BRITISH VISITOR TAKES IN FAIR

A member of the British Parliament took in the sights Saturday at the SEMO District Fair.

James Gray, a Conservative Party member, was the guest of U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson.

Gray was in the area as part of a two-week visit to the United States.

His visit is part of a cultural exchange coordinated by the British-American Parliamentary Group that lets U.S. and British lawmakers get a firsthand look at each other's government.

Gray was elected to Parliament in May 1997 from an agricultural district, 100 miles west of London.

It's an area of picturesque villages and charming English lanes, Gray said, an area that would fit well into an Agatha Christie novel.

"I would think Miss Marple would be right at home there," he said.

Gray said fairs or "agricultural shows" as the British call them are common in his district.

The hot, humid weather isn't, however. Gray's North Wiltshire district typically experiences 50-degrees-in-the-shade weather and rain at this time of year.

Gray said the Clinton scandal is front-page news in Britain, adding that if President Clinton were prime minister, the public outcry already would have forced him out of office.

"We are much more strait-laced," Gray said.

While at the fair, Emerson also met with members of the Missouri Farm Bureau, a group that has supported Emerson's candidacy.

She acknowledged that family farmers nationwide were facing hard times economically.

Emerson outlined a plan put forth by Congressional Republicans that would provide $4 billion in farm relief to ease the nation's ailing agricultural economy.

Critics of the plan, argue more money is needed to pump up the farm economy.

Congress needs to do more to help farmers, she said, but the Republican plan is a step in the right direction. She said Congress needs to overhaul the crop insurance program, which isn't affordable.

Few farmers can afford the insurance, said Farm Bureau Insurance Agent Richard Aufdenberg of Jackson.

Emerson also said she is concerned that a few companies control the market when it comes to processing crops and livestock.

She said the situation needs to be scrutinized by Congress.