Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) today condemned the violence that broke out in Seattle at the World Trade Organization talks and said he feared that the Clinton Administration would be more willing now to compromise on agricultural issues in an effort to salvage even a watered-down agreement from the talks.

"I'm worried that agriculture may fall by the wayside" with compromises, particularly on the European Union's insistence that the elimination of export subsidies not be part of the agriculture agenda, said Roberts. The EU is insisting that subsidies not be eliminated, he added.

However, Roberts said 130 nations want subsidies scrapped and only five want them retained. But if President Clinton wants to be known as the "free trade president," and if the administration continued to link labor and environmental issues with trade agreements, Roberts said he feared "slippage" would occur within an agricultural framework for negotiations.

Clinton's willingness to link labor and the environment to trade issues "blindsided" both agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman and U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky, said Roberts. But trade talks are about open markets and need to be negotiated in an atmosphere that allows the "peaceful settlement of disputes."

EU officials with whom he talked flatly said genetically modified crops and food won't be allowed into member nations as imports. Robert said he had hoped a working group could be formed in an effort to negotiate a GMO approval process based on sound science. The Europeans don't want that, he added, although the Canadians favor it.

Robert was most upset about the more violent protests that occurred in Seattle this week. Officials from other countries were roughed up, he said, no doubt leaving them with a bad impression of the United States.