09/25/07 Conner On Issues

Conner on Issues. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Acting Ag Secretary Chuck Conner held a press conference yesterday to up date everyone on the transition and how things are going with issues like the Farm Bill. He thanked President Bush and congressional members for their support. CONNER: It is a great honor for me to serve as Acting Secretary of Agriculture. Having grown up on a farm in Indiana and having been involved in agriculture all of my working life, I very much appreciate the President's confidence in me and it was gratifying to read of the positive comments from several members of Congress about my appointment as acting Secretary. I don't take their support for granted today. Conner got right down to business and addressed the question of the Farm Bill. CONNER: I can assure you that we are going to continue to work with the Senate to advocate for policies that put the American farmer and rancher on a strong competitive footing while ensuring a very strong income safety net. I will press the Senate to begin markup which Chairman Harkin has signaled that he intends to do within a few weeks; perhaps as soon as next week. The President is eager to sign a Farm Bill this year. I will do everything I can to ensure that a Farm Bill will be passed that he can be proud of and delivered to his desk that he can sign. Food safety was another key issue that Acting Secretary Conner addressed. CONNER: Food safety and particularly, import safety is going to continue to get a lot of attention from us. We will be hosting a public comment session here at the Department next week in conjunction with our import safety working group partners. Health and Human Services Secretary, Mike Levitt is doing a terrific job as chair of the working group. I look forward to working with him on a plan to help improve our import safety system and meet the challenges posed by changing patterns of trade. He mentioned that trade issues in general were a top priority for the USDA and especially the pending trade agreements with Peru, Columbia, Panama & Korea. CONNER: It is critically important to American agriculture that Congress ratifies these agreements. We will continue to deliver information to the Hill about the benefits of these agreements as we press for ratification. Conner said that 2007 was shaping up to be a very strong year for exports all across agriculture and is expecting total sales near 79 billion dollars. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.