We're going try to have some remarks at the very beginning of our program here by some of our elected officials here in the state of Nebraska, and we'll hear from some of the representatives this morning that came to listen from Washington from USDA and U.S. Trade Representative's office. And then we'll be hearing from some of you about some of your concerns pertaining to trade issues as we head into this Seattle Round of negotiations on the World Trade Organization.

To get things started this morning to welcome you here to the state of Nebraska is a man who needs no introduction to most of you, the Governor of this great state, and I asked him out front a little bit ago if there was anything that he would like me to say and the words that he mentioned were already in my introduction like "brilliant" and there were some things that I can't remember. They were already in there. I'll tell you, this is a guy who grew up on a dairy farm here in Nebraska, knows agriculture and is a real friend of agriculture.

And I guess the thing that amazes me about Mike Johanns is his degree of energy and his degree of enthusiasm for this job and given that we're into this, what, six -- eight months or seven. Where are we? June, six months. Nevertheless, he's as fresh today as the day he took the oath of office, and his agenda makes me tired just thinking about it, trying to imagine the -- maintaining that kind of pace, but we want to thank him for his efforts on behalf of the State to welcome him and welcome you, Governor Mike Johanns.

GOVERNOR JOHANNS: Well, thank you very, very much. It's a pleasure being here with you today. Let me start out, of course, most importantly and say welcome to each of you. We appreciate taking -- you taking time out of your schedules to stop by today. This is very, very important, and we appreciate it.

I had a few comments that I wanted to offer today. I certainly am not the guy that will lead the testimony today, but there are some things that I think are important that I say and acknowledge.

First thing that I want to say is that we certainly believe in this state that exports of ag products are very important. I have invested a lot of time and energy in trade missions as did the previous administration. We wouldn't do those things if we didn't believe they were important.

The United States comprises only 4 percent of the world's population, and yet it produces nearly half of the world's food. That means that 96 percent of our market is in the international marketplace with potential to grow.

At the same time, fewer people are engaging in production agriculture. If you look back to the 1930's, more than 20 percent of Americans worked on farms. Today only about 2 percent do.

Overall, and I'm using statistics that are a little bit dated, about five years ago these were put together, but overall the number of U.S. jobs supported by exports totalled 10.3 million, goods exports supported 6.8 million jobs, and service exports supported 3.5 million jobs. So about one out of every ten jobs in the U.S. business sector is supported by goods and services exports, and that is significant to our economy.

From my perspective, the importance of the international trade for Nebraska ag products is enormously important and has potential and opportunity to grow if done right. Nebraska exports totalled 2.2 billion. That's billion with a B in 1988 -- 1998, a 42.1 percent increase since 1993. It is very much a growing enterprise. Nebraska exporters sell to almost 140 countries worldwide each year.

The upcoming World Trade Organization Seattle Round is an effort that the ag community in this state is going to watch very, very carefully.

In the business that we deal in, perception is oftentimes the reality. And I have to say the perception these days is that Nebraska and the United States have not had a fair deal in terms of trading with ag products.

We believe that there is an opportunity in these new round of talks to level the playing field, to make sure that our ag products are open. We approach this on a positive note. We approach it with the notion that what we are looking for is a fair deal.

As we start to think about the negotiations that are coming up, however, I want to point out very, very emphatically that I as Governor of the state of Nebraska and my fellow governors who represent ag states will watch very, very carefully the agreements that are reached and we will ask one basic, fair, fundamental question and that is, is Nebraska agriculture being protected? We certainly do not minimize the importance of trade in other areas such as manufacturing. But the fundamental question for me as I review any future trade agreement will be, is Nebraska agriculture being given a fair deal? And I just think it's important to put that out on the table as we start to think about where we're headed with future trade agreements.

I would suggest today that if we were to put to a vote of the people the NAFTA agreement, put it to a vote of the people in agriculture, I wonder if it would pass in Nebraska today. And you could probably make a case that it should pass, that it must pass, but agriculture is feeling that may be they haven't gotten all that they needed to get out of this.

With those thoughts, what I would like to do today is just to return to my message where I started and that is to say to all of you welcome. I can't describe how important this is. I look across this room, and I see people that accompanied me recently to Taiwan and to Japan to assist me in selling our ag products. We're going to keep working in the international market, and we believe that there's future there. And given the tools of a fair trade agreement, I believe--without any hesitation I tell you this--that our Nebraska ag producers can compete with anyone in the world. Thank you very much and again, welcome.