Ag secretary tours fair, joins Emerson to lobby for Bush

While field crops were being judged Monday at the SEMO District Fair, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman dropped by the livestock barn to talk about President George W. Bush's agriculture record.

Farmers, Future Farmers of America, the Missouri Farm Bureau and members of nearly every commodity board in the area came to hear Veneman, who has some indirect ties to Southeast Missouri. She once worked for now-state Rep. Peter Myers, R-Sikeston, of the 160th District when he was a deputy secretary of agriculture.

Veneman made an impromptu visit to the fair with U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, not only keeping up with Missouri agriculture but campaigning for Bush.

"Voters in November have a clear choice," Veneman said. "They can keep tax relief moving forward or put higher taxes back on the American people. America leads the world with strength, or do we want an America uncertain in the face of danger?"

She said she wanted to reach those connected to agriculture firsthand to encourage them to support the president. She promoted such legislation as his tax bill, which she said has put $8 billion into farmers' pockets over the past two years.

"The president wants to make this permanent," Veneman said.

Veneman mentioned, as Emerson has before her, that Bush wants to repeal what is known as the death tax, the income tax on inheritance which has forced heirs to sell family farms and small businesses to pay the income taxes on the acquired assets.

Bush favors using more ethanol, a corn product, as an alternative fuel.

Veneman went on to outline for the crowd sitting on bleachers and hay bales what the Department of Agriculture does in addition to farm programs. Working in conjunction with Housing and Urban Development, the USDA helps finance home ownership. It also finances infrastructure projects, such as the water system Scott County hopes to build. Veneman said that Bush recently announced that by the year 2007, rural communities will have better access to broadband Internet connections.

"We have also had a strong record of food safety, and have shown decreases in e. coli and salmonella," Veneman said. "We've worked hard to prevent diseases and issues which will become more critical since 9-11. We're looking at these with a different eye: How do we protect our food supply against intentional threats?"

Other programs under the USDA include Women, Infants, Children, which assures nutrition for low-income families, and other food and nutrition programs.

"I think we have a strong record," Veneman said. "And we are not done."

Many stayed to ask Veneman questions directly and to have their photos taken with her and Emerson, who planned to stay for a while and enjoy the fair.

lredeffer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160