This is Congressman Bob Dole with my regular radio report in Washington. Certainly, I thank this station for carrying my program as a public service broadcast. I might also add that we hope to start our weekly — our regular weekly programs within the next two or three weeks. As I have said so many times before, if there is some particular topic that the listeners might be interested in about our government, certainly feel free to contact me and perhaps we can discuss it, or perhaps we might have a special guest on our program to discuss something that could be of general interest to those in Western Kansas.

I want to talk very briefly today about a bill I introduced on last Thursday. If enacted it would create, what I refer to, for the lack of a better name, as the Bread and Butter Corps. Under this proposal the Department of Agriculture would coordinate and accelerate the export of America’s most valuable product: our farm know-how and show-how. The Bread and Butter Corps would consist of volunteers who are either formally trained in agriculture and home economics or who have had practical experience in these fields. These volunteers would be trained in cooperation with the land-grant colleges such as Kansas State University and other institutions of higher learning for service overseas in underdeveloped nations. And under my bill, the United States Department of Agriculture would establish the standards for membership in the corps, but the land-grant and other colleges would do the training, they would conduct the educational institutes and develop necessary research and demonstration programs.

Now, I intend to offer my bill as an amendment to Public Law 480, the Food for Peace Program, which is now under consideration by the House Committee on Agriculture, on which I serve. I think very seriously and very honestly that America must do everything in its power to ward off the tragedy of world famine that really threatens in some areas, let’s take India for example right now. But in our eagerness to provide humanitarian relief, we must not make the mistake of getting food-needy countries dependent upon us for continuous handouts. America’s breadbasket is just not big enough to feed a hungry world for any substance of time into the future, and my bill is based on a self-help concept quite consistent with the American tradition of helping those in need who are willing to help themselves.

Now under this proposal — which I certainly would state at the outset will probably need some modification — under this proposal the Bread and Butter Corpsmen who go abroad under this training program would operate in such a way as to bring the greatest training benefits with the least interference with national cultures. They would train cadres of farm specialists of the food- deficit country concerned, who would, in turn, be expected to teach their country’s farmers such simple skills as a proper use of good seeds and the efficient application of fertilizers. In addition, there would be training in simple agricultural skills which would set the stage for the application of more advanced and technological agricultural skills as some later period. These newly learned skills would, in the meantime, contribute to the immediate pressing need of expanded agricultural production. And of course, I favor the concept that countries taking part in this program should be required to show improvement in their agricultural techniques, and the Secretary of Agriculture would establish production guides as standards for program participation. In addition, the Secretary of Agriculture — whoever it might be — would cooperate with the Secretary of State in getting other friendly nations to set up similar type training programs, these to be coordinated with the ones conducted by our country. This would use the quote “share the burden” approach, and would get away from the concept of expecting our country to do it all alone, all the time.

Now I might add in the closing 30 seconds that I have, that we made efforts now for several weeks to incorporate the ideas of many, many people into our proposal. For example, I have personally contacted by letter the president of every land-grant college in America. I contacted by letter every state extension director. We contacted by letter every farm leader in Kansas, and every farm leader throughout America. And in addition, editors and farm writers — farm editorial writers such as Rod Turnbull of the Kansas City Star, and the writer of the Farm Journal, Claude Gifford; Mr. Streeter; and others who are recognized as experts in agriculture. And I feel that this bill represents a good cross-section of thinking, and I'm hopeful that when the time comes for action, that the House Committee on Agriculture will accept this. And I say this because of one outstanding fact: nearly every witness who has testified on the Food for Peace Program in the last 30 days — we've had literally dozens of these people — have stated without exception, that one thing we must do is to increase technical assistance to developing nations. And this is just what this proposal does.

So, if you have any questions or would like a copy of the bill, please write to me, Congressman Bob Dole, Room 243, House Office Building, Washington 25 D.C. Thanks so much for listening.