For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 8, 2002
President Discusses Ag Policy at Cattle Industry Convention
Remarks by the President to the Cattle Industry Annual Convention and Trade Show
Denver Convention Center
Denver, Colorado
9:41 A.M. MST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. It's
great to be here, thank you very much. Well, thank you very
much. I'm really honored to be here. I really appreciate my
new hat. (Laughter.) I'm looking forward to
wearing it in Crawford. I don't get to spend enough time
there but, when I do, I really enjoy being around the
cows. (Laughter and applause.)
I find it such a relaxing place, a place to stay in touch with
what's important in life, and Laura and I love what we do; we love our
new address. (Laughter.) But I can assure you,
when it's all over, we're going back to the
ranch. (Applause.)
I want to thank my friend, Lynn, for inviting me
here. And thank you all for such a warm greeting and giving
us a chance to come. I'm here to share with you some
thoughts about our nation, how to improve our economy, and the strength
of our character.
You know, I gave a State of the Union the other day and I reminded
the nation we're at war. We've got tough economic times,
we're in a recession. But our nation has never been
stronger. (Applause.) And someone who has shown
incredible strength and calm during a time of national crisis has been
my wife, Laura. (Applause.) A lot of it has to do
with the fact that she had a great mom and a wonderful
dad. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that she
was born and raised in the West. (Applause.) People around
the country are now figuring out why I married her. A lot of
them are trying to figure out why she married
me. (Laughter.)
I appreciate so very much traveling today with our Secretary of
Agriculture, Ann Veneman. (Applause.) Ann's doing
a really good job for the country. You know, one of the
things that concerned me a lot is to make sure that hoof and mouth
never made it into our land. I've talked to Ann a lot about
it. I said, whatever you do, you make sure we stop it. And
she did, along with a lot of other good folks who work for the
Agriculture Department. I'm proud of her
efforts. I'm proud of her genuine concern about the farmers
and ranchers of the country. And I appreciate her strong
leadership. (Applause.)
I'm proud to be traveling with members of the United States
Congress who understand the importance of agriculture in the life of
our country. One such man is a guy from West Texas. In
1978, I ran for the very seat he holds; I lost, he
won. (Laughter.) He's the Chairman of the House
Agriculture Committee, a really good friend and a good man out of
Lubbock, Texas, Larry Combest. (Applause.)
And we brought some other members along: from the great
state of Kansas, Senator Pat
Roberts. (Applause.) Craig Thomas, of Wyoming.
(Applause.) I'm spending the night in his state
tonight. (Applause.) In Jackson
Hole. They tell me it's quite a spectacular place to look
at. He said, don't worry, Mr. President, the high is going
to be about nine. (Laughter.) But I'm really looking
forward to it. (Laughter.)
I appreciate so very much, as well, fine senators from the state of
Colorado, Wayne Allard. I hope Wayne comes back up
there. He's needed in Washington,
D.C. (Applause.) And Ben Nighthorse
Campbell. (Applause.)
I've spent a lot of time with this other senator, roaming around
Iowa. It seems like everywhere he went, he said, oh, Joe owns this 160
acres, and he farms soybeans. And then he'd go down the road
a little bit, and he'd say, that's where Harry lives, he farms
corn. This guy knows more about agriculture in the state of
Iowa and more about Iowa than could possibly be
imagined. He's a fine, fine leader, he's the head of the
Finance Committee at one time. I'd like to get him back to
be the head of the Finance Committee, and that's Chuck
Grassley. (Applause.)
This state has got an excellent Governor. I'm proud to
call Bill Owens "friend." He knows what he's
doing. I think the people of Colorado appreciate his
leadership. Governor Bill
Owens. (Applause.) We've got another member from
the United States Congress with us, from the state of Colorado, Tom
Tancredo. Thank you for coming, Tom. (Applause.)
And, finally, on the way to Wyoming, we're going to stop in Utah.
(Laughter.) I'm really looking forward to opening the
Olympics. It's going to be a magnificent moment for Utah and
our great country. And traveling with us today are the two
United States Senators from Utah, Senator Bob Bennett and Senator Orrin
Hatch. Thank you all for coming. (Applause.)
