Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

 Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I thank my colleague. I will start by congratulating Senator Harkin and Senator Chambliss for their good work on this legislation, and also Senator Baucus. I know Senator Conrad also had a very important role in completing this legislation. This is a good bill for New Mexico, a good bill for the Nation. I plan to vote for the conference report.

Mr. President, I am pleased with the numerous provisions in this bill that help promote specialty crops like chile and pecans, conserve natural resources, invest in food and nutrition for children, increase production of advanced biofuels, promote broadband service in rural areas and provide fresh fruits and vegetables for schools. The bill includes the consensus language I support on country-of-origin labeling of meat and vegetables. 

I also appreciate the conferees including a provision authorizing a new Southwest Border Regional Commission. I originally introduced the Southwest Border Authority bill, which created this Commission, in 2002. I have been working since then with Senators Boxer, Feinstein, and Hutchison toward its passage. I would also like to commend the work of Congressman Silvestre Reyes, who championed the bill in the House. The new commission will give the Southwest border region the ability to coordinate economic activity and innovation. There can be no question that the Southwest border is an area of tremendous promise and economic activity. Unfortunately, this region has long suffered from a lack of coordinated effort among and between the border counties. The Southwest Border Regional Commission will, for the first time, provide the tools and personnel necessary to harness the opportunity in the area and create a dynamic economy that will benefit the entire Nation. 

Nevertheless, there are provisions in this bill that cause me concern. The dairy industry is New Mexico's single most important agricultural commodity. My State is currently the Nation's ninth largest dairy State and sixth in total cheese production. Dairy producers in my State see little in the bill to help them deal with today's high production costs and believe this bill will hurt them. It is unfortunate that the bill extends and expands a subsidy program called the milk income loss contract at a cost of $1.6 billion over 5 years. I led the opposition to the MILC subsidy in the 2002 farm bill and voted against the extension of it in 2006. I do believe the program unfairly favors producers in only a few States and is not a good use of taxpayers' money. 

I am also disappointed that the conferees did not include my bipartisan provision that promoted water conservation for producers in the Ogallala aquifer. The Ogallala aquifer is a critical source of groundwater for agricultural and municipal uses. My voluntary program would have helped slow the rapid depletion of this vital resource. In place of my provision, the bill has a new Agriculture Water Enhancement Program. I intend to work with USDA to ensure that priority is given to States and agricultural producers in the Ogallala region to coordinate Federal assistance with State programs and to encourage cooperation among States in implementing conservation programs and efficient use of water. 

Let me conclude my statement by spending a minute or two talking about the provision in this bill to expand trade preferences for Haiti, and the situation in Haiti more broadly. 

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. According to United Nations Development Programme data, approximately 76 percent of Haiti's population subsists on under $2 per day and 55 percent on under $1 per day. As much as three-fifths of the population is unemployed or underemployed. One in five Haitian children is malnourished. 

Since late 2006, President Préval, in conjunction with the United Nations Mission for the Stabilization of Haiti, or MINUSTAH, has made real progress in reclaiming the streets from the toughest gangs in Cité Soleil and other Port-au-Prince slums. Last month's food riots--and the dismissal of Prime Minister Alexis, and the Haitian parliament's rejection of Ericq Pierre, the Inter-American Development Bank official nominated to replace him--now threaten to reverse these hard-won gains.

On balance, though, for the first time in many years, Haiti has a real opportunity to build a future. And we owe it to the Haitian people to help them in this task--partly for reasons of preserving stability in the Caribbean, and partly to provide an alternative to emigrating to the U.S., but mostly because it is the right thing to do. 

As part of this ongoing commitment, we must take two immediate actions to consolidate stability by fostering economic growth in Haiti. I am pleased that one of these steps is taken by this farm bill. 

The HOPE-II Act contained in this conference report has significant potential to create jobs in Haiti's apparel sector by expanding its duty-free access to the U.S. market. It also gives Haiti a degree of access to ``third country'' fabric, whose low cost makes the business case for opening an apparel factory in Haiti much more attractive. And it helps Haiti to adopt best practices on working conditions by authorizing a program under which the International Labor Organization assesses the apparel industry's compliance with core labor standards and Haitian labor law. I would like to commend my colleague, Chairman Rangel, for his efforts to get this provision included, and my colleagues Senators Corker and Harkin and Nelson from Florida, for all of their hard work and attention to the urgent needs of Haiti. 

The second immediate action we must take is to address the food crisis in Haiti. I am pleased that the upcoming emergency supplemental appropriations bill will call for significantly increased levels of food aid. I urge my colleagues and the Bush administration to place a priority on Haiti when allocating that aid. Specifically, Haiti needs, at bare minimum, $75 million in food aid. I also believe we must continue working with the administration to ensure that our food aid is dispersed as efficiently as possible by allowing at least 25 percent of it to be used for purchases of food in developing countries. 

We must not let this pivotal moment slip out of our hands. In an era when too many countries around the world distrust the U.S., let us work together to build goodwill among the people of Haiti. 

Again, I thank Chairman Harkin and Senator Chambliss for all their good work on this bill. I will support the conference report, and I hope it will soon be passed into law. 

Again, I congratulate my colleagues for the good work on this bill, and I yield the floor.