MR. WHITAKER: Thank you. Thank you, Secretary Judge, the USDA, USDR for having this listening post this afternoon. I had one thought as I was listening to the panel this morning. I must not have been at church one morning when we received the God-given right to tell other people in the world that they don't have the right to produce their own food anymore. That was a little disturbing on a few speakers.

The family farmers and ranchers work to make a living producing food and fiber for our nation and the world. Our livelihoods depend on the domestic farm policy and world trade policy which allows us to receive a fair, honest price in the marketplace, in exchange for our labor, inputs, and environmental resource conservation efforts.

I caution you to guard against any attempts by trade negotiators to bargain away domestic farm policy for authority. Such actions only serve to limit, if not lower, U.S. net farm income.

The implementation of the Uruguay rules governing ag policy has brought about one thing to America's producers: Lower prices, which we all know has lowered our income. The failed freedom of farming legislation mirrors the Uruguay agreement on agriculture. If we got a deal like this on a used car, we'd probably sue the dealer.

I have a few specific points this afternoon. We need a comprehensive economic impact state of our current trade agreements before we enter INTO any new ones. We need to know what's happened to us in these past agreements. All food products must acquire A country-of-origin label. All consumers have a right to know where food is produced. I'm proud to put a label on what I produce because I believe that it's a high-quality product, and I believe it's something that anybody in the world -- applause -- I'd like for consumers to know that it's my product when we buy it.

We must level the health, sanitary, environmental and labor standards of imported products up to our own standards; not use trade agreements to lower our standards down to the level of exporting nations. U.S. ag products have a higher value on the domestic market than the export market. We must initiate some system whereby producers can capture the higher domestic value.

Trade agreements should require all exporting nations to have their own farmer-owned reserve of feed grain and seeds. These reserves should be isolated from the market by a price-trigger mechanism that is high enough to ensure that they remain isolated. Trade agreements must recognize and account for currency fluctuations. They currently do not do so. I'll just stop there.