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[Page: S9938]  GPO's PDF
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   Mr. BURNS. Mr. President I rise today to speak on the Regulatory Openness and Fairness Act of 1999, of which I am an original cosponsor.

   This legislation will ensure that the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) will carry out its original intent while protecting agricultural producers from unnecessary regulations. The FQPA, enacted in 1996, was put in place to ensure that highest level of food safety. This is a necessary and worthwhile goal. However, the EPA currently makes rulings that are based on data without a sound science base. Instead, assumptions are based on propaganda and worst-case scenarios.

   This legislation requires EPA to modernize the laws governing pesticide use, using science-based data and evaluations. This will ensure that American consumers will continue to receive the world's safest food supply, and still allow those agricultural producers that provide food and fiber the means to do so.

   This bill will also require EPA to establish and administer a program for tracking the effect of regulatory decisions of U.S. agriculture as compared to world trends. Producers in other countries often do not face the regulatory nightmare American producers do. This will provide a measure for that different and the impact it has on agricultural producers in the U.S.

   Additionally, this bill will establish a permanent Pesticide Advisory Committee including food consumers, environmental groups, farmers, non-agricultural pesticide users, food manufacturers, food distributors, pesticide manufacturers, federal and state agencies. Such a diverse group will serve all interests and maintain a safe food supply.

   I thank Mr. HAGEL for sponsoring this fine bill and look forward to working with him in its passage. Through it we can work for the good of agriculture and food consumers alike.