Remarks by Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman Announcement of USDA FY 2001 Budget February 7, 2000 Release No. 0035.00 Remarks As Prepared for Delivery by Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman Announcement of USDA FY 2001 Budget February 7, 2000 "Good afternoon, and thank you all for coming. I want to start out by thanking Steve Dewhurst and the entire Office of Budget and Program Analysis for the outstanding work they do year after year to put together this budget request. Steve will be available to outline all the details for you. But first, I want to make a few general remarks about this budget and point out some of its highlights. "This budget provides the resources necessary for us to carry out our programs effectively and to contribute to new Presidential initiatives. But it also fits within the framework of an overall balanced budget, the third consecutive balanced budget submitted by the President. The President's budget maintains fiscal discipline; it extends both Medicare and Social Security solvency; it includes targeted tax cuts and investments for education, health care and rural and farm communities. And the budget also puts us on-track to eliminate the national debt by the year 2013. That would be the first time since 1835 that the nation would be debt-free. "As you all know, many in the farm sector have not shared in the overall national prosperity. That's why the USDA budget includes a new safety net proposal worth $11.5 billion over the next two years. I won't go too deeply into this, because I talked about it to most of you last week. But I do want to emphasize that it includes targeted, countercyclical income assistance, as well as increased conservation assistance, improved risk management tools and new market opportunities for farmers. I believe that this plan represents a shift in farm policy philosophy, one that I hope will guide lawmakers as they begin to think about the 2002 farm bill. "But USDA, as you know, has responsibilities beyond production agriculture. And I want to point out a few of the other priority areas in the 2001 budget. "Despite unprecedented national prosperity, there are still many families and many children especially who don't know where their next meal is coming from. So this budget provides full funding for the anticipated needs of the Food Stamp Program. It allows us to provide benefits to nearly 19 million people per month; to expand our food stamp education campaign; to extend benefits to additional categories of legal immigrants; and to ease the rule on automobile ownership, so that more people can participate in the program. "We are also requesting $10.4 billion for child nutrition, including $6 million for a Free School Breakfast Pilot Program. The budget includes funding to serve 7.4 million monthly participants in the WIC program. And we have asked for $5 million to fight hunger through community-based efforts such as food recovery and gleaning. "Preserving our open spaces and natural treasures is an important priority of USDA and this Administration. Our budget includes a total of $301 million to support the President's Lands Legacy Initiative. That money includes $130 million for land acquisition; $60 million for the Forest Legacy Program; $40 million for our Urban and Community Forestry Program; $6 million to help communities protect open spaces and rein in urban sprawl; and $65 million for the Farmland Protection Program, which will limit the conversion of agricultural land. "It has been an article of faith in this Administration that environmental stewardship and economic growth can and must go hand-in-hand. That's why we've proposed more than a 50 percent increase in funding to promote the use of biobased products and bioenergy, which create market opportunities for farmers and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. That includes investments in research and development; technical and financial assistance; and business and industry loans for cooperatives involved in processing or marketing biobased products. In addition, the Commodity Credit Corporation will provide up to $150 million $50 million more than this year in incentives to encourage increased use of farm products as alternative energy sources. "To support the President's Food Safety Initiative, we are requesting a total of $165 million, to be distributed among eight different USDA agencies. More than half the increase over the 2000 level is earmarked for food safety research, which would help us better detect and identify pathogens. Another $3.7 million of the increase would allow us to conduct risk assessments that support implementation of the HACCP program. "We are also asking for more resources to help rural Americans reap the benefits of this strong economy. Three-quarters of rural Americans now own their own homes a record high but we believe we can do better. That's why our budget includes $5 billion in single-family housing loans, a significant increase that will provide 64,000 additional homeownership opportunities. We also are committed to closing the "Digital Divide", which separates the information haves and have-nots. So we want to nearly double the investment in Distance Learning and Telemedicine Loans and Grants for rural residents, enough to upgrade information infrastructure in almost 2,000 schools and more than 3,000 health care facilities. "We are requesting a $36 million increase for our Marketing and Regulatory Programs mission area, to take on a number of important efforts. MRP will need extra resources to finalize the National Organic Program and to continue to implement the mandatory price reporting legislation passed last year. And we've asked for funds we need to continue efforts to eradicate invasive species like Medfly, Citrus Canker and the Asian Long-horned beetle, which damage our environment and undermine our competitiveness in world markets. "Also under the MRP umbrella, we have requested additional funding to address market concentration in the livestock and poultry industries, an issue that remains a high priority at USDA. And the budget also includes proposals for developing testing methods for biotechnology crops. "A few years ago, I established an Office of Outreach in order to better serve populations that USDA too often neglected in the past. So, as part of our continued commitment to civil rights, this budget also proposes $10 million to provide socially disadvantaged farmers with the training and management assistance they need. "If I could summarize the theme here, it is that this budget empowers farmers and rural Americans to thrive in the 21st century. Everything from supplemental income assistance, to farmland preservation, to protection from agricultural pests and investments in biobased products is designed to keep our farmers competitive. Food safety, while it is certainly geared toward the general public, also helps the agricultural sector. Because the only kind of food that sells is safe food. It would be nice if everyone in rural America could make a living growing crops. Some will, but some cannot. That's why our infrastructure investments in sewers, housing telecommunications, and so on are so important, because there need to be other economic opportunities, other than production agriculture, available to rural Americans in the 21st century. "Thank you very much. I'd like now to turn it over to Deputy Secretary Rominger. Over the last seven years, he has done an outstanding job in reinventing our management systems, consolidating offices and ensuring that we provide improved customer service even with a smaller workforce. I'd like him to say a few words about those efforts. Then, I'll take some questions, before giving Steve the floor." #