AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR 1985 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1984. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE WITNESSES JOHN R. BLOCK, SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE WILLIAM LESHER, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR ECONOMICS STEPHEN B. DEWHURST, BUDGET OFFICER, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE OPENING REMARKS Mr. WHITTEN. The Committee will come to order. Mr. Secretary, I have read your statement and we could argue all day about the conclusions you have reached, as well as some of the facts you present. It worked out pretty well the other day, when we had the overview hearings, for us to talk about conditions as they are rather than spending our time listening to hopes and predictions. With all due deference, your statement will appear in the record. It speaks for itself. We need to talk about the crisis now facing agriculture. [CLERK'S NOTE.-The Secretary's prepared statement appears on pages 181 through 212.] But I have sat on this Committee a long time and I don't believe I have ever seen a more serious situation in American agriculture. Now only 3.6 percent of the people live on farms, as I understand it. The people who left have been replaced by high priced machinery, equipment and all of the things that are bought from industry and labor. I, for one, figure that through the years we have proven that a proper balance between agriculture and labor is necessary to the whole country. If labor does not make any money, everyone feels it, and if industry does not, we feel it. But agriculture, the segment that takes care of the land and the soil and the one we have to look to for our basic necessity-is often overlooked. Agriculture is our biggest industry. It buys more from industry and labor than our three biggest industries: automobiles, steel and ng. It is our chief dollar earner in world trade. It is the conbest and most economical supplier of basic necessities. COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS JAMIE L. WHITTEN, Mississippi, Chairman EDWARD P. BOLAND, Massachusetts NEAL SMITH, Iowa JOSEPH P. ADDABBO, New York TOM BEVILL, Alabama BILL CHAPPELL, JR., Florida BILL ALEXANDER, Arkansas JOHN P. MURTHA, Pennsylvania BOB TRAXLER, Michigan JOSEPH D. EARLY, Massachusetts LINDY (MRS. HALE) BOGGS, Louisiana WILLIAM LEHMAN, Florida JACK HIGHTOWER, Texas MARTIN OLAV SABO, Minnesota JULIAN C. DIXON, California VIC FAZIO, California W. G. (BILL) HEFNER, North Carolina LES AUCOIN, Oregon DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii WES WATKINS, Oklahoma WILLIAM H. GRAY III, Pennsylvania BERNARD J. DWYER, New Jersey WILLIAM R. RATCHFORD, Connecticut BILL BONER, Tennessee STENY H. HOYER, Maryland BOB CARR, Michigan ROBERT J. MRAZEK, New York SILVIO O. CONTE, Massachusetts J. KENNETH ROBINSON, Virginia ELDON RUDD, Arizona CARL D. PURSELL, Michigan KEITH F. MAINLAND, Clerk and Staff Director (II) |