WASHINGTON, Jan. 21, 2000-- Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman today named 38 members to a newly-formed USDA Advisory Committee on Agricultural Biotechnology. The Committee will advise the Secretary on policy related to the creation, application, marketability, trade and use of agricultural biotechnology.

"It is my hope that this group, which brings together people with a range of perspectives and experiences, will engage in the kind of thoughtful and civil debate on biotechnology that our country now needs," said Glickman. "The panel will examine many of the complex issues related to agricultural biotechnology."

The Committee, authorized for two years, will hold its first meeting on March 29-30 in Washington. The committee meeting will be open to the public.

Secretary Glickman appointed Dennis Eckart, a former Congressman from Ohio, as chairman of the committee. Mr. Eckart is currently an attorney at Baker and Hostetler, LLP, in Washington, DC. The Committee's appointed members include -

1. Dale E. Bauman -- Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor and Professor of Nutritional Biochemistry, Department of Animal Science and the Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University Ithaca, New York
2. Daniel R. Botkin -- Research Professor, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California
3. Carolyn Brickey -- Executive Director, National Campaign for Pesticide Policy Reform, San Francisco, California; and member, National Organic Standards Board
4. R. Jeffrey Burkhardt -- Professor of Food and Resource Economics, Food and Resource Economics Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida; and member, US/EU Committee on Ethics and Food Biotechnology
5. R. James Cook -- R. James Cook Endowed Chair in Wheat Research, Department of Plant Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington
6. James F. Dodson -- Farmer and seed sales representative for Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., Robstown, Texas; and Chairman, Environmental Task Force, National Cotton Council
7. Linda J. Fisher -- Vice President for Government and Public Affairs, Monsanto Company, Washington, DC
8. Carol T. Foreman -- Distinguished Fellow and Director, the Food Policy Institute, Consumer Federation of America, Chevy Chase, Maryland; and member, USDA Meat and Poultry Inspection Advisory Committee
9. David J. Frederickson -- President, Minnesota Farmers Union, St. Paul, Minnesota
10. Rebecca J. Goldburg -- Senior Scientist, Environmental Defense Fund, New York, New York
11. Michael K. Hansen -- Research Associate, Consumer Policy Institute, Consumers Union, Yonkers, New York
12. Neil E. Harl -- Professor of Economics and Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in Agriculture, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
13. Thomas J. Hoban -- Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina
14. Marjorie A. Hoy -- Eminent Scholar and Davies, Fischer, and Eckes Professor of Biological Control, Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
15. Charles S. Johnson -- Executive Vice President, Dupont, Wilmington, Delaware; and member, USDA-Foreign Agricultural Service Emerging Market Committee
16. Anne R. Kapuscinski -- Professor and Extension Specialist, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota
17. Edward L. Korwek -- Attorney at Hogan and Hartson, LLP, Washington, DC
18. Sharan A. Lanini -- Farmer and Sales/Marketing Manager for Growers Transplanting, Inc./Rocket Farms, Salinas, California; and member, California Department of Food and Agriculture Organic Food Act Advisory Committee
19. Mark Lipson -- Organic Farmer and Policy Program Director, Organic Farming Research Foundation, Davenport, California
20. Mary-Howell Martens -- Organic Farmer and Adjunct Biology Instructor, Finger Lakes Community College, Penn Yan, New York
21. Marshall A. Martin -- Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana; and member, National Agricultural Biotechnology Council
22. J. Calman McCastlain -- Attorney at Pender, McCastlain, and Pak, P.A.; farmer and grain elevator operator; and Director, Arkansas Wheat Promotion Board, Little Rock, Arkansas
23. E. Bruce McEvoy -- Chief Executive Officer, Sealed Sweet Growers, Inc., Vero Beach, Florida
24. Margaret G. Mellon -- Director, Agriculture and Biotechnology Program, Union of Concerned Scientists, Washington, DC
25. Lorraine D. Nakai -- Entomologist and Farmer, Navajo Agricultural Products Industry, Farmington, New Mexico
26. Philip T. Nelson -- Farmer; Chairman, Livestock and Dairy GRITS Committee, Illinois Farm Bureau; and Chairman, American Farm Bureau Federation, Swine Advisory Committee, Seneca, Illinois
27. Carol Nottenburg -- Attorney and Director of Intellectual Property and Principal Scientist, Center for the Application of Molecular Biology to International Agriculture, Red Hill, Australia
28. Roger C. Pine -- Farmer and President, National Corn Growers Association, Lawrence, Kansas
29. Channapatna S. Prakash -- Professor of Plant Molecular Genetics, College of Agriculture, Tuskegee University, Auburn, Alabama; and member of the U.S. Sweetpotato Crop Advisory Committee
30. Frank L. Sims -- President, North American Grain, Cargill, Inc., Minnetonka, Minnesota; and member, Chicago Board of Trade
31. J. Michael Sligh -- Director for Sustainable Agriculture, Rural Advancement Foundation International--U.S.A., Chapel Hill, North Carolina
32. Jerome B. Slocum -- Farmer and President, North Mississippi Grain Company, Cold Water, Mississippi
33. Austin P. Sullivan, Jr. -- Senior Vice President for Corporate Relations, General Mills, Inc., Plymouth, Minnesota; and Chairman, Biotechnology Task Force, Grocery Manufacturers of America
34. Virginia V. Weldon -- Physician and Director, Center for the Study of American Business, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri; and member, President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology
35. David M. Winkles, Jr. -- Farmer and President, South Carolina Farm Bureau, Sumter, South Carolina; and member, United Soybean Board
36. Margaret M. Wittenberg -- Vice-President of Government and Public Affairs, Whole Foods Market, Inc., Dripping Springs, Texas; and member, National Organic Standards Board
37. Michael W. Yost -- Farmer and President, American Soybean Association, Murdock, Minnesota