[Senate Hearing 115-169]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 115-169
NOMINATION OF
GEORGE ``SONNY'' PERDUE
TO BE SECRETARY OF
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE,
NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
MARCH 23, 2017
__________
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Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
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COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY
PAT ROBERTS, Kansas, Chairman
THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan
MITCH McCONNELL, Kentucky PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont
JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas SHERROD BROWN, Ohio
JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
JONI ERNST, Iowa MICHAEL BENNET, Colorado
CHARLES GRASSLEY, Iowa KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, New York
JOHN THUNE, South Dakota JOE DONNELLY, Indiana
STEVE DAINES, Montana HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota
DAVID PURDUE, Georgia ROBERT P. CASEY, Jr., Pennsylvania
LUTHER STRANGE, Alabama CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland
James A. Glueck, Jr., Majority Staff Director
Anne C. Hazlett, Majority Chief Counsel
Jessica L. Williams, Chief Clerk
Joseph A. Shultz, Minority Staff Director
Mary Beth Schultz, Minority Chief Counsel
(ii)
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Hearing(s):
Nomination of George ``Sonny'' Perdue to be Secretary of U.S.
Department of Agriculture...................................... 1
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Thursday, March 23, 2017
STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY SENATORS
Roberts, Hon. Pat, U.S. Senator from the State of Kansas,
Chairman, Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.... 1
Stabenow, Hon. Debbie, U.S. Senator from the State of Michigan... 2
Chambliss, Hon. Saxby, former U.S. Senator from the State of
Georgia........................................................ 4
Perdue, Hon. David, U.S. Senator from the State of Georgia....... 9
Scott, Hon. David, U.S. Representative from the State of Georgia. 6
Witness
Perdue, Hon. George ``Sonny'', Nominee to be Secretary, United
States Department of Agriculture............................... 9
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APPENDIX
Prepared Statements:
Perdue, Hon. George.......................................... 46
Document(s) Submitted for the Record:
Roberts, Hon. Pat:
Letters of support for Gov. George ``Sonny'' Perdue
Agriculture Industry......................................... 56
American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI)........................ 74
American Horse Council....................................... 75
American Quarter Horse Association........................... 77
American Sheep Industry (ASI)................................ 81
American Veterinary Medical Association...................... 79
Catfish Farmers of America................................... 82
Family Farm Alliance......................................... 83
Food Marketing Institute..................................... 84
Independent Community Bankers of America..................... 87
Industry Crop Insurance Letter............................... 88
International Association of Fire Chiefs..................... 91
Michigan Agri-Business Association........................... 92
National Confectioners Association........................... 93
National Grocers Association................................. 94
Oklahoma Soybean Association................................. 96
Sweetener Users Association.................................. 98
The Fertilizer Institute..................................... 99
Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.................. 102
U.S. Secretaries............................................. 97
Various U.S. Governors....................................... 85
Western Growers Support...................................... 103
Stabenow, Hon. Debbie:
Dairy Risk Management Agency................................. 104
Perdue, Hon. George:
5-day letter, Committee questionnaire and Office of
Government Ethics Executive Branch Personnel Public
Financial Disclosure Report filed by Christopher James
Brummer.................................................... 106
Question and Answer:
Perdue, Hon. George:
Written response to questions from Hon. Pat Roberts.......... 136
Written response to questions from Hon. Debbie Stabenow...... 139
Written response to questions from Hon. Heidi Heitkamp....... 161
Written response to questions from Hon. John Boozman......... 164
Written response to questions from Hon. Amy Klobuchar........ 165
Written response to questions from Hon. John Thune........... 169
Written response to questions from Hon. Joni Ernst........... 173
Written response to questions from Hon. John Hoeven.......... 174
Written response to questions from Hon. Steve Daines......... 176
Written response to questions from Hon. Luther Strange....... 179
Written response to questions from Hon. Thad Cochran......... 180
Written response to questions from Hon. Robert Casey, Jr..... 181
Written response to questions from Hon. Charles Grassley..... 187
Written response to questions from Hon. Sherrod Brown........ 188
Written response to questions from Hon. Kirsten Gillibrand... 193
Written response to questions from Hon. Michael Bennet....... 205
Written response to questions from Hon. Patrick J. Leahy..... 209
Written response to questions from Hon. Chris Van Hollen..... 218
NOMINATION OF
GEORGE ``SONNY'' PERDUE
TO BE SECRETARY OF
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Thursday, March 23, 2017
United States Senate,
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry,
Washington, DC
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:01 a.m., in
room 325, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Pat Roberts,
Chairman of the Committee, presiding.
Present: Senators Roberts, Cochran, Boozman, Hoeven, Ernst,
Grassley, Thune, Daines, Perdue, Strange, Stabenow, Leahy,
Brown, Klobuchar, Bennet, Gillibrand, Donnelly, Heitkamp,
Casey, and Van Hollen.
STATEMENT OF HON. PAT ROBERTS, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF
KANSAS, CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND
FORESTRY
Chairman Roberts. Good morning, members of the Committee, I
call this meeting of the Senate Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition, and Forestry to order.
This morning, we welcome Governor Sonny Perdue, the
President's nominee for U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.
Members of this Committee have great appreciation for the
farmers, ranchers, consumers, and other stakeholders that are
directly affected by decisions made by the Secretary. The
Department of Agriculture is made up of 29 agencies and
offices. It employs nearly 100,000 men and women that work in
all 50 states and all around the globe. The Department provides
leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, rural
development, nutrition, scientific research, and related issues
that impact Americans virtually every day.
Throughout our Nation's history, our farmers, ranchers, and
folks in rural America have survived drought, disease, floods,
tornadoes, and lately--yes, lately--prairie fires in Kansas and
whatever else Mother Nature throws at them.
Year after year, they produce the safest, most abundant,
and affordable food and fiber supply in the world; however,
today, growers from across the country are facing tough
economic times with multiple years of low prices.
These same producers need a strong market for their goods.
During this critical time, the importance of trade for
agriculture, our agriculture industry, cannot be overstated.
If that was not enough, over the last previous years,
farmers and ranchers and rural businesses have been burdened by
regulations from agencies all across the Federal Government. I
have heard time and time again, as well as many members of this
Committee, about the costly and hard-to-understand regulations
that endanger the ability of our producers to simply stay in
business. This Committee will continue its efforts to make
government a partner in their success, not an adversary.
This Committee has a lot of work to do over the next 2
years, including the reauthorization of the Farm Bill. We
intend to do that work in the bipartisan fashion that has
served us so well in the past. In this respect, I want to
personally thank the distinguished Ranking Member and former
Chairperson of this Committee, the Senator from Michigan.
Now more than ever, agriculture needs a voice and advocate
at the highest levels of government, and Governor Perdue has
been nominated to serve in exactly that role. He is from
Georgia and has spent his entire life in and around
agriculture. The Governor was raised on a farm and was a
practicing veterinarian before returning to his home county to
work in the grain business. He was elected to serve in local
and state government, including two terms as Governor of
Georgia. While serving farmers throughout the Southeast, he
gained firsthand experience with the complexity of
transportation and the global commodities market.
Governor, the Senate's role of advice and consent is an
important responsibility, and today is a key step in that
process. We look forward to hearing your testimony and to
asking you questions about how you view the role of Agriculture
Secretary, should you be confirmed.
In addition to the Governor, I would also like to welcome
and recognize his wife, Mary, his 4 children and their spouses,
and his 14 grandchildren. The Governor is also joined by so
many of his friends and former staff from Georgia, we cannot
count them. We welcome you all to the Committee.
I am especially glad to have our former Ag Committee
Chairman and Senator from Georgia, the Honorable Saxby
Chambliss; and Georgia Congressman David Scott, who serves on
the House Agriculture Committee--pardon me--the sometimes
powerful House Agriculture Committee--with us to provide
introductions of our nominee. I see Congressman Sanford Bishop
here in the audience to support the nominee as well. Sanford,
it is good to see you again.
But before we hear from Senator Chambliss and Congressman
Scott, I want to turn things over to Senator Stabenow for any
remarks that the distinguished Ranking Member would like to
make.
STATEMENT OF HON. DEBBIE STABENOW, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE
OF MICHIGAN
Senator Stabenow. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
It is great to be with you today as we are moving forward on
this very important position, welcome Governor Perdue. It is
pretty impressive to see your beautiful grandchildren, as well
as children and family members. We know that you are a proud
grandpa and we are happy to have you all here today.
To my friend, Senator Chambliss, we have worked on a lot of
Farm Bills together and worked well. Thank you for your service
as Chair and as somebody advocating for Georgia and all States
in the interest in agriculture. It is great to see you.
Representative Scott, welcome to you as well. We have a lot
of work to do together with our colleagues in the House to be
able to get the next Farm Bill done. We look forward to doing
that.
It is clear that agriculture and rural America need to have
a seat at the table. It is clear that we need to make sure that
is happening with this administration.
Looking back at our history, our Presidents knew that
farmers were the foundation of the country. That is why
President Lincoln created the USDA and called it the ``people's
department,'' because he understood that agriculture is a
cornerstone of our economy, and that the Department had a
special relationship with the people it served. America's
farmers and ranchers grow the safest, most affordable food
supply in the world, and we should be very proud of that. I
always say that food security is national security because
having a food-secure nation makes our country safe.
Our food and agriculture sector also supports 16 million
American jobs. It is USDA's job to ensure we can continue to
make things and grow things in every state, and that means
celebrating the diversity of American agriculture as well.
Michigan is the second most diverse agriculture state in
the country, and it is important that USDA is a voice for
Michigan farmers, as well as Kansas, Georgia, and all the
farmers across our country. Large and small, conventional and
organic, those who sell overseas, those who sell to their
neighbors--we need a voice for all of our farmers.