I appreciate being with people who love the land, and appreciate
open space. I realize there's nobody more central to the
American experience than the cowboy. But cattle raising is
not only a big part of America's past, I view it as an incredibly
important part of America's future. (Applause.) This nation
has got to eat. (Laughter.) It's in our national
security interests that we be able to feed
ourselves. (Applause.) Thank goodness we don't
have to rely on somebody else's meat to make sure our people are
healthy and well fed. (Applause.)
I appreciate so very much the fact that the cattleman usually
doesn't spend a lot of time asking something from the federal
government, except for perhaps lower
taxes. (Applause.) But one message that all of us
on this stage heard loud and clear was this. Let us pass our
assets on from one generation to the
next. (Applause.) Let us make sure my son and
daughter is able to ranch the land that has been in my family for a
long time.
I'm proud to report that finally, finally enough members of
Congress, including the Chairman of the Finance Committee, understood
the punitive nature of the death tax and we sent it on its way to
extinction. (Applause.) But to make sure we finally put it
where it belongs, to put the death tax to death, we need your help in
making sure the Senate and the House hears that the tax relief we
passed last winter must be permanent. (Applause.)
One thing I appreciate about cattlemen and the cattlewomen and the
families that ranch our land is the values, the values represented
right here in this great hall: the values of hard work, of
faith and family; the values reflected in the determined attitude of
American cattlemen, values that frankly represent a part of the
American spirit, values that are incredibly important for our nation to
uphold during a time of national testing.
And make no mistake about it, this nation is being
tested. You know, when the enemy hit us on September the
11th, they must have not figured out what we were all
about. See, they thought we weren't determined, they thought
we were soft. They obviously had never been to a National
Cattlemen's Convention before. (Applause.)
Now what they're finding out is this great land is determined and
patient and steadfast and strong to defend
freedom. (Applause.) We've been called into
action. History has called this government and our nation to
action, to defend freedom. And make no mistake about it,
that's exactly what I intend to do. (Applause.)
I intend to find the killers wherever they may hide, and run them
down, and bring them to justice. They think there's a cave
deep enough, they're wrong. They think they're going to run
out of patience, they are wrong. Those who hurt America and
those who continue want to harm America will not be able to escape the
long reach of American justice. (Applause.)
I'm sure there's many out in the audience today who have got a
relative who serves in the United States military. I want to
tell you how grateful we are for the sacrifice and the honor the
military has brought to the United States. I sent them on a
tough mission, and my, have they made us proud. (Applause.)
We haven't been at this very long, but we've accomplished a lot in
a short period of time. As you remember, I laid out a
doctrine for our foreign policy that said, if you harbor a terrorist,
if you feed a terrorist, if you hide a terrorist, you're just as guilty
as the terrorists. And the Taliban found out what that
meant. (Applause.)
Our military not only upheld the doctrine, but in so doing, I'm
proud to report, we liberated a people. We have freed women
and children from the clutches of one of the most barbaric regimes in
the history of mankind. I'm so proud of the United States
military. (Applause.)
And we're just beginning. Afghanistan is the first
theater in the war against terror. This nation cannot
afford, and must not rest, until we have done everything in our power
to rally our coalition and rid the world of terror.
That not only means those who are associated with the terrorist
networks of global reach; it also means nations which develop weapons
of mass destruction aimed at destroying America and attacking our
friends and our allies. Nations that have had, as a result
of their past, have shown us clearly that they hate freedom, they hate
transparency, they hate rule of law. Nations which, if they
were able to couple their mad designs with global terrorism, would
threaten our children and our children's children's
future. I will not let it stand, and neither will the United
States of America. (Applause.)
And so I sent a budget to the United States
Congress. I'm proud to report all of them on the stage are
with me on this one. It's a budget that increases our monies
for security, significantly increases defense
spending. Those who wear our uniform deserve the best, the
best training, the best equipment, another pay raise. The
price of freedom is high. The price of security is
high. But this nation will pay it. (Applause.)
