I am delighted to be with you this morning. Special meetings like this are vivid reminders of how important the cotton industry in America is to the quality of our lives.

I personally have been a partner with the cotton industry for 37 years. I'm a "Cotton Man," and proud of it. At Parkdale Mills where I'm employed, we consume, every year, more pounds of cotton than all man-made fibers combined. Our consumption of cotton fiber exceeds 275,000 bales per year. We make many different yarns for many different fabrics. A large percentage of our yarns, both ring-spun and rotor, is all cotton - and you will forgive me if I say ours is undoubtedly the best in the world. Parkdale also produces cotton/polyester and acrylic/cotton blends. But I'm not here today to sell yarn, I came to talk to you about a very serious matter that affects my textile business and therefore, "your" cotton markets.