The Agriculture Secretary will need to look past regional
divides and partisan pressures to support all farmers, all
families, and all rural communities. Right now we need an
advocate to stand up for them with this administration. USDA
not only helps a farmer weather storms, it also saves
communities from wildfires in the West, helps to make lakes and
rivers safe for families to enjoy, and ensures children have
the healthy food they need to learn and grow to be healthy
adults.
Rural America is the economic backbone of our country, and
it is true that too many rural towns are still struggling to
recover from the Great Recession. Over the past 8 years, USDA
has made targeted investments in rural economies, and now we
are beginning to see these communities on the road to recovery.
But we need to make sure that these important investments
continue so we can keep moving forward.
Unfortunately, during the first 2 months of the new
administration, it is clear that rural America has been an
afterthought. Even before President Trump took office, he sent
a message by waiting until the last minute to name his pick for
Agriculture Secretary.
Last week's budget proposal has also made it clear that
rural America is not a top priority for this administration.
The proposal cuts USDA funding by 21 percent, the third largest
cut to any federal agency.
In addition to eliminating critical rural development and
international food aid programs, the administration has put a
target on hundreds of critical programs that go through the
appropriations process. In fact, under the budget, important
resources for farmers and families are facing cuts averaging 33
percent.
We need a Secretary of Agriculture who will advocate for
the important services USDA provides and rural families and
farmers need.
We need a strong voice to insist that the President listen
to the 500 groups that are saying that agriculture,
conservation, food assistance, and other Farm Bill programs
should not be cut further after agreeing to a $23 billion cut
in the last Farm Bill.
We also need someone who will partner closely with
Congress, especially as we put together the next Farm Bill and
look at other key issues like immigration and trade that have a
tremendous impact on farmers and rural communities.
In the 2014 Farm Bill, we made bipartisan reforms that
saved taxpayers billions and protected the integrity of the
farm and family safety net.
The Congressional Budget Office recently estimated that the
current Farm Bill would save $80 billion more than initially
projected in the next 10 years, largely driven by crop
insurance costs going down and reduced spending on food
assistance, as the economy has improved.
In this Congress, we will be working hard to move another
bipartisan Farm Bill. I am excited for this challenge, Mr.
Chairman. With the USDA leadership and with all of our
stakeholders, I know that we can get it done. We have worked
together before on a comprehensive bill. We will do it again
for the communities that we represent and for the entire
country.
Especially during these times of low prices for agriculture
and uncertainty around the budget, trade, and immigration, we
need the next Secretary to be an unapologetic advocate for all
of rural America. We need someone who will be tenacious, much
like a Georgia bulldog.
Governor Perdue, we need a champion--and I know you know
that--right now more than ever. Today, I look forward to
learning more about your views and qualifications to lead one
of the most important Departments in our Federal Government.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Roberts. I thank the Senator from Michigan.
It is my privilege and pleasure now to recognize the
distinguished former member of this Committee and Chairman of
this Committee, our colleague, our friend, the Honorable Saxby
Chambliss.
STATEMENT OF HON. SAXBY CHAMBLISS, FORMER U.S. SENATOR FROM THE
STATE OF GEORGIA
Senator Chambliss. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Stabenow,
distinguished members of the Committee, I am truly honored to
be before you today, and I am humbled to be on this side of the
dais but glad to be on this side for a number of reasons. But I
am particularly pleased and honored to be here today to
introduce my good friend, Governor George Ervin ``Sonny''
Perdue, who is President Trump's nominee to be the next
Secretary of Agriculture.
You know, I spent 12 of the best years of my life right
here, and when people ask do I miss the Senate, I am very quick
to respond that what I miss are the good friends that I made
over my 20 years in Congress, and members of this Committee are
right at the top of the list of those best friends, and it is
on both sides of the aisle. So I truly am pleased to be here.
When I was sworn in as a new Member of the House of
Representatives in January of 1995, I was given the next-to-
the-last seat on the Committee on Agriculture, which was made
up of more than 50 Members. The Chairman of that Committee was
the gentleman from Kansas, Mr. Roberts. Now, Mr. Chairman, you
are probably the only person in the history of our country to
chair both Committees, and I am going to steal your phrase,
because I have heard you say it so often, that the ``Sometimes
Powerful Ag Committee,'' but you are to be congratulated for
having the honor of chairing both Committees.
Governor Sonny Perdue is no stranger to agriculture. Sonny
grew up on a farm in Houston County, Georgia, graduated from
the veterinary school at the University of Georgia, and after a
tour in the Air Force, returned to Houston County to be
actively engaged in row-crop farming as well as in the
operation of a very successful grain elevator business.
When I was elected to Congress, Sonny was a constituent of
mine and was by that time in his life a member of the Georgia
State Senate. Now, Houston County is the home of Robins Air
Force. So Sonny and I shared the interest of defense as well as
agriculture in our respective positions, and we began a
dialogue that has lasted to this day.
In 2002, Sonny decided to run for Governor of Georgia, and
I decided to run for the United States Senate, and needless to
say, we spent many hours campaigning over the next year prior
to that election. When you eat a lot of fried chicken and a lot
of barbecue and ride a bus with somebody for a long period of
time, you get to know them, and I got to know Sonny well.
That November, Sonny was elected as the first Republican
governor in our state in 130 years. Sonny has been a leader in
everything he has been involved in doing. As a farmer, he was a
leader in the field of agribusiness in our state. As a member
of the State Senate, he was elected by his peers to be the
president pro tem of the Senate, and as governor, he was the
chairman of the Republican Governors Association.
When he was elected governor, Sonny did what good leaders
do, and that is to surround himself with good people. He went
out and found a very experienced CEO and very experienced CFO.
He also improved the state's leadership by implementing a
meritocracy in that he went out and found the very best and
most qualified people to run every one of our state agencies,
irrespective of the political affiliation of those individuals.
He committed to make Georgia the best managed state in the
Nation, and he received significant national recognition for
his accomplishments.
When he was elected, the state could not produce an audit,
so he created the first state accounting office to focus on the
timeliness and usefulness of financial information. Technology
and purchasing systems at the state level were antiquated.
Under Sonny's leadership, those systems were updated, and the
state purchasing system has received many awards for its
efficiency and accountability. A new state data center was
established, and much of the appropriate technology was
outsourced in order to stay current and technologically state-
of-the-art.
Now, we all know that technology at USDA today is way
behind the curve. It is inefficient, and it is not farmer-
friendly. This will be a challenge to Sonny, but I am very
confident that he will be up to that challenge.
One of Sonny's most significant initiatives was the
customer service focus to treat citizens of our state as
customers and to create services for them that were faster,
friendlier, and easier. That initiative significantly reduced
the time and improved the customer experience in everything
from getting a driver's license to getting a tax refund. It
also produced a cultural change as state employees bought into
this initiative.
Such an effort at USDA would be a vast improvement in the
relationship with Washington and its largest customers at
USDA--farmers and ranchers. This kind of executive experience
and leadership combined with Sonny's knowledge of USDA programs
make him ideally suited to be the next Secretary of
Agriculture.
Mr. Chairman, I would urge this Committee to approve his
nomination and bring his confirmation to a vote on the floor of
the Senate as soon as possible, and I thank you very much.
Chairman Roberts. Thank you, Senator Chambliss, for an
excellent--an excellent statement on behalf of the Governor.
It is also my personal pleasure and privilege to introduce
a member of the House Agriculture Committee, a very valuable
member, Congressman David Scott. David, we are delighted to
have you here in the upper body.
[Laughter.]
Chairman Roberts. We will not go any farther with that.
Please proceed, sir.
STATEMENT OF HON. DAVID SCOTT, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE
STATE OF GEORGIA
Mr. Scott. Well, Chairman Roberts, thank you for that, but
I do want to make one slight correction. When you said that
House Agriculture was sometimes influential and powerful, may
we add an amendment to that so it will go out that the House
Agriculture Committee has always been and will always be
powerful and influential.
Chairman Roberts. I appreciate that correction. It just was
only one chairman that had the tenure when it was sometimes
powerful.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Scott. Touche, my friend. I will certainly take that in
consideration.
Chairman Roberts, I am greatly honored and very thankful to
have this opportunity to come and stand with my dear friend, my
longtime friend, Sonny Perdue.
I want to just take a few minutes to share with you some
things about Sonny that you need to know. My good friend,
Senator Saxby Chambliss, went into great detail to share with
you his immense qualifications, his education, the fact that he
went to University of Georgia's veterinarian school.
But I am here to explain to you why Sonny Perdue is,
indeed, the right person at the right time to do the absolute
best job, the talents that I have shared and have witnessed
with him in coming up through Georgia State Senate.
You see, Committee members, I was chairman of the Senate
Rules Committee in Georgia for 10 years, first African American
to get that position. My good friend, Sonny Perdue, was the
president pro tempore of the Senate. Now, I am not saying that
to just shake a bell on our credentials here, but I think that
if you put that in the context of the Georgia legislature--and
I assure you that Georgia legislature was one of the most
exciting places to be every 40 days that went on for almost 80
days.
Now, Sonny and I had to meet every single day to work
together, to set the agenda, to determine what bills got on to
the floor in the House and the Senate, sometimes night after
night, and when we did that, we had to also sit with the
Governor and the Speaker. You talk about some fireworks; there
were plenty in that Georgia legislature.
But you get to understand a person's temperament when you
are on the battlefield with them, their courage, their
decisiveness, and Sonny Perdue was just such a person. So on
all of the major pieces of legislation that affected every
Georgian of every stripe, of every condition, Sonny Perdue had
a very integral part of that.
