Dick Lugar: “Today the Senate completes action on the Agricultural Research, Extension and Education Reform Act of 1997. This…”

“Today the Senate completes action on the Agricultural Research, Extension and Education Reform Act of 1997. This legislation was approved by a unanimous rollcall vote of the 18 members of the Senate Agriculture Committee in July. I commend Senator Harkin and all members of the committee for their bipartisan approach and cooperative efforts in constructing this legislation. Because research programs were only authorized through 1997 in last year's farm bill, the Senate Agriculture Committee has had the opportunity this year to review agricultural research, extension and education funding. The committee gathered testimony through four hearings in March and received more than 100 responses to some relevant questions that I posed publicly in January. With the growth in world population, U.S. producers may well need to triple their production in the next few decades to meet growing demand for food and spare the world's rain forests from being uprooted in a desperate effort to expand production. To increase future food production, our Nation must devote additional resources to agricultural research. This bill provides new funding for agricultural research to address critical emerging issues related to future food production, environmental protection and farm income. Food genome science, food safety, agricultural biotechnology and precision agriculture are key areas that need additional resources to meet the challenges that face U.S. farmers.”