Thank you Chuck [UH Dean Chuck Laughlin, Master of Ceremonies.] Senator Inouye, Congresswoman Mink, Congressman Abercrombie, Governor Cayetano, President Mortimer, distinguished guests and friends, today's groundbreaking for the Center for Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture is the fruition of an idea almost a decade in the making. Back in 1988, as a member of the House Appropriations Committee, I worked with Senator Inouye to secure funding for this facility.

Developments in Hawaiian agriculture since that initial appropriation underscore the importance and timeliness of this facility and the people and programs of the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. In the past 10 years, 21 sugarcane plantations have gone out of business and we have lost 115 thousand acres of sugarcane production. Agriculture has long been the backbone of rural Hawaii's economy, and for over a century sugar provided jobs and a special way of life for communities throughout the state. As cane disappears from the agricultural map, our great challenge is to develop new opportunities that keep Hawaii green and economically productive for at least as long as our relationship with sugar.

The Center for Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture will advance the development and application of technologies in diversified agriculture, providing economic opportunities in an industry that is already the fastest growing sector of the state's economy. The scope and viability of agricultural products and services for our economy is only limited by the creation of the scientific, technical, and commercial infrastructure necessary for diversified agriculture to blossom in Hawaii.

The Center for Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture, in concert with the College of Tropical Agriculture, reaffirms our commitment--through a federal-state matching partnership--to build an infrastructure to transform and renew agriculture in Hawaii. The benefits gained from successful agriculture go beyond economic revitalization; a dynamic agricultural sector preserves our special quality of life and continues responsible environmental stewardship of the `aina for the next century and for future generations.

The challenges are great as we work to build our local economy through agricultural exports and develop agricultural technologies and production systems that are environmentally responsible. The people who will work in this new facility, who have been waiting anxiously, are up to the task.

Aloha.