I want to take just a few minutes, if I may, because what
is important to me is to make sure that my friend Sonny Perdue
becomes the Secretary of Agriculture very quickly and that he
comes with his record unblemished. That is why I wanted you to
know at the outset, ladies and gentlemen, Sonny Perdue and I
worked into the midnight hours, night after night. You get to
know a person. He and I were like brothers, and I am grateful
for that relationship.
I want to take just a minute, though, to address an issue
that--I do not know--may or may not come up, but I think I
would be derelict in my duty if I did not set the record
straight on the Confederate battle flag business that has been
in the air. I want to make sure that when you measure Sonny
Perdue on that issue as well as all issues that you measure
Sonny Perdue right.
Now, let me just give the Committee and the Nation just a
preview and a setting. First of all, Sonny Perdue and I came
along at a very significant time when Georgia made one of its
most hysteric moments in changing the Confederate battle flag
emblem from our State flag. It took time. It took experience.
It took talent. It also took, Committee members, God's
providence, his divine intervention at a very critical need
when we needed it most, and because of leadership at that time,
there were three governors. You cannot just tell the story with
just one governor. This has been an ongoing process, and it
took education. It took commitment. But the people of Georgia,
black and white, rose to that occasion.
I want to just state that the first governor that had the
courage to step forward to change that Confederate battle flag
was Zell Miller, one of your former colleagues here. That took
courage, and Zell paid the price for that. But it is very
important to know that it was the white leadership in Georgia
that stepped forward to lead that fight, took great risk to do
so.
Then there was the second governor, Governor Roy Barnes,
and as I said, God puts the right people in the right place at
the right time. Governor Roy Barnes, one of the most courageous
governors, a man of sterling strength, chose to do it, and he
put forward the new flag. He too--and let me tell you
something, Committee members. Many of those senators, State
senators and State representatives, when they stood up to vote
for that, many knew that they were not coming back because they
were defeated. We have to measure people correctly, and they
built on the foundation that each one laid.
Then came Sonny Perdue. The flag issue was in his lap. It
was on everybody's mind. So when you judge a person, you have
to judge them based upon the circumstances that he was placed
in. Sonny Perdue, let it be known that when he was elected
governor, he put forward a referendum. It was a tremendous
campaign. Governor Roy Barnes lost the governorship for that.
Many members of the House and the Senate lost their positions
for that, and they deserve to be pointed out, respected for
that. They paid the price, and when it came time and Sonny was
elected, he promised a referendum, because the people of
Georgia, it was their decision to make.
But you talk about brilliance, you talk about achievement
in a tough area; Sonny Perdue negotiated the compromise and put
together the referendum and gave the people a choice. He put
Governor Barnes' flag there, which had a small emblem of the
Confederate battle flag on there, and then Governor Sonny
Perdue did a tremendously smart thing. He got an agreement on
another flag that did not have the battle flag emblem on it,
and he put that flag there with Georgia State seal, and he
said, ``People of Georgia, choose which one.'' You know what,
Mr. Chairman and Committee members? The people of Georgia chose
the one flag that Sonny Perdue provided the leadership, that
did not have the small Confederate flag that Roy Barnes had.
We did not get to that point easily, but it was a great
moment for the white and black people of Georgia. It could not
have happened if we did not have a person with the level-
headedness, with the brilliance and the tactical maneuvering,
the willingness to sit and bring together Democrats,
Republicans, urban, and rural together to solve that and let
the people solve it.
I often refer to that experience, Chairman and Committee
members. I call to your reference three people. God chose three
people to get us to the Promised Land; Jacob, which was our
Zell Miller, because Zell Miller had to go up and wrestle with
this issue. Then came our Moses, Roy Barnes, who provided the
leadership right to it, but then we had our Joshua that got us
on across the Jordan River.
With that, Mr. Chairman, I urge you with all speed and
urgency to please confirm my good friend, a great Georgian and
a good American, a great American, who will make one of the
best Secretaries of Agriculture this Nation has had, Sonny
Perdue.
Mr. Perdue. Thank you.
Chairman Roberts. Congressman, thank you for that very
inspiring endorsement. I think every member here, if they would
like to be endorsed for anything, would welcome you to do that.
That was very special, and I appreciate it very much.
Governor?
Senator Perdue. Mr. Chairman?
Chairman Roberts. Oh, I am sorry. Oh, pardon me.
Senator Perdue would like to have the opportunity to
endorse Governor Perdue.
Senator Perdue. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I promise to be
brief. As it has been stated----
Chairman Roberts. You take all the time you want. You were
waving your arms, and I could not see you over there.
STATEMENT OF HON. DAVID PERDUE, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF
GEORGIA
Senator Perdue. I just want to make a brief statement. As
it has been stated, Governor Perdue and I are first cousins. We
grew up together. We have a strong family. It is an extended
family. I've known this man all of my life, and I can think of
no one in the United States more qualified to be the next
Secretary of Agriculture.
In Joshua it calls us to be strong and courageous. I know
this man to be both strong and courageous. Today, he is going
to answer all our questions, and the only thing I can say to
him is, good luck, Cuz.
[Laughter.]
Chairman Roberts. Governor Perdue, would you please rise
and raise your right hand, please, sir. First, do you swear
that the testimony you are about to present is the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Mr. Perdue. I do.
Chairman Roberts. Second, do you agree that if confirmed,
you will appear before any duly constituted committee of
Congress if asked to appear?
Mr. Perdue. Yes, sir, I will.
Chairman Roberts. Thank you. Please proceed now with your
testimony, Governor.
TESTIMONY OF HON. GEORGE ``SONNY'' PERDUE, NOMINEE TO BE
SECRETARY, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Mr. Perdue. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning, Chairman
Roberts and Ranking Member Stabenow and distinguished members
of the Committee. It is an honor to be with all of you here
today as the President's nominee to serve as the Nation's 31st
Secretary of Agriculture.
Before I go any further, I want to thank both of my good
friends and fellow Georgians, both Saxby Chambliss and David
Scott, for their words of encouragement and inspiration to me
as well, Mr. Chairman. I also want to thank my good friend
Sanford Bishop, Congressman Sanford Bishop, whom we served in
the State Senate together, as well for being here this morning
also.
I know from visiting with many of you in your offices,
there was some anxiety over whether there would be a Secretary
of Agriculture nominee, and I must say with all the humility I
can muster, I think the President must have saved the best for
last.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Perdue. I would like to thank each of you for making
time to meet individually with me over the last few weeks, and
I hope and trust that our meetings will not just be
introductory episodes, but an ongoing opportunity to listen and
to learn from one another. My goal today is to answer your
questions transparently. You have--and to your satisfaction,
not only to earn your affirmative vote, but your trust, and if
you will afford me the opportunity, I will carry out this
awesome job with integrity, complicit with the laws and
policies that are set forth by Congress, and with the
compassion of a golden-rule heart.
Before I get started, though, I would like to take a moment
and introduce my family members who are with me here today. I
am accompanied by my lovely wife, Mary, over my left shoulder.
I had no idea when I married her 44 years ago, she would be
such a prolific grandmother. As you can see, seated with Mary
are our 4 children and 14 grandchildren and who are more
familiar with my being called ``Big Buddy'' rather than any
fancy other titles.
I am also pleased and frankly humbled, after 7 years, to
have more than 30 of my former coworkers here, who labored side
by side with me while serving the State of Georgia and its
people.
Chairman Roberts. Governor, could you pardon this
interruption. We would like for your family and your coworkers
to stand, if you would, please.
Mr. Perdue. Please.
Chairman Roberts. Thank you all for being here.
[Applause.]
Mr. Perdue. Good-looking crowd, if I say so myself.
You read my bio and pored over my personal and professional
history, but if you will indulge me today, I would like to tell
you just a little bit about myself.
As a youngster growing up on a dairy farm and a diversified
row-crop farm in the middle of Georgia, I never really fully
realized the blessings that purposeful, meaningful work would
serve me as well as they have in my life. When I was a young
boy feeding the calves and plowing the fields, I was an
integral part of the workforce there on our family's farm. My
mother was an English teacher, 42 years.
Chairman Roberts. Governor, if you would just cease for a
moment, and we will take care of this problem.
[Pause.]
Chairman Roberts. Please proceed, Governor.
Mr. Perdue. Yes, sir. Thank you.
My mother was also an English teacher for 42 years, so I
benefitted from her teachings as well, not just by raising me
with the beliefs that I hold dear to my heart today, but being
an English teacher, she also made sure I knew about dangling
participles. It was a great life, and I had a blessed
upbringing with wonderful memories. My favorite hobbies as a
youngster were playing Little League baseball, training bird
dogs, and riding my horse, Trigger.
Even as a youngster, I was determined and goal-oriented
early on. I set my heart on becoming a veterinarian, having
been influenced by Dr. Davis, a kind and gentle veterinarian
who cared for our dairy herd.
So, after high school, I enrolled at the University of
Georgia, where I walked on to play football for the University
of Georgia Bulldogs, Senator. ``Play'' is probably not the
operative word, but I was on the team. Realizing that my future
was not on the football field, I decided to apply myself to my
studies.
As I entered veterinary school in 1967, you may remember
Vietnam was roiling, so I signed up for an early commissioning
program, the United States Air Force. As I finished my
veterinary education in 1971, I was assigned to Columbus, Ohio,
as base veterinarian, whose primary responsibilities were food
safety, public health, and sanitation.
As I completed my active duty commitment, I joined a small
animal veterinary practice in Raleigh, North Carolina. I soon
realized, though, even though our practice was thriving, that I
missed our farm and my former agricultural way of life. So, in
1976, Mary and I and our two small girls moved back home where
I partnered with my brother-in-law to build a grain elevator in
our home county, which did not yet have one. Sadly, my brother-
in-law and my partner passed away after only 3 years at the age
of 43.
