According to a recent survey, a majority of farmers and ranchers in the United States oppose Fast Track. The survey, conducted by the National Farm Action Campaign (NFAC), shows that U.S. farmers and ranchers believe Congress should have the authority to review international trade agreements to ensure U.S. compliance with Congressional directives. Survey respondents indicated Congress should use this authority to bolster the prices farmers in the U.S. and around the world receive for their products, rather than drive down prices in an attempt to maximize exports.

"Our trade and agricultural policy is based on the misleading notion that if we lower our prices, we'll export more and make more money. But it doesn't work that way," said Dena Hoff, Chair of the Northern Plains Resource Council and member of the Western Organization of Resource Councils. "Right now, in most agricultural sectors net exports and profits are down. Meanwhile, the corporate processors and middlemen who buy our products are the only ones profiting-not farmers and consumers, and certainly not U.S. taxpayers, who are keeping farmers in business with record levels of payments."

The majority of farmers and ranchers who responded to the survey support significant changes in U.S. trade policy and Congress's role overseeing trade negotiators. Nearly 80% believe Congress should vote down Fast Track and replace it with a system that allows for full debate of trade agreements and holds U.S. negotiators accountable to Congressional directives.

Even though the Constitution grant the authority and responsibility for international agreements to Congress, not the President, Fast Track would limit Congress to 20 hours of debate, prohibit amendments to trade agreements, and take away Congress's ability to intervene when Executive Branch trade negotiators do not fulfill Congressional directives. Congress's only recourse would be to vote down agreements in their entirety.

According to the NFAC survey, farmers support the stronger oversight role currently being requested by the House Agriculture Committee-the authority to approve agriculture provisions before the agreements are signed and cannot be changed. The Fast Track proposal currently before the House of Representatives, H.R. 3005, introduced by Representative Bill Thomas (R-CA), reflects such a role for the Agriculture Committees.

"With the Thomas bill, the people who've been elected to protect the interests of U.S. farmers and ranchers would have to sit on the sidelines, watching as un-elected trade negotiators dismantle U.S. farm policy to force prices even lower," said Hoff. "Any member of Congress who cares about family agriculture should vote against this bill."

Over 90% of farmers and ranchers surveyed agreed that all countries should retain the right to develop farm programs that respond to the needs of their farmers and consumers in trade agreements. The Thomas Fast Track bill fails the test.

As with past Fast Tracks, the Thomas bill instructs U.S. negotiators to ensure that exports are sold at world prices (i.e. below the cost of production.) and to negotiate away any U.S. farm policies that are viewed to distort trade. Several countries, including Brazil and Germany, have already stated that U.S. antidumping laws are their primary targets in future trade negotiations. Also like past Fast Tracks, the Thomas bill includes the same vague language included in NAFTA and the WTO that have led to the weakening of U.S. trade law.

The majority of farmers and ranchers surveyed would bolster the prices farmers in the U.S. and around the world receive for their products, instead of expanding the trade and agricultural policies of the past. Over 86% would restrict imports of agricultural products that are in surplus or abundant supply in the U.S. Over 73% would restrict U.S. exports of farm commodities at prices below the cost of production.

"These trade agreements are a rip off for farmers and ranchers, and this survey shows they know it, said Hoff. "Fast Track is a scam designed to profit the big multinationals, not family farmers and ranchers."

The Western Organization of Resource Councils is a regional network of grassroots community organizations based in the Northern Plains and Intermountain West. Members include family farmers and ranchers, small business people, students, and retirees.

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