"Good morning. I am going to offer a few prepared remarks and then will be happy to take your questions.

"Let me, again, just express how much we have enjoyed our time in Italy. Wherever we have gone, everyone has been enormously gracious and we have enjoyed it immensely. We are very thankful for the hospitality we have received.

"I am very proud to represent the United States here in Rome at the 33rd plenary session of the Food and Agriculture Organization.

"This meeting provides a valuable forum at which to meet with colleagues from across the globe to address food and agriculture issues, poverty and hunger. We have held a wide range discussion of the opportunities we can undertake to help address these needs and renewed our commitment to achieving the goal of significantly reducing hunger.

"We share an appreciation for the vital role of FAO. Its role to reduce poverty. The work of both the Codex and the International Plant Protection Convention is imperative. And the important role FAO plays in other aspects of agricultural capacity building, such as biotechnology and disease eradication is also recognized and appreciated.

"Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak at the plenary session and I also had the opportunity to meet with the Minister for Italy, Minister Alemmano. I had the opportunity to meet with Director General Diouf and had opportunity to meet with ministers from Mexico, India, Australia, the European Union and Iraq.

"The bilateral meetings are an opportunity for me to discuss with my colleagues, in a one-on-one basis, issues that are of importance.

"I will mention that I did appreciate Minister Alemmano setting aside time for me when it is his country that hosts the conference it is a very busy time for him. We had a very constructive meeting and good conversation. We also talked about his visit to the United States, which I welcome. We would be anxious to have him come to the U.S.

"All of our discussions were very positive. We spoke of the important work of FAO and also of a number of bilateral and multilateral trade issues.

"I will share with you that I was very impressed by the optimism of the Minister of Iraq. He told me of the 30 years of neglect of the agriculture sector under Saddam Hussein and the revitalization efforts that are currently underway.

"Certainly, the Iraqis have a long way to go. During the Saddam years, their agricultural scientists were unable to even do such basic things as receive academic journals on agricultural research.

"Yet, they are committed and excited about opportunities to apply new farming techniques and products to increase the quality and yield of agriculture, and the value of their exports. We specifically talked about tomatoes and the opportunity for export of those products to other countries in the region. We did talk about specific products and they are anxious to export into the world community.

"The Minister thanked the United States for helping the Iraqi people and asked that now we continue with our efforts to rebuild their economy. And we are going to do everything we possible to help them be successful.

"The minister spoke very passionately about some of the things they found when the Saddam regime was taken away. The mass graves. He described one case that was especially moving to me where they found a mother in a grave trying to lift her child to the top of the dirt to get air. It was a very, very moving description of the brutality of Saddam's regime.

"One of the common themes to these meetings overall was the importance of achieving a positive result from the WTO process through the Doha Development Round.

"As you know, the United States has offered a bold, ambitious proposal to ensure a market-opening outcome that would fulfill the promise of lifting millions of people out of poverty in the developing world.

"Several recent highly credible studies have affirmed that the developing world stands to gain enormously from the Doha Round.

"The United Nations Millennium Development Goals report estimates that deep liberalization could decrease, lessen the number of people living on $1.00 a day or less by 61 million, and the number of people living on $2.00 per day by 144 million by the year 2015. Just ten years away.

"Achieving fundamental reform of agricultural trade is a critical component in these negotiations. As I said yesterday in my remarks, this conference comes at a crucial time. In little more than two weeks, we will meet in Hong Kong.

"We've not made the progress that we had hoped to enable us to set forth a balanced package on agriculture because our ambitious offer has not been matched. But I want to emphasize that our commitment to the Doha Round is as strong as ever.

"Hong Kong is an important milestone along the way but it is important to keep in mind it is not the end of the Doha process. The United States is pushing hard for a very successful meeting and we're going to be doing everything we can to build consensus in order for us to have a successful ministerial and negotiations throughout 2006. The Doha Round extends through 2006.

"Let me just say finally, the stakes are enormously high. This round is a once-in-a generation opportunity. It will determine whether developing countries will gain the opportunity to share in the benefits of expanded global trade, the primary engine for more robust economic development in developing countries.

"We cannot afford to miss out on an opportunity to significantly stimulate the global economy and provide millions of impoverished people some hope for a better future.

"Now, I would be happy to take your questions."