So I have been in agribusiness since 1977, the founder and
operator of three agribusiness and transportation firms serving
farmers across the southeastern United States. Farming and
farmers have been my life ever since. I have lived and breathed
the exhilaration of a great crop and the despair and
devastation of a drought. I have learned by experience what my
father told me as a child, ``If you take care of the land, it
will take care of you.''
So let us fast-forward to what you are probably more
interested in, my years as a public servant, and I want to be
clear. Growing up, I was not one of those young men, young boys
who shook a President's hand at the age of 16 and aspired to
run for office. I was tuned into current events, but I had
absolutely no interest in elected politics. I did understand we
all have civic rent, so I agreed to chair our local planning
and zoning commission. But after 10 years of that service, a
State Senate seat became open, and I was asked to run for that
seat. I initially declined, but after a pre-planned family
vacation to Williamsburg, Virginia, I changed my mind, having
observed the Founders' demonstration of citizen engagement.
In 1990, the people of District 18 elected me to serve as a
member of the Georgia State Senate. I served there for 11 years
and during my tenure was elected by my colleagues, as
Congressman Scott said, to be president pro tempore, the
pinnacle of leadership in that body, from 1996 to '98. You have
probably heard--and it is interesting to note--that I served
both as a Democrat and a Republican in the Georgia State
Senate. In 2002, I was elected the first Republican governor of
Georgia in more than 130 years, as Senator Chambliss reminded
us, and I assumed that office believing that it was a big job,
not just a position. Our team worked diligently for 8 years,
striving to make Georgia the best managed state in the Nation.
As you remember, the period of time from 2002 to 2011 were not
the best economic times in our Nation, but we learned with the
help of a joyful state workforce that we could continue to
provide value to the citizens of Georgia, even in times of
extreme budget pressures.
Even though Georgia may not compare to some of your states
in some agricultural sectors, I am proud to say that I come
from a state whose number one economic driver is agriculture.
In Georgia, agriculture is one area where Democrats and
Republicans consistently have reached across the aisle and
worked together. I am pleased to know that reaching across the
aisle is common practice within this Committee, where
partisanship does not get in the way of good solutions for
America's farmers, ranchers, and consumers.
If confirmed as the Secretary of Agriculture, I look
forward to working with you, all of you. The makeup of this
Committee speaks to the size, the reach, and diversity of
America's agricultural sector, and it includes at least one guy
that I picked watermelons with side by side in my youth.
Though I have a lifetime of experience with farming and
agribusiness, I appreciate that the Department of Agriculture
touches the lives of Americans in many ways that go beyond just
farming itself, including, in a very small way, improving the
lives of the least of these. To continue that role, if I am
honored with Senate confirmation, I will work tirelessly to
advance four primary goals, and each of these goals is focused
on an important constituency, the stakeholders of American
agriculture.
First, I will maximize the opportunity and ability of the
men and women of America's agriculture and agribusiness sector
to create jobs, to produce and sell the food and the fiber that
feed and clothe the world, and to reap the earned reward of
their labor. We want to remove every obstacle and give them
every opportunity to prosper.
Second, for the American taxpayers, our customers, I will
prioritize customer service every day. They expect and have
every right to demand that we conduct the people's business
officially, effectively, and with the utmost integrity.
Third, as our taxpayers are also our consumers, they expect
a safe and secure food supply, and USDA will continue to serve
in that critical role of ensuring the food that we put on the
table to feed our families meets the strict safety standards to
which we have established and are accustomed.
I will never forget that we are the fortunate beneficiaries
of past generations who put a premium on smart stewardship,
protecting, preserving, and entrusting us with those valuable
resources. That is the basis of our fourth goal. American
agricultural bounty comes directly from the land, and today,
those land resources sustain more than 320 million Americans
and countless millions more around the globe.
Mr. Chairman, thank you for your time this morning, and
rest assured that if confirmed, I look forward to working with
the dedicated men and women of the USDA who are committed to
serving the people's department. I look forward to answering
your questions. Thank you very much.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Perdue can be found on page
46 in the appendix.]
Chairman Roberts. At this time, before we begin
questioning, Senator Chambliss and Congressman Scott, if you
would like to excuse yourself, why, please do so.
[Pause.]
Chairman Roberts. Governor, I will begin by saying that our
farmers and ranchers depend on strong trade relationships
around the world. Expanding market access and ensuring that our
producers have a level playing field is absolutely critical to
our rural economy. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the
Office of U.S. Trade Representative have a history of working
hand in hand to make sure that U.S. agriculture has an
influential seat at the trade table.
As this administration takes shape, I have been concerned
that there may be too many cooks in the kitchen when it comes
to trade, and we want to make sure that they are familiar with
the main ingredients.
In addition to the USTR, the President recently established
a new National Trade Council at the White House and increased
trade responsibilities under the Department of Commerce. The
question is, what is the best way that the Department of
Agriculture can continue and strengthen its involvement in
establishing strong trade policies? How can we best work with
the U.S. Trade Representative, the lead trade negotiator, along
with other officials throughout the executive branch to make
sure that agriculture is a top--and I mean top--priority?
Mr. Perdue. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You are absolutely
correct, and I think as Senator Stabenow mentioned, agriculture
needs a strong advocate, a tenacious advocate regarding one of
the top issues.
We are blessed in this Nation to be able to produce more
than we can consume, and we are grateful for that, but
obviously, that implies that we need to settle the bounty all
around the world. You are correct. The relationship between the
USDA and its trade representatives, as well as the USTR, as
well as Secretary Ross and Commerce will be vital. Those really
begin with relationships and, I think, personal relationships.
I have had conversations already in this pending time
awaiting confirmation to discuss with Mr. Lighthizer in a
conversation with Secretary Ross over the great opportunity
they have to use the bounty of American agriculture to promote
agricultural products and to sell those products around the
world, I think, building goodwill as well as doing the moral
aspect of helping to feed that world.
Chairman Roberts. I thank you for your response, Governor.
Let me advise all members of the Committee, we will have a
second round. I know members have other things and other
responsibilities, and there are other committees that are
meeting, but we will have a second round.
In preparation for the 2018 Farm Bill, this year the
Committee has already started our process of listening to
farmers, ranchers, and other stakeholders. Before we write any
Farm Bill, the Committee examines the program and asks what is
working and what is not working. We will continue the listening
and learning process over the weeks and months to come as we
craft the next Farm Bill.
I would greatly appreciate your commitment of the
Department's resources to assist our Committee during this
entire process. Can we expect support regarding our efforts on
behalf of America's farmers and ranchers?
Mr. Perdue. Mr. Chairman, I look forward with great
interest to be involved with you all as you look to deliberate
and to create the 2018 Farm Bill. I will absolutely commit to
you, if confirmed, the resources and the research of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture to provide you the information you
need to make good decisions.
I value my own self as governor in being a facts-based,
data-driven decision-maker, and I think it is important that we
take those facts of things that have worked, learn from the
past, those things that have not worked, and create a Farm Bill
for the future in 2018.
I know that you and the Ranking Member are already on the
job in doing that in your respective states and listening to
our producers across the country as well as our consumers. So I
will absolutely commit to you that you will have access to the
resources of the Department of Agriculture and anything that
you believe you need, to the depth that you need, if I am
allowed to be Secretary, to utilize those resources.
There is great talent over there. We know that the men and
women of the USDA have a great wealth of knowledge. The career
employees have been doing this for years, and there is a great
opportunity to learn from them as well as our producers. I see
the 2018 Farm Bill as an opportunity to meld the wisdom of
those career people with what you all hear in your own
districts to make sure that a 2018 Farm Bill meets the needs of
our producers, our consumers, and the American taxpayers in
2018.
Chairman Roberts. Thank you, Governor. We have already had
the first hearing in Manhattan, Kansas, 600 people in
attendance, and that is what the building held, that is when
the fire marshal said stop. Pretty much all of them, as I
recall, Senator, stayed. We had 21 good witnesses.
I am going to Michigan State. I will probably have to wear
green and white and may apologize for the 20-point victory that
Kansas had.
Senator Stabenow. Okay, you can stop now.
[Laughter.]
Senator Stabenow. I wore purple when I went to Kansas. I
just wanted you to know that. I wore purple for the Chairman,
and he is reminding me of something I would like to forget.
Chairman Roberts. Maybe you could wear black or something
like that.
[Laughter.]
Chairman Roberts. Okay, Senator Stabenow.
Senator Stabenow. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am
actually going to defer to former Chairman, Senator Leahy, who
has responsibilities on the Judiciary Committee. We know there
is a very important Supreme Court nominee being considered, and
he does need to leave. So, with your agreement, I am going to
defer to Senator Leahy.
Chairman Roberts. The distinguished Senator and father of
the northeastern dairy compacts always presented to us at the
11th hour and 59th minute----
Senator Stabenow. That is true.
Chairman Roberts. --is recognized.
[Laughter.]
Senator Leahy. Do not forget I wrote the organic Farm Bill
too. But, Mr. Chairman, thank you, and, Senator Stabenow, thank
you for your usual and gracious courtesy.
We know how important the Department of Agriculture is in
supporting our Nation's farmers, our rural communities, our
hungry and malnourished families here and abroad, forest lands,
consumers. They also advance innovation, research, and energy,
the environment, the mounting climate crisis. We have to
address what is happening in climate change, the nearly
doubling of acres burned in western fires over the last 30
years, and, of course, Governor that problem in Georgia. If it
is left unchecked, in 10 years, two out of every three
dollars--just think of this. Two out of every three dollars
that we appropriate for the Forest Service will be spent on
fire programs, and of course, there is also the loss of life.
Last year, we lost a young Vermonter, Justin Beebe, who was
killed while battling a fire in Nevada with the Lolo Hotshots.
So we have to work on this.
