Bill Clinton: “Well, first of all, we've expanded the size of the program, which I thought was important; it was way too small in '93…”

“Well, first of all, we've expanded the size of the program, which I thought was important; it was way too small in '93 when I took office. We've more than doubled it, and we've expanded farmers' choices by creating new varieties of crop insurance, and we've introduced the concept of revenue insurance in a large majority of the grain-producing parts of the country. But I still think there are some other things that have to be done. I think that even though we've improved the program by offering coverage on preventive planning since '93 and increasingly based the coverage on farmers' individual yields, it's just not working for most farmers. And what we're trying to do now is to look at all the ways we can help our farmers get through tough times that we can pass in the Congress. Maybe Secretary Glickman would like to talk about this, but I must say, I've been waiting for someone to ask this question, because when I was home last weekend talking to the farmers, that's the only thing they said. They said, ``This crop insurance is a joke; it doesn't really help anybody.'' So maybe, Secretary Glickman, that's too blunt for me to say that our Government's crop insurance program is a joke, but maybe you should talk a little more about some of the things we're looking at to improve it. [Secretary Glickman explained that under the current crop insurance system, farmers experiencing repeated disasters found that their premiums paid could be much greater than their benefits received. He commended the legislation sponsored by Senators Dorgan and Conrad.]”