Angie Craig: “let me speak to what Senator Grassley has talked to in general because I share his concern. I attended one of those…”

“let me speak to what Senator Grassley has talked to in general because I share his concern. I attended one of those meetings with him some time ago and I, as many others, have expressed that. My effort today is not to stop what is going on here but to better inform us if we are in fact making the right decision. I want the family farmer to prosper, and for any packer to suggest that family farmers today are less than sophisticated, they don't know the family farmer of Idaho, or Iowa for that matter. They are highly skilled, professional business men and women--some small, some quite large. But they are family farmers who produce the food and fiber of our country. Here is what I think all of us fail to address, and that is not competition in this country as much as competition from foreign countries, where we see livestock production and packing increasing very rapidly and entering the market both here and around the world. The pork industries both in Canada and Brazil, for example, had an annual growth rate of 6.5 percent from 1995 to 2000, according to the USDA. Both countries already are cost competitive pork suppliers. Canada has excess packing capacity and both countries have space for expansion. Canada, Argentina, and Australia stand to benefit from a less competitive United States beef industry. What we are talking about are efficiencies and competitiveness, and that is really a part of what we have to look at and what my study directs.”