E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 104 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 142 WASHINGTON, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1996 No. 17 House of Representatives The House was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Friday, February 9, 1996, at 11 a.m. Senate WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1996 The Senate met at 7:30 a.m. and was Wellstone (for Kohl) amendment No. 3442 I will be the first to say that dairy is- called to order by the President pro (to amendment No. 3184) to eliminate the sues are regionally divisive, and the provision granting consent to the Northeast tempore [Mr. THURMOND]. first to agree that we should get be- Interstate Dairy Compact. yond our divisions and find common PRAYER AMENDMENT NO. 3442 TO AMENDMENT NO. 3184 The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Who ground. And I believe that compromise The Chaplain, Dr. Lloyd John yields time on the amendment? and consensus are possible, even in Ogilvie, offered the following prayer: Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, I would dairy policy. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, like to call up our amendment. But the Northeast Dairy Compact ig- and lean not on your own understanding; The PRESIDENT pro tempore. That in all your ways acknowledge Him, and nores all efforts at compromise, and in- is the pending question. stead is an effort by one region to re- He will direct your paths.ÐProverbs 3: 5± Mr. KOHL. I yield myself 4 minutes. 6. Mr. President, today, I and others move itself from the national system Gracious God, we put our trust in rise in opposition to the Northeast and establish a regional dairy policy. It You. We resist the human tendency to Interstate Dairy Compact. While we takes an already outmoded milk pric- lean on our own understanding; we ac- have only a short time to discuss this ing system, and twists it even further. knowledge our need for Your wisdom in matter, I think that it is important to While the context for this compact is our search for solutions we all can sup- fully understand its ramificationsÐfor dairy, I believe its ramifications are port. As an intentional act of will, we farmers of other regions, for consumers far more broad. commit to You everything we think, in the Northeast, and for the principle Make no mistake about it. This com- say, and do today. Direct our paths as of free trade within our country. we give precedence to patriotism over As I have said before, it is difficult pact is unprecedented in the history of party and loyalty to You over anything for me to stand here and oppose my the Nation. It is true that the Con- else. We need You, Father. Strengthen friends from the Northeast in their ef- stitution allows States to enter into a each one and strengthen our oneness. forts to help the dairy farmers of their compact with other States, as long as In the name of our Lord, Amen. region. But I feel that this is a very im- those compacts are approved by Con- f portant issue, and that it is the wrong gress. This authority has been used thing to do. many times, without controversy, by AGRICULTURAL MARKET The Northeast Interstate Dairy Com- States that seek to address multistate TRANSITION ACT OF 1996 pact is a regional compact unlike any environmental or transportation con- The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The we have seen before. It is an effort by cerns. But I know of no instance where clerk will report the unfinished busi- six Northeastern States to wall them- it has been used to allow States to en- ness. selves off from the rest of the Nation gage in price-fixing activities, or as a The assistant legislative clerk read economically. The compact would way to circumvent the commerce as follows: bring about artificially increased milk clause of the Constitution. Congres- A bill (S. 1541) to extend, reform, and im- prices in the Northeast, for the benefit sional approval of this compact is an prove agricultural commodity, trade, con- of the farmers in those States, at the invitation for all sorts of economic bal- servation, and other programs, and for other expense of that region's consumers, kanization. purposes. without regard to market forces. And The Senate resumed consideration of it would do so by imposing a prohibi- The Framers of the Constitution had the bill. tive compensatory payment scheme to the foresight to see the dangers of al- Pending: prevent more reasonably priced milk lowing States and regions to erect eco- Craig (for Leahy/Lugar) amendment No. from coming in from other regions. It nomic barriers against other States in 3184, in the nature of a substitute. is at its heart anticompetitive. the Union. · This ``bullet'' symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S 1001 S 1002 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð SENATE February 7, 1996 Two years ago, when the Northeast keting order pricing scheme, which has dairy industry in States like Min- Dairy Compact was considered in the played a key role in the loss of over nesota. Senate Judiciary Committee, many of 10,000 dairy farms over the last dec- I will not stand for that. And neither my colleagues raised valid constitu- adeÐan average of nearly 3 farms every should any other Senator. It is time to tional concerns with the compact. day. put an end to the failed dairy policies If we set the precedent today by These statistics emphasize the im- of the pastÐand certainly to the un- granting consent to one region of the portance of fixing the dairy program. wise proposal before us today. Nation to wall itself off economically Yet, today we are faced with a proposal I urge my colleagues to join me in from the rest, we must ask ourselves, which would impose another set of bur- standing up for small dairy farmers where will it stop? densome regulations and harmful trade across the country and voting to strike If we deny free trade within our own barriers on our dairy producers. the Northeast Interstate Dairy Com- borders, we are whittling away at the If this dairy compact is enacted, it pact from this bill. economic unity that is one of the core will increase the minimum price paid The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. BEN- principles of this country. And I will to dairy farmers in New England. NETT). The Senator from Vermont. not stand for it. These higher prices will likely increase Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, who con- So I urge my colleagues to vote in dairy production in that region, caus- trols time? Mr. JEFFORDS. I believe I control favor of the motion to strike the ing New England milk producers and the time on our side, Mr. President. Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact processors to seek additional markets Let us get down to what we are talk- from this bill. in States like Minnesota. In the proc- ing about. I think it was brought out I yield to the Senator from Min- ess, this overproduction has the poten- well by the Senator from Minnesota. nesota. tial to flood markets and depress milk That is, they want to protect their Mr. WELLSTONE. I want to thank prices paid to dairy farmers outside of farmers. That is understandable. They the Senator from Wisconsin for his ex- the compact States. would like to have no milk orders. ceptional leadership. Last night, when The long-term effect of these lower They would like to have nothing in I laid down this amendment the Sen- prices would be to drive the dairy in- this country because they believe they ator is speaking about, I did it because dustry from States like Minnesota out are lowest producers. That is fine. of what I think all of us in the Midwest of businessÐleading to a shortage of This issue was raised before. I want feel very, very strongly about. First of milk within the region and requiring to remind everybody, the Senate voted all, many of us have been working for processors to import more expensive 65 to 35 earlier this year to say that, 5 years to have milk marketing order milk from other regions. yes, the six States of New England, a reform. That is what we really stand Due to the 20-percent loss of milk small area of our country, has the for. That makes all the sense in the production in Minnesota over the last right to act like any big State, because world. decade, this is already happening. With California and several other States We have had a system in place since the dairy compact, we run the risk of have done the same thing we seek to 1933, and it worked in the beginning, making this even worse for dairy pro- do. Many have said, ``We want to pro- but it is archaic and it has a discrimi- ducers around the country. tect and help our dairy farmers stay in natory effect on dairy producers in the In addition, the compact will result business.'' Little old New England, six upper Midwest. We have lost thousands in the proliferation of anticompetitive States are no bigger than many of the of dairy farms in my State of Min- trade barriers between the States. If other small States. nesota. enacted, the Compact Commission will We talk about the State's rights Mr. President, the problem with the have to make immediate decisions here.