MR. LEACH: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It's been a long time since I sat so long to say so little. I've learned a couple things today, Madam Secretary. Secretary Glickman and I both used Fitch's Hair Lotion in our earlier years, so I thought that would be of some interest to this group.

Anyway, I've had several questions asked of me today, and I basically threw away what I came to say, but I've probably had the opportunity to know our Secretary of Agriculture longer than anyone, and I think if this audience will realize a couple things that were said today, that -- said by the Secretary, and I believe that this man means wholeheartedly, is we've got to have another answer besides imports to exports to save this country. I think I've known him well enough to believe he means it.

I applaud the Farm Bureau efforts to plow $14 billion into our ag policy, but it deals with a compress on a very bad situation.

When Tom had a lesser job with lesser pay, we started having meetings with the FSA around the country this spring, and we were dealing with the subject of trade and farm policy. It became very convoluted and very different from different areas of the country with all 50 states. We did come up with some recommendations that Tom and I believe you can get to all those people, that's a very thick packet, from all 50 states.

We did come up with something else. We strongly believe, and I suggested it then, I'm going to suggest it today, our Senator in Kansas was the father of Freedom to Farm. I'm sure he didn't realize what he had created, without some type of a safety net. I wonder what would happen in Iowa today if you went out to any county in Iowa and said, "I will give you this much money to lay your land out." Not in a CRP, not in a three-year thing, not in something else, but something that says, if you believe things are going to get better, this will please your banker, and the government has money, which we've been spending in huge amounts in this program of LBTs, let the farmers have true freedom to farm, but let them have their freedom to not farm. Give them the right to lay their land idle.

And for those that think that some way or another they're going to push down more rain forest in Brazil, let us take our CRP land out, if you believe that that kind of theory works, and we can produce things so cheap. I mean, we'll have wheat down to $1 a bushel. We'll put them out of business if that's the kind of theory you want to go through.

But I have talked to many senators and to Keith Collins, and the USDA, and I'm talking to these learned group of people, is if we're going to spend money, and we can't have a loan flow work, which should be the world price, give us the right on a one- or a two-year basis to lay our land idle as we did the OACP programs. Let us spend our money there so the other farmers can get a price for their crop. But let's not force the banks to sell our machinery, our farmers' home offices to become totally inundated with people.

A lot of us went through this, as your predecessor and I did, in the NCSL in the old days of Dale Cochran. It was not a good feeling. We waited too long. For this group, I would urge you, when you go over to the WTO in Seattle, to suggest what would happen to the subsidies of the Europeans if they had to start paying a high price for grain to their farmers to say we were making a profit for a change. Maybe we'll let our farmers lay our land idle. Don't put strict regulations on it. Just let us lay it out for a year, two years. See if that makes a difference. I'm sure that some of the big corporations won't like that too well, but they get a payment so much per bushel. We have to earn a living.

So that is a proposal that Tom has before him through the FSA, and I appreciate the opportunity. And these two ladies who have been signing here so valiantly all afternoon told me I couldn't talk any longer because they're wearing out, and I thank you a lot.