The food and agricultural policies adopted by this Administration over the past four years, including those described above, will provide a firm foundation for future governmental actions in this field.  Expiration of the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 later this year will require early attention by the Congress.  With relatively minor changes, most of the authorities contained in the 1977 Act should be extended in their present form.  The farmer-owned grain reserve has proven to be a particularly effective means of stabilizing grain markets and should be preserved in essentially its present form.

Beyond this, it will be important for the Congress to keep a close eye on price-cost developments in the farm sector.  As noted above, some of the actions I took last year were for the purpose of providing relief from the cost-price squeeze facing farmers.  Should these pressures continue, further actions might be required.

My Administration has devoted particular attention to the issues of world hunger, agricultural land use, and the future structure of American agriculture.  I encourage the Congress and the next Administration to review the results of these landmark enquiries and, where deemed appropriate, to act on their recommendations.

Following a careful review of the situation, I recently extended the suspension of grain sales to the Soviet Union.  I am satisfied that this action has served its purpose effectively and fairly.  However, as long as this suspension must remain in effect, it will be important for the next Administration and the Congress to take whatever actions are necessary to ensure that the burden does not fall unfairly on our Nation’s farmers.  This has been a key feature of my Administration’s policy, and it should be maintained.

VII.  FOREIGN POLICY

From the time I assumed office four years ago this month, I have stressed the need for this country to assert a leading role in a world undergoing the most extensive and intensive change in human history.

My policies have been directed in particular at three areas of change: 

—­the steady growth and increased projection abroad of Soviet military power, power that has grown faster than our own over the past two decades.

—­the overwhelming dependence of Western nations, which now increasingly includes the United States, on vital oil supplies from the Middle East.

—­the pressures of change in many nations of the developing world, in Iran and uncertainty about the future stability of many developing countries.