As Director of this Office, Ambassador Baas is responsible for developing and implementing food aid, agriculture and textile trade policy within the Department of State.

Ambassador Baas.

AMBASSADOR BAAS: Secretary Lyons, thank you very much. I'd like to add my thanks to that of my colleagues for the fine California hospitality from you and your staff and the Speaker. It's been very warm and we've enjoyed it very much.

I will be very brief and I just want to try to answer one question that you perhaps all may have, why is the Department of State sending a representative here, since the Department of State is concerned with foreign policy. Well, the answer is really very simple. Trade is an important part of foreign policy. And agricultural is an important part of our trade.

You trade with foreigners. And what we do in trade, what issues we discuss in trade affects other issues as well. For example, and this may not be the world's greatest example, but it's one that's very timely, we hear from the Europeans, why are you bugging us on beef hormones when we're cooperating with you so well on Kosovo? Well, needless to say, we're happy to have their cooperation in Kosovo, but we also want our rights on beef hormoning.

We have embassies in 150 plus countries around the world. And these embassies are there to represent your interests, to represent you, to push for issues that are important to you, that are important to the United States. They are there to inform foreign governments of our position or our positions on agricultural trade. They are there also to find out what's important to a foreign government, so that our negotiators can then take that into account while we develop our positions.

To do our job effectively, we need to know what you, the American farmer, thinks, and that's why we're here today. And therefore, I will conclude and prepare to listen to you.

Thank you.