I would commend to you, as I did when we had our private
meeting, the dedicated, competent, and loyal federal employees,
Agriculture Department employees, many of them, and they
deserve your support. It is a time when they wonder what is
happening with hiring freezes or cutbacks. You should spend
time with them.
Now, I am going to submit a number of questions for the
record, but as I was reminded by the Chairman, I never would
have thought this otherwise. I should mention something about
our dairy farmers. They are desperate for a new Farm Bill, but
they are asking for some of your support in developing much
needed risk management options for milk producers. Dairy
farmers cannot get left behind. They look at cotton farmers in
Georgia and Arkansas who are given generous payments, like the
$300 million last year in the Cotton Ginning Cost-Sharing
Program. I think we have to have help for our dairy farmers. I
would hope that we have, as we have had direct support provided
to cotton producers by the USDA outside of the Farm Bill, I
recommend--or recommended by the USDA for inclusion in the next
Farm Bill. Will you work on a proportional and immediate
support for hardworking dairy farmers?
Mr. Perdue. Senator, I will commit to you. As a son of a
dairy farmer and having dairy myself, I understand the hard
work, 7 days a week, 365 days a year that our farm families,
particularly smaller farm families, particularly in your area
and others go through. These are family operations, and they do
not take a holiday. They do not take a break, and I understand
the pain when the profitability of these farms for the milk
prices are just not there. It puts many farm families under
duress to do that.
Senator Leahy. I appreciate that.
One of the problems that they face too, is that
dairyfarmers have a well-documented farm labor shortage. Now,
the federal H-2A Temporary Agricultural Visa Program, which has
helped many--it has worked in your State of Georgia. The Trump
Winery uses it, but it allows only for seasonal farm workers.
The Senate had passed comprehensive immigration reform,
which the House did not take up. They said that even though it
would have passed that it would violate the--apparently the
sacred rule they have, the Dennis Hastert rule, as they did not
bring it up. But now we are having with the operations of ICE
and others--I would ask you to support finding a way to include
dairy farms, which require year-round labor. I mean, you ca not
have somebody come in for 6 months and then say, ``Okay,'' to
the cows, ``I will be back in 6 months to milk you again.''
Your own experience that does not work very well.
So we have--sheep and goat herders have that exemption.
Will you work with us to find a way to have dairy farms, dairy
farm workers in the same program, in the same way goat and
sheep herders are?
Mr. Perdue. Senator, if I am honored by the confirmation of
the Senate, then I will commit to you to certainly advise and
counsel the administration over the need for an agricultural
program that is for workers that is year-round. As you
indicated, cows cannot be milked half a day. There are 365 days
a year, and I am very well aware of that. So there is a need.
Obviously, many of our dairy workers are immigrant workers,
and while there are exemptions in other places, certainly I
believe dairy qualifies for that as well.
Senator Leahy. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Senator Stabenow.
Chairman Roberts. The Chair recognizes the distinguished
Senator from Michigan, Senator Stabenow.
Senator Stabenow. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman,
and welcome again, Governor Perdue. We are glad to have this
hearing. We need a Secretary of Agriculture, and we need to
move forward. I appreciate the fact that you understand the
agency and agriculture and grew up in agriculture and support
the mission of the agency. That is very, very important.
I want to first start where I think Senator Leahy left off
in terms of dairy. You and I have talked about this, and I know
growing up on a dairy farm, you understand the challenges.
Certainly, when we look at the last Farm Bills--and Chairman
Roberts and I worked very hard to expand crop insurance--we did
expand it to specialty crops, which we are already seeing has
been very important with the weather challenges in Michigan and
other places for our growers. We also worked to expand help for
young and beginning farmers. But dairy farmers have not been
able to qualify for crop insurance.
As you and I talked about yesterday, three national groups
that speak for dairy farmers, both the American Farm Bureau,
National Farmers Union, and the National Milk Producers have
suggested a way that the USDA could provide additional risk
management tools for dairy farmers in the short run, while we
are putting together the Farm Bill, because we have family
farmers in Michigan and across the country that are in a very,
very difficult situation.
If you are confirmed will you commit to working with me and
working with the industry and all of colleagues who care about
this, to use administrative authority available to you to
provide our Nation's dairy farmers with reliable risk
management tools, including the crop insurance proposal that
was put forward in the letter by the national organizations?
Mr. Perdue. Senator, I welcomed our meeting yesterday, and
I was intrigued by your suggestion of that. As I indicated to
you, many of your colleagues have regretted the fact that the
2014 Farm Bill really did not meet to your expectations for
dairy farmers or maybe even the cotton program as well, and is
not under Title I.
As I indicated yesterday, I am absolutely committed to look
for a way that can give immediate and temporary relief even
prior to the 2018 Farm Bill, if it is within the discretion of
the Secretary, if I am confirmed, and also we have got to be
mindful, obviously, of budget periods as well, so it has got to
be within the parameters that meet the budget as well. But I
think the ideas that have been proposed are intriguing to me. I
have no philosophical difference with those definitions that
have been suggested, and I would absolutely look forward to us
providing a short-and a long-term solution for the dairy and
even the cotton program that may help really in the context and
the formation of the 2018 Farm Bill. I think it would be great
if we had some ideas that we believe could work even prior to
that time.
Senator Stabenow. Thank you very much. I think we do have
an opportunity, and I really look forward to working with you
to achieve that.
You mentioned the budget, and I have to focus on the budget
because I am deeply concerned about the budget put forward by
the administration, which signals a lack of understanding of
agriculture.
I have always said to have an economy and to have a middle
class, you have to make things and grow things. It is clear the
President has focused on making things, which I appreciate in
Michigan, but not growing things, which is equally important.
So when we look at a 21 percent cut in the USDA budget it is
extremely concerning to me and to so many of us that care about
small towns. In fact, I grew up in one of those small towns in
northern Michigan.
I would like to just go through a series of questions
quickly and get your yes or no answer on whether or not you
would support these things. Do you think that small communities
should have the same access to clean water as large cities?
Mr. Perdue. Of course.
Senator Stabenow. Good. Do you think it is important for
individuals in small towns who live far away from a health
center or a hospital to have access to telemedicine services?
Mr. Perdue. Like you, Senator, as a product of a small
community, I absolutely do.
Senator Stabenow. Do you think it is important that farmers
have access to the latest research and tools to make their
farms more productive?
Mr. Perdue. Certainly.
Senator Stabenow. Do you think rural small businesses
should have access to capital to keep them competitive and grow
their business?
Mr. Perdue. Certainly.
Senator Stabenow. Do you believe organic farmers have a
place in farming?
Mr. Perdue. I think consumers across the country have
demonstrated that. I am sorry Senator Leahy had to leave.
Senator Stabenow. Yes.
Do you think it is important to feed seniors and children
in need of assistance?
Mr. Perdue. Yes, ma'am.
Senator Stabenow. I indicate all this because these are
some of the cuts in the budget. These are some of the areas
that have been zeroed out, like rural water and sewer, or have
taken severe cuts in the budget, which are deeply concerning.
In the final moment here, first, did you have any input in
this budget process? Second, how will you move forward when we
are looking at these cuts? How would you as Secretary of
Agriculture address this to be able to meet the needs of rural
America?
Mr. Perdue. I think you are probably aware, Senator,
without confirmation and not being confirmed, I have had no
input into the budget. Obviously, I think you probably saw it
before I did. Also having some concern, obviously as a member
of the administration, I view this budget similar to what I did
as governor when I got a revenue estimate that I did not like
as well. I did not like it, but we manage to it. My goal--I
think you indicated the words in your opening statement that
you want a Secretary who can be a strong advocate and tenacious
advocate. If I am confirmed, I want to get under the boards and
get some room and work for agriculture producers and consumers
to let this administration and any of the people that are
making those decisions in that budget area know what is
important to America.
I think the President understands that many of his votes
came from the areas that you are mentioning and referred to,
and I hope in the context of a balanced or a budget that meets
the objectives that we can get agricultural share there. These
are important programs. I recognize that, and I will do
everything within my power, within the confines of the
administration, working there to match what our desires are.
I flippantly say sometimes I grew a $20 billion budget in
Georgia to $60 billion during that 2003-2011 period of time,
not necessarily voluntary, but with the dedicated work of the
civil workforce in Georgia who really worked hard in those
areas. We did do more with less. Some of that has to do with
efficiency and effectiveness, which I look forward to engaging
this USDA federal workforce in and inspiring them that we can
do more. Obviously, it takes some money in many of these areas,
and I promise to you I will be a strong and tenacious advocate
for that.
Senator Stabenow. Well, thank you, and let me just stress
again that agriculture has been doing more with less, that was
our charge, and we met it in the last Farm Bill. But the cuts
we are talking about here will be really devastating for
farmers and small towns.
Mr. Perdue. Sure.
Senator Stabenow. Thank you.
Chairman Roberts. Speaking of the budget, Senator Boozman,
you will be recognized next, but first, we would like to hear
from the Chairman of the distinguished Senate Appropriations
Committee and the former Chairman of this Committee. I would
remind everyone of the saying that everybody knows, ``The
President proposes and the Congress disposes.''
Senator Cochran.
Senator Cochran. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for your
kind remarks about me and my interest in agriculture and the
obligation that we have as government to ensure the fair
funding of the important government programs that we see in
many cases help farmers when they are in desperate straits,
with weather disasters and other challenges that come along
from time to time that really could put our country in very
difficult economic situations.
So I know you are familiar with most of the programs that
are authorized by our Committee and first recommended by our
Committee and passed and signed and nurtured by both houses of
Congress. You have got a lot of people watching you and urging
you to do this and that, and I am confident in your leadership
and your insights, your experiences, all to be brought to the
challenge of the Office of Secretary of Agriculture. I am
confident that you are going to do a fine job, and we look
forward to working closely with you to identify problems when
they arise and can be addressed in a positive way to suit our
country's interest, economic interest as well.
