mr. Hope. Will the gentleman yield? 



Secretary Brannan. I would not make it until I had his advice. 



Mr. Hope. As I recall it, though I may be in error, the Senate bill 

 in the form in which it came to the committee did make public 

 welfare the yardstick, but the Senate amendment was adopted which 

 changed that to national security, and those are certainly two dift'erent 

 things, to my way of thinking. 



Secretary Brannan. I agree. 



Mr. Pace. If the gentleman will pardon me, they did it without 

 one word of comment as to why they did it. The Senator offered 

 the amendment, it was adopted without a word of explanation as to 



