Remarks on the conservation reserve program in Le Sueur, Minnesota

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, August 9, 2004

August 4, 2004

The President. Thank you all. Please be seated. Thanks for the warm welcome. It's good to be on a farm. [Laughter] American farm and ranch families embody the best values of our country, don't they--love of family, love of the land, love of their country. These are good, hard-working people. Farming is what I like to call America's first industry, and that industry feeds us, and it clothes us. It's now providing more energy for us.

The success of America's farmers and ranchers is essential to the success of our country. That's why it's fitting we're here on a farm to talk about the success of America. I'm going to talk about another role that farmers play today, and that's the essential role of being good stewards of our land, and how the Federal Government can help. See, I like to tell people every day is Earth Day if you make a living off the land, because people care more about the land if the person has to make a living off the land.

And so today I'm going to talk about some initiatives where the Federal Government can help the best stewards of the land be better stewards of the land. I want to thank you all for coming. I appreciate the Governor. Thank you for being here, sir. Thank you for your introduction. I particularly want to thank Mark and Shirley Katzenmeyer; they're the host family here. Little did they realize--where is Mark?

Mr. Katzenmeyer. Right over here, sir.

The President. Oh, there you are. Good, you got a good seat. That's good. [Laughter] And Karen as well, their sweet daughter. Thanks for coming, Karen.

Guess what we talked about? Mountain biking. [Laughter] Mark is a mountain biker, and gosh, what a special place to mountain bike, isn't it? I'm sorry I didn't bring mine. [Laughter]

Mr. Katzenmeyer. You can borrow one.

The President. I could borrow one, yes. Well, I'm not that sorry. Anyway--[Laughter]. But I really appreciate your hospitality. Senator Norm Coleman is with us, and the Governor. We were on the same helicopter. He said, "I wonder if the Katzenmeyers really understood what was about to happen"--[laughter]--four choppers heading into their farm. But thanks for having us. I also want to thank your neighbors for putting up with us, and I appreciate you all coming. I want to thank Norm. He's a good friend, a fine United States Senator.

I appreciate Gil Gutknecht. And the Congressman for this area, John Kline, is with us too. Thank you both for being here. I'm honored you guys are here. I also want to thank--I want to thank Vicky, who is John's wife. I appreciate you coming, Vicky.

I thank the mayor of Le Sueur for being here. Mr. Mayor, appreciate you coming.

Mayor Bob Oberle. You're welcome.

The President. Yes, thank you. It's an honor for us to be here. I want to thank the other local officials who've come. I want to thank the conservation groups. I see some of my friends from the conservation groups, the people who want to make sure that the land is taken care of so wildlife can flourish. We're going to talk about something today that I think you'll appreciate. As a matter of fact, you've been instrumental in helping to construct the policy. I want to thank--and the farmers and ranchers who are here. It's really good to be here.

Bryan--there's Bryan. Yes, today when I landed--by the way, I always like to greet somebody in the community who is serving the community by volunteering. And Bryan Comstock is a volunteer firefighter for this part of the world. I want to thank you for being here. I told him I was a supporter of the Crawford Volunteer Fire Department. I know something about it. It's--these volunteer fire departments are really important for rural America, and I want to thank Bryan and others who are volunteering time to help these farmers and ranchers who might get in trouble because of a sudden or instant fire.

At any rate, we--this country better appreciate our farmers and ranchers. I mean, it's--really the cornerstone of good economic policy is good farm policy, isn't it? And I'm--I appreciate the effects of the farm bill that we worked on and passed. It's a good bill. And it's making a difference. It has helped farmers because it helped them plan and operate on market realities, not based upon Government dictates. It's important any bill that deals with economics to understand the markets, and that we view the markets as important. And a market-oriented approach to farming is good, mad it's working. It's making a difference for people right now.

One reason it is, is because we recognize there's a lot of consumers for American farm products outside the United States. Good farm policy is good trade policy. Listen, if you're good at something--and we're really good at growing things; we ought to be selling what we grow, not only here at home but elsewhere. I'm committed to making sure that markets are open and we're treated fairly. I like to explain trade to our people this way, that we've opened up our markets here in the United States, and it's good for consumers. We do. Think about it. When you get more products coming into the country, you can shop. You can make decisions. The more opportunities yon have to decide, you're going to get better quality at a better price. That's just the way it is. That's the way the market works. We want to be treated in other countries the way we treat people here at home. That's good trade policy. And so we're opening up markets. The more markets we open up, the better it is for farmers and ranchers because we can compete with anybody, anytime, anywhere just so long as the playing field is level.