Mr. Perdue. Thank you.
Senator Cochran. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Roberts. We thank the distinguished Chairman.
Senator Boozman.
Senator Boozman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you,
Governor Perdue, for your willingness to serve. I enjoyed
visiting with you in the office and getting to know you over
lunch and getting to know more about you and your wife. You
have got a big job before you, and yet you have a history of
doing big jobs. We do appreciate your willingness to throw your
hat in the ring.
Arkansas is such that agriculture is its number one
industry, around 25 percent. It is interesting when you look at
the statistics, though, agriculture, farm income is going to be
cut from $124 billion to 60--$62 billion, so literally half,
which is a real problem in much of our states because much of
our states are rural in nature.
One of the things, though, that we can lessen that pressure
is looking for other markets, and in Arkansas, Cuba would be a
very important market with rice production and various other
things, poultry. Can you talk a little bit about efforts that
you would take in the sense, not only Cuba, but other markets
throughout the world so that we could have the attitude that we
have got customers here but, very importantly, customers spread
out all over the world?
Mr. Perdue. Certainly, Senator. I think in respect
specifically to Cuba, for those of you on the Gulf Coast and
those on the East Coast as well as even have been mentioned by
your colleagues in the upper Midwest, I think we would love to
have Cuba as a customer in many things.
I led an Ag delegation from Georgia to Cuba as governor in
2010, and I found then, as much of the problem there regarding
demand, was the ability to pay and the ability to finance there
as much as anything. I think they would love to have our
products, and they are certainly appropriate customers for the
rice that Louisiana grows and that Arkansas grows and other
beans that are edible beans up in the upper Midwest that they
grow. For that reason, I think if you all could see fit to look
into the private financing operation, one of the things they
mentioned to us is that they had to--by the restraints, they
had to go through Europe and have a haircut, financial haircut
in that regard of--by being able to purchase the product.
So I think we have the product they need, and they would
like the product. I think the real issue that I heard regarding
Cuba was the financing part, and certainly, that would come
probably under another area that is not the USDA, but I would
support their efforts if we could get private financing.
Regarding other areas, certainly in Central, South America;
Europe; and Southeast Asia as well, there are new and
developing markets there, and I hope that we can work very
closely with the Trade Representative Lighthizer as well as
Secretary of Commerce Ross in order to put agriculture first in
their repertoire of things to trade. I believe that we have the
ability to produce a very efficient crop and products, food
products as well as other products that clothe and other things
around the world they need. I look forward. That is certainly
from visiting with most all of your colleagues. Trade was right
at the top of the list. I think when you talk to farmers around
the globe, that is what they are most concerned about.
We have a worldwide supply-and-demand issue that is
weighing heavily on prices currently, and we are seeing some of
the lowest prices in many years. It is putting a lot of pain
out there, which is a direct result of the financial situation
that you mentioned in your comments, that farmers are really
struggling to be profitable, hold on, and many times, even the
best farmers are not able to produce a product even with the
best production capabilities they may have.
So I think trade is really the answer. I look forward to
being an advisor and a counsel to this administration, U.S.
Trade Representative, specifically, about the benefit that we
have of farm products to sell around the world.
Senator Boozman. No, that is excellent, and as you said, in
regard to Cuba, the financing really is key. So we actually
have a bill that says that not government-backed, but if an
individual or a private bank or whatever wants to do the
financing, that they will have the ability to do that.
I am running out of time, but I do want to comment. One of
the things that I have real concern about--and I think the
Committee does--is you have the feeding programs in the
schools. Summer comes, and then you have a bunch of kids that
do not benefit from that. What we are trying to do is get a
smooth transition, and if you would just affirm your
recognition of the importance of that. Those rules that govern
that transition and stuff have not been changed since the '60s.
So if you could just in 5 seconds talk about that.
Mr. Perdue. Certainly. I was able to share with several of
your colleagues, who had mentioned that privately in their
offices, that I would love to facilitate that kind of
transition to make sure that those kids who are able to get
meals while they are at school are able to continue that
through the summertime and that they do not fall into a problem
during that period of time, to keep kids healthy.
Senator Boozman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks, Governor.
Chairman Roberts. Senator Bennet.
Senator Bennet. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you so much
for holding the hearing, and, Governor Perdue,
congratulations----
Mr. Perdue. Thank you.
Senator Bennet. --to you and your family on your
nomination.
I was not going to raise it, but Senator Boozman did, that
is a bill he and I both have together on school lunches, so I
am glad--in the summer--glad to hear him raise it and your
comment.
I also was going to raise trade, and I am so pleased with
your answer because, as you know, commodity prices are just
terrible right now for all of our farmers and ranchers.
Throughout Colorado, our rural communities, which really led
the recovery for us coming out of this terrible recession, now
face commodity prices that really challenge them as they are
trying--as their inputs are higher and higher and higher.
There was so much negative talk about trade during this
presidential campaign that I think we are looking to you to
help resurrect that with respect to agriculture in the United
States. Eighty percent of the wheat that we produce in Colorado
is exported. All of the growth for our dairy farmers is going
to come from trade with countries, many of which were countries
that were involved with the TPP. Our potato growers in Colorado
need to have access to these markets.
So knowing that you will be a zealous advocate for trade on
behalf of our agricultural sector is enormously important to my
state, and if there is anything I can do to help you help
translate that to this administration, I will commit to do that
to you.
I also wanted to raise with you the issue of our national
forests. A lot of people do not know that comes within the
Department of Agriculture, and you mentioned in your--in your
statement, the importance of smart stewardship. One place where
we have not had smart stewardship was with the maintenance of
our national forests, as you and I discussed when you were in
my office.
Last year, we spent over 50 percent--I think it was 60
percent of the budget, the Forest Service budget, fighting
fires. We have had--in 2015, the Colorado State Forest Service
estimated there are around 834 million dead standing trees in
Colorado. That is up 30 percent from 2008 estimates.
I have said to my colleagues on this Committee and other
places in the Senate, if you are downstream from Colorado,
which almost everybody is, you need to care about what is
happening in the headwaters of these rivers, and that is
forests that are managed by your folks, if you are confirmed.
So let me first say this: Will you please come to Colorado
and look at these forests firsthand?
Mr. Perdue. I would look forward to that, Senator.
I think I mentioned to you I saw the ravages of that
terrible fire over north of Glenwood that occurred many years
ago----
Senator Bennet. Right.
Mr. Perdue. --with loss of life, and I still see on those
beautiful mountains there, the effects of forest fire from
years ago. So, absolutely, I will come and look forward to
visiting with you, as well as many of your western colleagues,
mention this is one of their primary areas, so it is a concern.
Senator Bennet. Well, and I hope--and maybe you could say a
word about this too. I know Senator Thune and others have been
concerned about this.
Every year, Secretary Vilsack has tried to put something in
the budget to end this fire borrowing process that we have to
make sure that either we treat these fires like every other
disaster that we have or that somehow we budget correctly so
that we can do the mitigation on the front end, because what we
are doing is we are spending the money in the most expensive,
least logical way possible. I wonder if you have got a comment
on that.
Mr. Perdue. I certainly do, and I have heard you all and
your colleagues loud and clear over that.
I also had an extensive conversation with Secretary Vilsack
about the upside-down portion of the budget there and his
continual having to borrow to manage those forest fires or to
help put out those forest fires. That is a bad way to do, as we
talked about.
On the front end, as you know, the healthy forests are
helpful in preventing forest fires, and whether it is the
underbrush, the deadfall that we have not been able to get to,
using two-thirds of the budget to fight, we are upside-down on
that. We need to be doing at least two-thirds there of the
budget in managing healthy forests in order to prevent forest
fires.
So my goal would be to reverse that, and I would love for
you and your colleagues to consider looking at forest fires,
like we do many other natural disasters as well, to put a
funding mechanism in there where, just like hurricanes or
tornadoes or other things that are--floods--that we use there
would qualify for those types of funds, because Secretary
Vilsack was very disheartened by the fact of having to come up
with millions of dollars many times from other parts of the
budget and borrowing there. It just did not--it was not very
effective.
Senator Bennet. Well, if you can break this Gordian knot,
you will be a hero in my state and probably some others as
well. So I look forward to having you in Colorado. Thanks.
Mr. Perdue. I look forward, Senator, for us to break that
Gordian knot.
Senator Bennet. Let us do it. Let us do it.
Mr. Chairman, thank you.
Chairman Roberts. Senator Ernst.
Senator Ernst. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Governor Perdue, thank you so much for being here today,
and I want to thank your lovely family for joining you as well.
It is good to see everybody here.
As some of my colleagues have already stated, the ag
economy has really been in a downturn the last number of years,
and a lot of our producers are hurting, especially those young
and beginning farmers that have just gotten their start really
in the last 10 years.
The renewable fuels revolution bolstered demand for our
commodities, driven by the Renewable Fuel Standard and energy
programs that were included in the Farm Bill. Trade deals like
NAFTA helped to fuel both grain and meat exports, which are
very vital to our producers' profitability.
As we have seen so many times before, our farmers continue
to innovate and find new ways to grow more food with fewer
inputs and have not only met this new demand, but they have
exceeded it and done quite well, leading to the slump in
commodity prices we have been feeling so acutely.
When I travel around the state, I engage in a 99-county
tour, and I consistently hear how challenging it is to be a
farmer or a rancher right now, due not only to the low prices,
but also because of the onerous government regulations.
I hope you are prepared to work with all of those who are
engaged in our ag economy to ensure it remains one of the
strongest in feeding and fueling our growing world.