I want you to know it's a huge honor to walk in the Oval Office and
sit at a great desk in magnificent surroundings. But now my
job has changed after 9/11. Every morning, I walk in and
read threat assessments to the United States of America. The
enemy would still like to hit us. But you need to know that we're
doing everything in our power to prevent it.
I'm proud to report that the FBI is well managed by a man named
Robert Mueller and a great team. We're still interested in
spies. We're still after white collar crime. The
primary focus of over 4,000 FBI agents is my primary obligation, which
is to protect the American people, protect American families from
another enemy attack. We're running down every
lead. We're following every hint. We're chasing
down every opportunity to make the country safe.
I also want you to know that the nation is developing a homeland
security strategy that's important. It's important not only
for the short term, but it's important because after we implement the
strategy, America will be better off for the long-term. For
example, preparing against a bioterrorist attack, we're spending a lot
of money to make sure the nation's health care system can communicate
better, public health works better, that there's medicines available if
there were to be an attack. Much of the research and development
that's going on to make America better secure against bioterrorism
could conceivably lead to cures for diseases that have plagued us for a
long period of time.
We've got money in our budget to make sure our first-responders,
the heroic policemen and firemen all around the country have got better
equipment and can better communicate. As a result of
hardening the homeland against a bioterrorist attack with first time
responders, our neighborhoods will be ultimately safer for crime.
We're making sure our borders are more secure. We want
to know who's coming in and we want to know who's going
out. We want to make sure that we do everything we can to be
a hospitable nation. On the other hand, we want to make sure
if people have overstayed their welcome that they're welcome to
leave. (Laughter and applause.)
And we're worried, and I talked a lot today to Senator Roberts
about this subject, and Ann Veneman, we're concerned about making sure
our food supply is safe. We're investing in training and
technology at the Department of Agriculture to detect biological and
chemical weapons, and agents. We're going to have an even
swifter response to food contamination. We've tripled the
amount of money in the budget to prepare America against the very
worst.
But you need to know, we're doing everything in our
power. We're on alert, we're wise, we're learning more about
the enemy. We're looking. But the way to make sure America
is secure in the long-run is to find them, hunt them down, and get
'em. And that's exactly what we're going to do. (Applause.)
We're going to make sure we do everything in our power to win the
war on terrorism. And we're going to defeat the recession,
too. (Applause.) I'm deeply concerned about those who lost
their jobs as a result of September the 11th. There's a lot
of people hurting in the country. And our government must
respond.
I appreciate the fact that the Senate passed a bill to extend the
unemployment benefits for those who have lost their work, and the House
has already done so. It makes a lot of sense for the
government to respond in that kind of way. But the people in
America who have lost their jobs, they don't want an unemployment check
for the long-run, they want a paycheck. And the best think Congress
needs to do is ask this question: How do we create more
jobs? How do we invigorate the private sector to create more
jobs so people can find work? (Applause.)
I know some of them over there -- up there decided that the
stimulus package is dead, the leadership in the Senate said, no, we
can't get anything done. I respectfully
disagree. It seems like to me that we ought to focus on
what's best for the country, work together and get a package which
provides stimulus for job creation. We want to take care of
the people who lost their work. We also want to invigorate
the job-creating mechanisms of the United States of America so that
people have jobs so they can put food on the table. We can't
let politics dominate Washington, D.C. We need to set aside our
parties and focus on what's right for the country. (Applause.)
And part of making sure we've got a healthy economic outlook is to
have a healthy agricultural
sector. (Applause.) Our farm economy, our
ranchers and farmers provide an incredible part of the nation's
economic vitality. I mean, if you're not vital, the nation's
economy will suffer. A lot of Americans have got to understand this,
that food and fiber accounted for nearly $1.3 trillion of gross
domestic product in the year 2000; $1.3 trillion of our economy came
from farmers and ranchers and all the people associated with helping
people raise crop and raise beef. And so we've got to make
sure that our farm economy is strong.
The farm economy employs nearly 24 million
people. That's a lot. And, therefore, when we work on the
farm bill in Washington, we must understand that we've got to have a
good bill that not only enhances our nation's security by making sure
we've got ample food, but that we, by having good farm policy, good
agriculture policy, we can help create jobs all across America.
