I'd also like to introduce Kevin Smith, who's here representing the Office of Senator Joe Biden. And I don't know that I've seen anyone else from our congressional delegation here yet this morning.

It's now my pleasure to introduce a good friend of mine, Don Clifton. Don is the Executive Director of the Farm Service Agency of the United States Department of Agriculture and he's held that position in Delaware since June of 1993. In addition to his duties within the state, he has been called upon to serve in several leadership capacities at USDA headquarters in Washington, most recently as communications director for the USDA National Food and Agriculture Council. He was elected to serve on the FSA Leadership Council for the northeast region. There I go again with jargon. FSA is Farm Service Agency.

He's from Delaware. He's from Kent County, Sussex County. Use me, Don. He now resides in Kent County near Milford with his wife Ruth and seven children. Don's going to be your moderator for the day. It gives me great pleasure to welcome Don Clifton to the podium.

MR. CLIFTON: Good morning.

GOVERNOR CARPER: Good morning.

MR. CLIFTON: Good morning. Good to see you.

Thank you, Jack. As Jack told you, I live in Kent County with my wife and kids and I'm from a farming background, farmed for all my life in the vegetable processing business, and grain and beef as well. And recently just went back into farming, Governor. My father retired and offered me the luxurious job of farming again. And I took a piece of it and I'm running with it.

And these listening sessions, Mr. Under Secretary, are very important to me. Because $4 beans, $1.80-$1.90 corn aren't just going to cut it for me and my family. But I do have a lot of faith in Delaware agriculture. I've got a lot of faith in the land that I work and I'm willing to work hard and I have a lot of faith in our government to make sure that we have every opportunity in global trade to get our commodities sold at a reasonable price. It's enough for me to know that.

As moderator, it's my job to keep things moving, to introduce the speakers and to make sure that we stay on target, focused on the subject at hand. This is a listening session on trade issues.

I'd like to introduce our panel which is sitting at the table. To the far left, your right is Ambassador Mark Baas from the Department of State, the Office of Agricultural and Textile Trade Policy.

And next to him is Teresa Howse, U.S. Trade Representative, Office of Agricultural Affairs.

And on the right at the table is Under Secretary Gus Schumacher of the USDA Farm and Foreign Agriculture Service, of which my agency, the Farm Service Agency is a part. So that's my boss right there.

We will recognize registered speakers. If you're here and you wish to speak, please register at the front desk as soon as possible so that you may be recognized. Five minutes each will be allotted to a speaker. And the panel of negotiators may ask for clarification or a follow-up question. Please, when you get to the podium, all the way to the left, my left, your right of the stage, state your name and organization or occupation, if you're a farmer.

All statements are a matter of public record and they may appear on the USDA and the state U.S. Trade Representative web sites. And we would appreciate copies of your testimony, please. And if you have only one copy, we can supply you a copy in return at some point. But please provide us with a copy.

To keep us all on time, at the top of the balcony there are three lights, green, yellow and red. If the green light is on and you're speaking, feel no need to rush. But stay focused. If the yellow light is on, you have approximately one minute. So try to wrap up in that amount of time. And if the light turns red on you, we won't stop you abruptly, but try to wrap up in about 30 seconds.

At this point, we will hear from Ambassador Mark Baas, Office of Agricultural and Textile Trade Policy. Ambassador Baas.