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Nebraska Farmers Union |
1305
Plum Street • Lincoln, NE 68502 Contact
John Hansen, NEFU Office: 402-476-8815 Cell: 402-580-8815 Contact: Emily Eisenberg, NFU Office: 202-314-3104, eeisenberg@nfudc.org |
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For
Immediate Release September
28, 2005
WASHINGTON – Farmers Union commended action taken by the U.S. House of Representatives today to reauthorize the U.S. Grain Standards Act, and reject a proposal to privatize grain export inspections.
“We are pleased to see Congress reauthorize the U.S. Grain Standards Act and reject the proposal to privatize grain export inspections,” said NFU President Dave Frederickson. “The Federal Grain Inspection Service is the vehicle that delivers agriculture products across the globe, it is essential that it continues its promise.”
The Federal Grain Inspection Service has a history of success in delivering American agricultural products to the world. Farmers Union believes privatizing the Federal Grain Inspection service could have disabled one of our most essential global marketing tools – an impartial, government-inspection program.
Nebraska Farmers Union state President John Hansen who recently led a delegation of ten Farmers Union members to Washington, D.C. who lobbied against the scheme to privatize federal export grain inspection said, “It would have been a serious misstep backwards to once again privatize federal grain inspection, which resulted in grain contamination scandals in the 1970’s that damaged the credibility and image of U.S. grain and oilseeds to our foreign customers.”
Hansen praised the leadership of Senate Agriculture Ranking Minority Member Senator Tom Harkin (IA), and House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Rep. Colin Peterson (MN) along with help from Rep. Dennis Kucinich (OH). “The interests of our U.S. grain producers and foreign customers were protected because of their leadership. They were the critical difference on this issue.”
Hansen
also praised the leadership of National Farmers Union and the American Corn
Growers Association. “Without the
effective and courageous leadership of these two organizations, all the hard
work that has been done to develop foreign markets may well have been
jeopardized. They were the true watchdogs
for the interests of all U.S. grain producers,” Hansen concluded.
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