And so I want to talk to you quickly about the farm
bill. One bill passed the House, one bill looks like it's
getting ready to pass the Senate. It will go to what they
call conference. And we're going to work hard to get a good
farm bill out. I'm really looking forward to working with
Larry Combest and the conferees in the House, as well as looking
forward to working with the conferees in the Senate to get a bill that
meets these principles.
First, I want farm policy that is generous in our appropriations
and affordable. Now, we've agreed that our farm bill should
coast $73.5 billion over the next decade. My administration
will honor that agreement. I know the folks on this stage will honor
that agreement. It looks like that's pretty well settled in,
and that's good for the farm sector. But we've got to spend
the money without -- I guess you could call it politically gimmickry.
You see, what we don't want to have happen is they take the bulk of
that money and spend it early, so that in the out years, the farm
economy suffers. What we want is to make sure that when the
bill is passed, that the $73 billion is spent evenly, or relatively
evenly over the decade. In other words, to put it bluntly,
what we don't want to do is over-promise to farmers, and
under-preform. What we don't want to do is use the
taxpayer's money to try to cobble together a loose coalition to get
votes early on which will ultimately hurt the agricultural sector of
the United States of America. (Applause.)
A good farm bill must provide a safety net for farmers, without
encouraging over production, and thereby depressing
prices. By setting loan rates too high, we could easily
worsen a problem that loan rates were supposed to correct. I
favor farm policies that strengthen the farm economy over the long-run,
policies that promote independence. But what I don't want to
do is to provide incentives into the marketplace that will hurt
farmers. And so we've got to have good loan
policy. And I look forward to working with the members on
the stage to provide that.
I want a farm bill that supports trade. Oh, I know
there's a lot of controversy around America on trade. Let me
tell you how I look at it. Our ranchers and farmers are the best in
the world at what they do. (Applause.) We can grow crops
better, we can grow things better, and we can raise beef
better. (Applause.) And if that's the case, it
seems logical to me that we want a more -- want more opportunity to
sell that which we're best at all around the world. We want
people in China eating U.S. beef. (Applause.)
No, I know there's some skepticism. People are always
saying, every President comes along and he talks about agriculture, and
then when it comes time to negotiating international trade agreements,
they seem to forgot. Well, so far, our administration hasn't
forgotten. I told the people who are interested in this
subject when I was campaigning, we were going to make sure agriculture
remained at a cornerstone of U.S. economic policy, not only at home,
but internationally.
I sent a team over there, with Ann and Zoellick to talk to the
Chinese. And I -- just look at the
record. There's huge amounts of opportunity for American
farmers and ranchers in that vast market. There's been some
discussions about world trade, and look at the record: the
United States stood strong when it came to protecting the agriculture
interests. We want to open up markets, and at the same time,
we want to make sure others open up their markets for us, and to make
sure that we open up markets in places like Europe for America's
healthy beef. (Applause.)
You can help by making sure the Senate hears that message, that the
Senate passes a trade promotion bill which gives me the authority to
work hard to open up markets all around the world for those who work
hard. I need that authority. It's good for
America to have that authority. It's also going to be good
for the world, because America's great producers will help feed the
hungry.
I also want to make sure the good farm bill establishes farm
savings accounts to help farmers and ranchers manage risks that you
run. I understand how risky agriculture can
be. It wouldn't be so risky if we could control the
weather. That's one of the things we haven't figured out how
to do yet. It wouldn't be so risky if we could make it rain
all the time; there would be hay to feed the cows. Somehow,
that doesn't happen all the time. I know. I sat
through the -- as governor, I watched the rains go away in the great
state of Texas for many of the months in my last years as the
governor.
You know, I'm a guy who runs out to my land or thinks about my
land. And the first thing I ask old Kenneth who lives on it is, "Did
it rain?" "Where's the water?" But I understand the risks.
And there's a risk of price, and the cycles make it
difficult. But I think the federal government can help
mitigate the cycles by giving farmers and ranchers the opportunities to
establish what we call farm savings accounts or ranch savings
accounts. We'll give you a chance to insure against
risk. It makes a lot of sense.
