Lugar Wants Tougher Trade Policy

May 22, 2000

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-IN) took the opportunity over the weekend to criticize the Clinton Administration for not pursuing policies to increase farm income. A more aggressive trade policy is needed, said Lugar, along with sanctions reform and a more aggressive energy policy.

"In particular, we need an aggressive trade policy that opens up foreign markets, a sensible energy policy that develops biofuels and holds down operating costs and a fair tax policy that does not disadvantage farmers," he said in the weekly Republican radio address to the nation. The administration, he said, "has not focused sufficient attention on the broader problems facing agriculture, such as trade."

The administration "has paid lip service to sanctions reform, but they have repeatedly frustrated progress with their inaction and tepid commitment to this goal," said Lugar.

Oil prices are critical to the success of farming, he added. "The Clinton Administration must be more aggressive with OPEC in ensuring the flow of oil in the short run," he said. "In the long run we must reduce our dependence on foreign oil." He noted the Senate had passed a bill he authored to fund research into biofuels made from anything that grows, including weeds and agricultural wastes.