Whenever I do visit those farmers and ranchers and others
within the ag community, one of the common refrains that I hear
is about federal regulations, especially from the EPA, how they
are harming their operations and making their lives pretty
difficult. Whether it is their misguided WOTUS rule or the
delays in approving ag biotech products, the EPA almost seems
to have an agenda against those that are in the agricultural
community.
How will you collaborate with the EPA to ensure that their
work is helping rather than hindering our farmers and ranchers?
Mr. Perdue. Thank you very much, Senator.
I think, like many solutions, it begins with personal
relationships. I have taken the opportunity to visit with
Administrator Pruitt already regarding some of these issues,
and I think not only in the EPA, but in all agencies, we
develop silos that are unfortunate because, as you well know,
many of our producers, when a regulation is made in other
places, whether it be Labor or EPA or others, are the guys who
are the ones that get pushed off the boat. My goal is to have
an ongoing communications team identified with each of these
agencies. It may be, whether it is FDA, EPA, Labor, OSHA,
others, to identify the things that would be the--maybe the
unintended consequences of regulations and to work together
ahead of time before those regulations are promulgated to give
us an opportunity in representing USDA, both agricultural
producers and consumers, to let these other agencies know what
the impact would be and what the cost-benefit reward would be
to agricultural producers.
So I think it becomes--I am kind of a face-to-face sort of
person. I believe in going directly and communicating
transparently about the needs and about the desires there.
I come from the part of the world that has seen our farmers
as good stewards. I think they want to be. If they have the
right tools, from a conservation perspective, they want to care
for the land. They are the ones that are making their living
out there, and I believe they want to do that. Rather than
prescriptive, onerous-type regulations, let us give them the
ability to do that and incentivize them in a way where they can
be even better than they have been in the past.
But the progress that you indicated that we have made over
the last several years with doing more production with less
inputs, precision agriculture, better use of water, and those
kind of things, and no till, all those sorts of things,
preserving our soil, our producers have done a good job at
that. They want just kind of a fair shake in being able to
produce without the onerous prescriptive type of regulations
that harm their ability to continue to perform.
Senator Ernst. Well, I appreciate that very much, and I
certainly support your willingness to work with the other
Departments and heads of those agencies. We simply cannot
operate in a vacuum, and developing those relationships and
keeping those relationships is very important. I think you are
absolutely the right person to do that, so I appreciate that
very much.
I also just want to make a comment too. I know that in the
2014 Farm Bill, Congress really recognized the importance of
trade, and Congress directed the USDA to establish an Under
Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, and I
hope that you will take a look at that make sure that we have
the right person for that job established as well.
So thank you very much, Governor. It is good to see you.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Perdue. Thank you, Senator.
Chairman Roberts. Senator Gillibrand.
Senator Gillibrand. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Governor, for being here. Thank you for our
meeting that we had previously.
I want to talk a little bit about immigration. It has been
an issue, unfortunately, that has had a very toxic debate that
has been harmful in our state. One area where it is
particularly harmful is in agriculture because we rely on
immigrant labor for a lot of our fruits, vegetables, and dairy.
I hope that you can speak to President Trump and Secretary
Kelly about the effects of immigration enforcement policies and
priorities that the President has announced and how it impacts
our agriculture sector.
It is estimated that about 50 percent of agriculture
workers are immigrants, and so if we do not have proper
immigration reform and a debate about holistic policy, it is
going to harm families in New York, and it is going to harm
agricultural workers at our farms throughout Upstate New York
and Long Island.
So I ask, Will you make a comment that you will work
towards making sure our farms have the workers they need?
Mr. Perdue. I will certainly commit to you that, Senator.
Particularly in your dairy industry in Upstate New York and
others, just as Senator Leahy has mentioned, that is not a
seasonal job, and I think if you go into dairy barns around the
country, you are going to find most of the time, those cows are
being milked by immigrant labor. I do plan to be a voice in the
administration to persuade policymakers there over this issue.
I recognize that many of our producers, both seasonal types
of crops that you mention as well as dairy farms, have a good
bit of anxiety about that, considering that, and I will
absolutely commit to you.
Senator Gillibrand. Enormous anxiety.
The other area, as you mentioned, our H-2A program is a
visa program to recruit temporary workers on a seasonal basis.
Cows need to be milked every day. So it does not work for us.
It is very cumbersome, it is difficult, and so I would also ask
your commitment that you will work on that program specifically
to streamline it and make it available for all agricultural
workers.
Mr. Perdue. Senator, I have heard that loud and clear from
people close to me at home and our customers there in Georgia
as well.
You mentioned, obviously, your state, but I think virtually
every state in the Nation is affected by that to some degree. I
think there are some things that we can do with H-2A, and if I
am confirmed, I will commit to you that that and trade are two
issues that we will begin posthaste to work on.
Senator Gillibrand. So, as you know, we are a significant
dairy state. We are the third producer--fourth, I think, most
recently, in the country, and I would love it if you would come
to Upstate New York and do a field hearing. I know you have to
go to Colorado now, but could you please also come to Upstate
New York? We would love to have a field hearing to talk about
dairy pricing because the dairy pricing system, as you know,
has been so destabilizing and is not something that farmers can
rely on. The insurance programs we have written are not
working. So we really need to do a top-to-bottom reform of how
we do dairy pricing in this country and create insurance
programs and products that can actually work for small dairies,
particularly in places like Upstate New York.
Mr. Perdue. Senator, I will come if you promise not to make
me milk any more cows.
Senator Gillibrand. No, you do not have to milk. I promise.
Mr. Perdue. But you are right, though, the volatility of
prices--and there is no business--not just agriculture, but
there is no business that can survive with the volatility of
range of prices that dairy farmers have had to undergo the last
few years. They had some high prices, but the prices they are
currently experiencing are just unprofitable, and even the best
family farms cannot survive under those.
Senator Gillibrand. I agree.
Another issue very important to New York State is the SNAP
program. It is so important that we have food for our families.
Some of the work this Committee has done for making sure SNAP
gets to rural families using farmers markets, making sure that
we can do summer meals, that kind of work, I would ask your
commitment to focusing on how we can deliver more food to more
families throughout this country as our Ag Secretary.
Mr. Perdue. We hope that we can do that even more
efficiently and effectively than we have. It is certainly
important to the children and the families of America to do
that, Senator, and I hope that we can work together to
accomplish that.
Senator Gillibrand. Thank you.
My last issue is funding and budgets. I was very concerned
about the President's budget and how it would take away access
to water systems. We have so many unmet sewer needs in New York
State. Our rural water systems are in desperate need of
investment.
Similarly, we have desperate need of investment for rural
broadband. It is really important that we can get high-speed
Internet to all our rural areas. Our farmers depend upon it.
Our small businesses depend upon it. The USDA Rural Utilities
Service Program is really important, so I would like your
commitment that you will continue to work with this Committee,
which has bipartisan support for those investments.
Mr. Perdue. Certainly. I am hopeful, obviously, that the
President's proposal over infrastructure, it will be recognized
that the agricultural broadband issue--if we are going to keep
kids on the farm in rural areas, if our rural areas are going
to be able to thrive and survive like cities do with the
density, we have got to have the connectivity. It is just as
important really now as sewer or water, clean water, or other
things, is the connectivity to the world.
Senator Gillibrand. Yep.
Mr. Perdue. That is what we are advocating, will advocate,
continue to advocate. I know members of the USDA have already
been in a meeting with the White House infrastructure team over
that, and we will certainly promote that to the best of our
ability.
Senator Gillibrand. Thank you.
Chairman Roberts. Well, Coop, it is time for you, sir.
Senator Thune. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is almost high
noon, so it is time for me to ask questions.
But thank you, Governor Perdue, for taking this on. You are
the right guy for the job. These are tough times in
agriculture. We have got commodity prices and livestock prices
below the cost of production, uncertainty about trade, concerns
about disease, and two crop years left in terms of
implementation of this Farm Bill before we start writing a new
one, and I look forward to working with you on the next Farm
Bill as well as continuing to implement this one.
I know we will not have any problem getting you to come to
South Dakota as long as we still have pheasants in South
Dakota, so I expect you to be there.
I have got a number of questions that I need to cover
quickly, so if you could just answer yes to all of them, that
would be fine.
[Laughter.]
Senator Thune. In terms of the current Farm Bill, the past
administration showed a lot of inflexibility with regard to
administration in a number of areas--the commodity title, Title
I, the ARC payments, and the data that was used to calculate
those payments. CRP vegetative cover management practices and
equitable CRP acreage distribution were all things that--where
we do not think the past administration was following the
intent of Congress.
So with two years left on that Farm Bill, will you be
willing to work with me and my staff on these issues to make
improvements in program administration and make sure those
programs are operating in the way in which Congress intended?
Mr. Perdue. Yes.
Senator Thune. Thank you.
Governor Perdue, I know you are aware of the recent tainted
Brazilian meat scandal, which has resulted now in USDA issuing
a press release announcing additional steps that they are
taking to ensure that our food supply is kept safe. None of the
facilities implicated in that scandal, the Brazilian meat
scandal, have shipped meat to the United States according to
USDA, but--and the question is, Do you believe that accelerated
testing of all the incoming shipments of raw meat from Brazil
will provide adequate protection, or should we begin to think
about triggering USDA to impose an outright shutdown if there
is unsafe meat?
Mr. Perdue. Senator, I believe that the men and women of
the FSIS are doing a wonderful job, going to the 100 percent
inspection there coming in. I am concerned, obviously, if we go
to embargoing at this--where these plants were not shipping to
the U.S., if we go to embargoing or putting a shutdown on
there, there will be retaliation there for our products or
maybe around the world as well.
We already know that we have had some high-path avian
influenza, and some countries have responded in that way. So
while that is very, very localized, I do not want to punish
another country, but I do want USDA inspectors to be on the job
with 100 percent type of inspection of any products coming in,
into the United States.