I know that Senator Grassley has been a big promoter of farm
savings accounts, and we look forward to getting this additional tool
to you all to be able to help you help yourselves. A good
bill finally will offer incentives for good conservation practices.
Let me tell you exactly what I think about the land and how best to
manage it. Every day is Earth Day for people who rely upon
the land to make a living. (Applause.) The best
conservation practices happen because somebody realizes that it's in
their benefit, their own economic interests, to practice good
conservation in order to raise cows, for example.
I was traveling the ranch one time with Vladimir Putin and Mrs.
Putin, and we're driving around, showing it off. I'm a
windshield rancher. (Laughter.) And they were asking, well,
can you -- I was explaining like I like to cut down -- trim the
new-growth cedar, because the new-growth cedar sucks out a lot of water
from the from some of the beautiful hardwoods we have. Many
of you know exactly what I'm talking about. It enhances the
beauty and the value of the land if you can get rid of the new-growth
cedar. It enables our beautiful native pecans or live oaks
to flourish, and that's good for the country.
And they said, well, you're allowed to cut down your own
trees? And I said, yes, if you're wise about
it. Obviously there are some county restrictions and, of
course, I pay attention to all that. But, yes, we --
(laughter) -- we trust people to -- we trust people to manage their own
land. We trust people with their own land.
And they say, well, that's different in some place in Europe, you
can't do that. And I said, well, here's what we think in
America. We think that the collective wisdom of those who
own their land is a benefit to the nation; that when individuals make
proper choices because they own their own property, that all those
decisions in a collective way makes better environmental policy, better
land use policy than if it was dictated from a central source of
people, many of whom have probably never been on the
land. (Applause.)
And so this farm bill has got to recognize the principle I just
outlined, and help ranchers and farmers. I strongly favor
expanding EQIP program. I think it makes a lot of
sense. Good conservation policy in a farm bill will enable
ranchers and farmers to make better decisions. It's an
important part of the farm bill, and I hope the Senate hears
that. And I know the folks on this podium agree, on the
stage agree with the principle inherent, and not only in that aspect of
a good farm policy, but the other four I described. I just
want to assure you all that these just aren't opinions of mine, these
are commitments of mine, commitments to good agriculture
policy. (Applause.)
And so we're, as a nation, are dealing with some tough
times. But I've never been more confident or
optimistic. I think it's because I know the true strength of
the country, and the true strength of the country is our
citizens. We're a land of strong, hard-working,
compassionate people.
I'm asked all the time, what can I do to help in the war against
terror? Well, you've probably figured it out by now that I
don't see many shades of gray in the war on
terror. (Applause.) Either you're with us, or
you're against us. And it's a struggle between good and it's
a struggle between evil.
And if you're interested in fighting evil, do some
good. (Applause.) And by that, I mean, show some compassion
to a neighbor in need. You know, when people walk across the
street to help a shut-in, they're doing some good. When
people take time to mentor a child, that's doing some good. We've got
children whose parents are in prison, they wonder, gosh, I wonder if
America is meant for me? There's a hopelessness that can
creep in their lives. What America needs to do in order to
fight evil is to have mentors all across the country who are willing to
put their arm around a child and say, I love you a
lot. America counts for you as much as it counts for me.
No, if we want to fight good -- fight evil with good, we can do so
in many ways, all across America. My call to America is to
help somebody in need. Many of you in this audience have
probably either been or are on your school boards. It's a
job tougher than being President, I understand that. But by
helping your public schools, or helping any school, it's helping fight
evil with good. By being active citizens in your church or
your synagogue, or for those Muslims, in your mosque, and adhering to
the admission to love a neighbor just like you'd like to be loved
yourself, that's how we can stand up. It is the momentum of
millions of acts of kindness that take place all across
America. That's how we stand up to evil.
And if any country can do it, it is this country -- (applause) --
because this is a nation that is loving and strong, compassionate,
God-fearing; a nation that will not relent when it comes to our most
precious value, and that value is freedom.
Thanks for having me, and may God bless
America. (Applause.)
END 10:23
A.M. EST
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