We are honored to have an impressive panel of federal government officials in attendance to receive our testimony today. I thank each of you for attending this session which promises to be very productive. California, Arizona and Hawaii are states with unique agricultural industries.

The constructive input that you receive today from our special agriculture representatives will be critical in establishing the U.S. position for November's WTO administerial meetings in Seattle, Washington.

So, again, I thank you for dedicating an entire day to listening to our concerns and suggestions.

The first negotiator is familiar to all of us. A native Californian who farms ten miles north of here in Woodland, California, the Honorable Richard Rominger. He now serves as Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture. Mr. Rominger also served as Director of Food and Agriculture from 1977 to 1982.

Mr. Rominger.

USDA DEPUTY SECRETARY ROMINGER: Thank you, Bill. I also want to express my thanks to Speaker Villaraigosa for hosting the meeting here today and for hosting us at breakfast this morning. I think we're off to a good start. I also wanted to thank Ambassador Mark Baas from the Department of State who's with us today and Jim Murphy from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative for joining us here in Sacramento.

I want to welcome all of you, too, I think this is the sixth session in a series of 12 listening sessions that are being held across the country by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

And our goal, of course, is to prepare for the Third Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization, which the U.S. will host in Seattle, November 30th to December 3rd, to start the next round of trade negotiations among the 134 nations who are members of the World Trade Organization.

So far, we've had an excellent response to these sessions. There's been a deep appreciation on the part of producers and trade associations for the opportunity to address their concerns directly to the trade negotiators.

In fact, we had one instance in South Dakota where a farmer drove eight hours to attend the session. He came and he said to us, "I'm kind of isolated out there all day on that tractor. And I'm not terribly sophisticated, but I'm here to talk about dispute resolution." Well, I think that kind of response has really given us some real insight into the level of interest that we're seeing across the country in the upcoming trade round.

This is the kind of thoughtful comment that we're hearing at these sessions, that the sessions are generating from farmers and ranchers, from processors, from exporters, and from state and local government officials.

Participants have voiced a clear understanding of the link between exports and farm income and the dependence of those exports on better market access. Taking it one step further, they recognize the significance of the upcoming WTO session in Seattle to increasing exports and ultimately to increasing farm income.

They recognize that for basic economics that we derive 30 percent of all of our farm income from agricultural exports. Consistently, we've heard deep concern about leveling the global playing field and an abiding confidence in the ability of American producers to compete on that field if market access is fair and open.

Participants have asked us to remember the farmers and the small businesses as we go into these sessions. They've stressed that they depend on this process and that their voice has to be heard if they're to be an active partner in these discussions. We've also heard repeated calls for more and better teamwork if the U.S. is to be successful in this WTO round.

There is the sense that the partnership among the federal government, states and industry must be toughened and tightened if the U.S. is to present a strong front in the negotiating process. So in line with that kind of partnership, the lion's share of the credit for these listening sessions goes to the states, which have generously lent their support and help with the details and organizations.

So my thanks to Governor Davis, to State Senator Jim Costa who has been involved and to our three host states California, Arizona, and Hawaii.

I certainly want to recognize Bill Lyons, your Secretary of the California Department Food and Agriculture, and Sheldon Jones, next to him, the Director of Agriculture for the State of Arizona. And James Nakatani, who is the Chairperson of the Board of Agriculture for the State of Hawaii, couldn't be here today, but I know that he is here in spirit and electronically, because they are listening in Hawaii and will be furnishing comments, written comments, to the trade panel.

And my thanks to our own folks from USDA who've done a great job with the details of these sessions around the country, especially to our State Executive Directors of our farm services agencies. And Val Dolcini, the California Director of our Farm Service Agency, is here today. And George Arredondo from Arizona, I think, is also here with us.

So thanks to them as well.

Last year, in Geneva, at the 50th anniversary of the World Trading System, President Clinton stressed the importance of open trade to all nations. He emphasized the WTO role as a transparent open forum for business, labor, environment and consumers groups to provide continuous input to guide the evolution of the World Trading System. And so that's just what we're doing with this series of listening sessions, getting your input to help shape our agricultural trade policies for the new round of negotiations under the WTO as we enter the next millenium. So we appreciate your time, your interest, and the effort that you've made to attend this session.

As we prepare for a new round, it's critical that we hear and understand the issues that are important to you, and therefore should be priorities for us. So this is the kind of information that we need to develop the U.S. negotiating strategy.

As you know, while our national economy has been booming, it's been a year of struggle and hardship in many parts of rural America. Secretary Glickman and I have been marshalling the USDA resources to address the situation. Our priorities have been getting some emergency economic relief to producers as soon as possible, working to strengthen the farm safety net, making certain that consolidations and mergers that are sweeping agriculture as well as other sectors of our economy are subject to the proper scrutiny, and continuing to press to open new markets for more exports.

So thanks again for being here today.