For Immediate Release
September 22, 2000
Contact:           Rusty Cheuvront 502/564-2611
                        John-Mark Hack 502/564-4627

Governor Patton Says White House Names Presidential Commission to Consider Proposed Buyout Plan for Tobacco Farm Families

Frankfort, Ky. - Governor Paul Patton announced today that President Clinton has signed an executive order creating a Presidential Commission to fashion a buyout of federal tobacco quotas and address the health issues of underage smoking.   In his order, the President names Daviess County Farmer Rod Kuegel as Co-Chair of the Commission.  Kuegel, President of the 5-state Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association, will share the chair with Matt Myers of the National Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

"I'm pleased the Administration is taking this step. Now is the time to confront the issues faced by farm families in Kentucky and across the southeastern United States. The federal government has been intimately involved in developing the economic dependence of thousands of family farms on tobacco. That’s why it's critically important that the federal government be involved in finding solutions to farm families' problems just as they would do for the industrial worker displaced by federal trade policies," the Governor said.

Today’s order comes after a series of meetings between Governor Patton, his staff, and representatives of the Clinton-Gore administration. “We began this dialogue two years ago and we are very pleased with this development.”

“We have also worked with the Democratic Presidential candidate Al Gore, to elevate his awareness of the plight of the tobacco farm families," Governor Patton said.  “Just because it’s an election year is no reason to stop working on behalf of the people we serve.  Our farm families are hurting now, and they are searching for future security in an industry full of uncertainty,” Patton added.

The governor challenged the republican leadership in Kentucky to do the same, “It is appropriate to precipitate this debate at this time and I call upon my republican counterparts to persuade their candidate to address this issue.”

On Thursday, Governor Patton shared his ideas for what a tobacco quota buyout should look like.  The governor believes the focus of the Commission should be on devising a means of compensation for quota at a rate of $20 a pound based on 2000 quota levels and making American grown tobacco more competitive on the world market.

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