MS. ADAMSON: Sir, Mr. Schroeder, I hope that means you haven't given up.

MR. SCHROEDER: No, no, it's more fun to fight.

MS. ADAMSON: My name is Diana Adamson, we are a third-generation family farm trying to have the fourth generation come back to the farm, and at this point, it is not possible in any way, shape, or form if my son wants to educate his two daughters and have some kind of a living.

My husband, Art, and I are grain producers in north central Montana. We have read and been told by economists how the trade agreements would be good for our economy, but that's not been true for the grassroots agriculture economy. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Our income has steadily declined while our expenses have decreased. We feel that our way of life has been and is continuing to be bartered away. You, as American negotiators, have an opportunity to correct the inadequacy and the unfairness of the past trade agreements that have adversely affected production agriculture. You have an obligation to American agriculture and all of the negotiations and decisions made at the WTO meetings in Seattle not to trade us away.

American family producers should not be asked to compete with agriculture products that are produced under less stringent health, safety, environmental, labor, and other standards that are required of US farmers and ranchers. Our family farmers and ranchers can compete in a fair trade environment which includes transparent trade policy and equitable, enforceable rules that are consistently applied.

I would recommend the following: Before any trade agreements are negotiated under the new Seattle Round provisions, there needs to be an economic impact statement about the effect of NAFTA and the WTO on family-sized farming and ranching operations in the US, both by state and by commodity. Two, we must have Country of Origin Labeling for all agricultural products. Three, inspect all agriculture products coming into the United States. I realize we just addressed that, but I would like to ask a question concerning that. Is it not important to inspect the other 99 percent of the imports? And if it is important, why can't they get the funding to do so? Four, ag producers need to be part of a negotiation team. We must work closer with our Canadian neighbors to begin creating alliances instead of policy disputes.

Future trade negotiation should be consulted with both house and senate agriculture committees. Producer representation on trade advisory committees and negotiations is essential, including the ag committee oversight throughout the negotiating process. The special embassador for agriculture should be a permanent position in the office of the US Trade Representative. Trade agreements should include labor, environmental, and health and safety standards leveled up to US standards. And there needs to be re-establishment of the farmer-owned reserve to ensure both food security in the United States and abroad. Production agriculture is the heart and the soul of America, we provide jobs, we provide cash flow, and an abundant, safe food supply and a community spirit. Do not trade away our soul. If you do, you will destroy the fiber that has made our nation great. Thank you.

MR. NELSON: Panel, any questions or comments?

MR. GALVIN: I agree, we should be putting up more resources to make sure that the food we eat, both domestic and imported, is safe. You might recall last year President Clinton announced a major new food safety initiative, I believe he called for $100 million dollars in additional spending under that. Unfortunately, Congress has not come through with full funding for that, but I think there is a great awareness that more resources are needed for this sort of effort.

You know, right now, today, there's a billion dollars worth of products, both agriculture and nonagricultural, that cross the US/Canadian border every day, a billion dollars. That's an awful lot of product, and I don't think we need to inspect absolutely everything that comes across or a lot of that commerce would just grind to a halt. But I think, clearly, there is a need to do more inspecting and more testing so that everybody feels better about the safety of the products that we consume.

MS. ADAMSON: For the Ecoli, the life of one child is worth every inspection that you have.

MR. GALVIN: That's right. It's just not an imported food issues, as you know, it's a domestic food issue as well.

MS. ADAMSON: I do have a bumper sticker that was done by a third grader from Lewis and Clark, and it says, and I would like to present this to you, Mr. Galvin, it says, "Take care of agriculture, it takes care of you."

MR. NELSON: Thank you, Diana.

MR. SCHROEDER: I saw a bumper sticker the other day in Washington that said, "Keep honking, I'm just reloading."

MR. GALVIN: We also have a statement that was submitted by one of our younger participants in the audience today having to do with whether or not he is going to become a farmer in the future. And he says in here, it very much depends on what happens to the price of wheat. So we'll enter this into the record as well. Thank you.