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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release April 8, 1998

                   STATEMENT ON VICE PRESIDENT GORE 
               ON ENSURING A SAFE, PLENTIFUL FOOD SUPPLY

Protecting our children's health and helping our farmers remain the most productive in the world are two of this Administration's top priorities. That is why I am asking the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agriculture to work together to meet both of these objectives, ensuring our nation a safe, plentiful food supply for the 21st century.

Two years ago, President Clinton signed the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996, a landmark effort to safeguard public health and especially children. The Act, which passed with broad bipartisan support, set in motion a systematic, scientific effort to identify and reduce potential risks posed by pesticides. With that effort now well under way, some in the agricultural community are concerned about how the act's implementation may affect them.

President Clinton and I will not waver in our commitment to protecting children's health. Nor are we willing to sacrifice the strength and competitiveness of our agricultural communities. Accordingly, I am asking EPA Administrator Browner and Secretary Glickman to work in partnership to ensure that these regulatory efforts are guided by sound science and broad public participation. I am asking them as well to speed the development and approval of any new, safer pest control strategies.

I am confident that working together, we can assure Americans the safest, most productive food supply ever.