A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that the President and United States Trade Representative should ensure that any future free trade agreements do not harm the dairy industry of the United States.

Mr. President, as many of my colleagues know, Wisconsin's dairy industry is one of the largest industries in the State, generating billions of dollars for the State's economy. With an estimated impact of $18.5 billion, milk sustains over 16,000 farm families and nearly 200,000 jobs in the State. With thousands of dairy farms and hundreds of dairy processors, the industry is vital to creating and sustaining good jobs in Wisconsin. These numbers do not capture the full import of the dairy industry, however. In Wisconsin, dairy is more than an issue of dollars and cents--it is part of our heritage that every Wisconsinite takes pride in.

America's Dairyland is already threatened by bad trade agreements, but one of the worst for dairy farmers is currently in the works. U.S. negotiators are trying to wrap up a trade agreement with Australia, which is expected to include new terms of trade for agricultural commodities. Any agreement with Australia, and any subsequent agreement with New Zealand, could have a very negative impact on Wisconsin's dairy industry.

The administration has contemplated changes to our trade laws that would lay open our markets to dairy and other farm products from Australia and possibly New Zealand. Australian and New Zealand milk producers are among the many who have been using a trade loophole on milk protein concentrates to undercut our domestic dairy prices, a loophole that I am working to close. Further imports from Australia can only push U.S. milk prices lower.

This proposal comes at a time when dairy farmers are just beginning to think about a recovery from the low milk prices of the past few years. The impact of this agreement on the Nation's dairy industry, and Wisconsin in particular, will be significant. According to the National Milk Producers Federation, the flood of imports from Australia that would follow from a trade agreement could cost this country nearly one- quarter of our dairy farms. Wisconsin has been losing dairy farms at an alarming rate, and we certainly cannot afford a trade agreement that hastens that change.

I have opposed the efforts of the U.S. Trade Representative to pursue this agreement given its negative consequences for Wisconsin. I have clearly stated my position, and the position reiterated to me by dairy farmers across the State, to Ambassador Zoellick. Joined by 30 of my State colleagues, I have called upon President Bush to respond to the concerns of Americans regarding the negotiations on a free trade agreement with Australia. Today, along with several of my of my colleagues--Senators Kohl, Craig, Stabenow, Schumer, Jeffords, Specter, Clinton, Boxer, Collins, Dayton, Crapo, Domenici, and Snowe. I am submitting a resolution reiterating the fact that we must ensure that our dairy industry, especially dairy producers, will not suffer undue hardships if this agreement is put in place.

If the U.S. gives Australia significantly increased access to our dairy market, this will greatly undermine milk prices, thwarting federal efforts to support dairy producers and their families. Estimates suggest that an agreement with Australia would cost this country more than 150,000 jobs that depend on a healthy U.S. dairy sector. Wisconsin's communities area at great risk, and I call on all my colleagues to join me in working to protect the country's dairy industry from an unfair trade agreement with Australia.

Mr. President, I join my colleague from Wisconsin in support of this resolution. I remain deeply concerned about the direction the President's negotiators are headed in the U.S.-Australia Free Trade negotiations.

I know there are lots of moving parts to this or any trade negotiation. But if recent reports are correct the U.S./Australia negotiations seem to be boiling down to a handful of critical issues-- among them are dairy and drugs. Australia is angling for more access to our dairy markets. The Bush Administration, on behalf of pharmaceutical manufacturers, is pushing for greater access to Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

I suspect I know who wins if the Bush administration has to make a trade-off between the interests of dairy farmers and huge pharmaceutical corporations. The Bush administration demonstrated remarkable loyalty to pharmaceutical manufacturers during debate on the Medicare bill. I suspect those loyalties are alive and well and fear they may trump the interests of thousands of dairy producers and processors across the country.

Out of an abundance of caution, I will reserve judgment on the final package until we have something more concrete to review. But the President's negotiators should be on notice that we will be closely following these negotiations to assure that dairymen's concerns are given every consideration.