My assignment is to brief you an the organization, structure, and functions of the Producer Steering Committee.

First, the Producer Steering Committee, as the name implies, is a committee of 21 cotton producer leaders, elected by their peers from all across the Cotton Belt. Membership is uniformly distributed among the 14 major cotton states.

The Committee is the producers' advocate within the National Cotton Council, and has responsibility for initiating or developing most recommendations on farm legislation and other matters affecting price and production Policy.

Keep in mind that there are 37 separate certified cotton producer interest organizations in the Cotton Belt--ranging from 9 in Texas to 1 in Missouri. Those 37 organizations elect the 76 producer delegates to the Council. The 76 then select the 21 to serve as the Steering Committee.