To express the sense of the Senate regarding public sector funding of agricultural research and development.

SA 1800. Mr. BAUCUS submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R. 2744, making appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2006, and for other purposes; as follows:

On page 173, after line 24, insert the following:

Sec. 7__.(a) The Senate finds the following:

(1) Research and development have been critical components of the prosperity of the United States.

(2) The United States is entering an increasingly competitive world in the 21st century.

(3) The National Academy of Sciences has found that public agricultural research and development expenditures in the United States were the lowest of any developed country in the world.

(4) The Nation needs to ensure that public spending for agricultural research is commensurate with the importance of agriculture to the long-term economic health of the Nation.

(5) Research and development is critical to ensuring that American agriculture remains strong and vital in the coming decades.

(b) It is the sense of the Senate that, in order for the United States to remain competitive, the President and the Department of Agriculture should increase public sector funding of agricultural research and development.