Senator Thune. Okay. We both come from states where we grow
trees. The trees in South Dakota grow a little slower than the
pine trees do in your home state, but in the last half decade,
we have seen a rapid increase in mortality--it is up 53
percent--and a decrease in growth, down 69 percent in our
state. Unfortunately, our situation is not unique, with over 82
million acres of national forests under stress from fires,
insects, or both, and I know that Senator Bennet touched on
this. But can I get your commitment to focus on turning around
the national forests and expanding the management that we need
to create jobs in healthy stands of timber?
Mr. Perdue. Senator, absolutely, you can have my
commitment. I think that the--I view the United States Forest
Service and our United States forests as challenges,
opportunities clothed in challenges right now, and I think
there is real opportunity to make these forests healthy.
I do come from a state where it is mostly private
ownership. My sense from visiting with many of you is that we
have just not really been good neighbors in a lot of places in
taking care of the public stewardship portion where many
private landowners would. So I look forward to having those
best management practices leading and inspiring the United
States Forest Service to take pride in the way they would care
for it, just as if it was their own.
Senator Thune. Okay. Thank you.
I know this got touched on once already as well, but
agriculture, of course, helps build a strong U.S. economy. It
is a number one industry in my state, but I think it is
critical to our national economy and especially in our rural
communities. The RFS has been an essential driver of growth in
rural areas of our country, and the certainty of the policy has
created jobs and spurred added research and investment. Can you
commit to ensuring that we will have a strong RFS to provide
economic security for these rural communities?
Mr. Perdue. I can do that, and I am happy to have the--also
the President's commitment, of his concern and interest in that
area as well, so you absolutely can have that commitment.
Senator Thune. Appreciate that.
My time has expired. I thank you again for taking this on.
We look forward to working with you, and not only on, as I
said, this Farm Bill, but the one to come, which we will be
getting started on very soon. Thank you.
Mr. Perdue. Thank you, Senator.
Chairman Roberts. I thank the Senator. I know he has a date
at high noon. So you can excuse yourself at any time.
Senator Heitkamp.
Senator Heitkamp. Terrific. Thank you, and I thank my
colleagues who probably went out for a cup of coffee or
something else, who stood ahead of me in line.
Governor Perdue, welcome, and welcome to your beautiful
family. What a legacy you leave. I think there is someone who
looks a whole lot like you back there. I kind of looked. You
used to be a lot more handsome when you were younger, I think.
Mr. Perdue. It was the first human cloning, I think, there.
[Laughter.]
Senator Heitkamp. It is pretty remarkable. I was checking
it out. I am thinking wow. That is--well, you used to be very
handsome, I might add.
[Laughter.]
Senator Heitkamp. I want to associate myself with the
remarks of Senator Thune, who talked about the importance to
really have flexibility as we implement the next Farm Bill. We
saw some great flexibility, but then we ran into some
roadblocks. I appreciate your commitment.
I also know that we were visiting, when you entered my
office and you said three words, ``Trade, trade, trade.'' I
knew that you and I were on the same wavelength, that is a
critical component.
But my concern is what we are seeing really out of the
White House and out of the budget does not seem to be pro rural
or pro agriculture, and so we need you to be an absolute
voracious and active fighter on behalf of rural America in that
White House and with other agencies such as EPA and OMB and the
USTR. Can you commit to doing that?
Mr. Perdue. Agriculture is in my heart, and I look forward
to fighting for the producers of America, just because, as I
said that, we know how vital it is, and I will absolutely be a
tenacious advocate and fighter where necessary to do that.
Senator Heitkamp. I hope that you will engage us. We are a
very bipartisan, collaborative committee, and we all represent
agricultural states, but we also know how vital--as Senator
Thune said, how vital agriculture is to our national economy.
A couple unique North Dakota issues, we have a lot of
prairie potholes. It is part of what we do in terms of the
resource, and it provides for some great duck hunting and geese
hunting, but we have a lot of farmers who would like an
opportunity to farm their land and not just raise ducks. I
think one of the problems that we have--it is not only running
into maybe an attitude sometimes, that the wetland is more
important than the farmer, but also not having enough staff to
do the work that needs to be done in order to make the
determination within USDA. Can you commit that you will staff
up so that we will not have farmers waiting to find out if they
can tile their land?
Mr. Perdue. Not only staffing up, but I also think the
relationship, as we talked about earlier, with the
Administrator of EPA to make sure that our producers and
farmers do not get caught in some of these unintended
consequences of rules that have gone awry in a confiscatory
type of way, because that is very important. As they try to be
compliant, sometimes they get caught into a web of rules that
are very onerous, and I will not only try to provide the staff
that they could do good conservation or good soil preservation,
but to work with our Administrator at EPA to do that as well.
Senator Heitkamp. We love our neighbors to the north, but
sometimes we would like maybe a little tougher enforcement on
some of the grain standards. We have been working on a project
out of my office as it relates to the treatment of our grain,
which becomes feed category as opposed to what it really is,
which is good quality wheat. Of course, we offer a different
opportunity for Canadian grain that comes south. Can you commit
to working with the USTR to change their policies and to
prevent discrimination against grain going to the north?
Mr. Perdue. Certainly. I think this is one of those areas
where many people have talked about the benefits of NAFTA. I
think as we look at that, I think there are some inequities and
some unilateral issues during that, cattle, and some milk
products that we can look certainly to our neighbors to the
north, which we have a great relationship, but we just want to
make sure that it is a fair proposition for all.
Senator Heitkamp. Great. The sugar program is critical. I
am not sure--I have not been here for the whole hearing. I do
not know if anyone has raised this with you, but it has been a
program that has guaranteed a steady supply of sugar to this
country. I think it is done equitably. It does not cost the
United States taxpayer really anything, but yet it provides, a
value-added opportunity in my community and my state and many
states across the country. Will you continue to commit to
supporting the sugar program as it has been in the past?
Mr. Perdue. Senator, if confirmed, I will commit to you
that I will look at that in the farm program going on and will
commit to support the best benefit of that. I think also that
is another issue where maybe trade to the south, we need to
look at some of the issues over sugar inequities that may be
coming into the country that have been harmful to your growers.
Senator Heitkamp. I was kind of hoping for a yes, but I
guess I got a maybe.
Thanks so much, Governor, and congratulations on your
nomination.
Mr. Perdue. Thank you.
Chairman Roberts. Senator Perdue.
Senator Perdue. Mr. Chairman, for the sake of the Republic,
I am going to withhold questions today. Thank you.
[Laughter.]
Chairman Roberts. It would appear that it would be Senator
Strange. Welcome to Committee, sir.
Senator Strange. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
It is an honor to be the first Alabamian in over 20 years to
serve on the Agriculture Committee, and I look forward to
serving with you and my colleagues on the Committee.
I am especially pleased to welcome you, Governor Perdue,
this morning. It is nice to have a potential Secretary, I am
sure future Secretary, who speaks the same language that I do,
as your neighbor to the west. I have enjoyed watching you in
your career, and I look forward to working with you.
I am going to also spare the Committee lengthy questions
today. I have a number that we talked about privately.
I do want to just build on something that Senator Ernst
mentioned. For the last 6 years, I was honored to be the
Attorney General of our state, and I got to work very closely
with our now EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. We spent a lot of
time litigating against the Federal Government and its
overreaching federal agenda, as we saw it. We were successful
in a lot of cases. One of the things that I took away from that
experience--and I have discussed this with Administrator
Pruitt--is the lack of cooperation, if you will, between the
federal agencies that affect the agriculture world and our
constituents.
Agriculture is the biggest part of our economy in the State
of Alabama, as you well know, because we share many of the same
industries--forestry, catfish farming, and all types of other
farming activities. The lack of cooperation between those
agencies was very frustrating to our farmers.
What I am hoping that you will do is follow through with
your commitment to Senator Ernst to make sure that you as the
Secretary of Agriculture are communicating with Administrator
Pruitt and others so that we are eliminating unnecessary,
inefficient, and really inconsequential barriers to our
farmers, so that they can produce the products that we need in
this country and internationally.
So I appreciate your comments to her. I do not have another
question for you right now. I can submit some others later, but
that is of particular concern to me because it is a real-world
concern to the people who have to live under the regulations
that we pass here in Washington.
Mr. Perdue. Thank you, Senator. Just like I mentioned to
Senator Ernst, if I am honored with confirmation, that is
really one of the things I look most forward to because we have
seen that, the harm that it causes when one agency looks like
they are working at cross-purposes of another. I think from
the--we are all Americans, and we are all beneficiaries with
all these agencies. I really look forward to developing the
relationships, mutual, respectful relationships with other
Department heads and other agencies that can communicate
possible unintended consequences, so thank you for mentioning
that.
Senator Strange. I look forward to continuing to work with
you as you assume your responsibilities.
I also wanted to welcome your family, your beautiful
family, and thank you for your public sacrifice. The family is
a partner in this venture, as I well know.
Thank you.
Mr. Perdue. Thank you.
Chairman Roberts. Senator Donnelly, you were AWOL last
night at the marine mess night. So I want a written response
back to me as an excuse, but I am going to recognize you,
anyway. Senator Donnelly.
Senator Donnelly. Well, I was afraid you were going to send
me to Iwo Jima, sir, so--which would have been a great honor.
Governor Perdue, one thing I want to ask you, I noted that
you played football for the University of Georgia, and on
September 9th in the State of Indiana, in Notre Dame, Indiana,
Georgia is playing Notre Dame, my alma mater. I want to invite
you to the game. We would like to have you there. We will have
a big pork barbecue in your honor. We will have all the Indiana
farmers there, and you can see the Irish beat the Bulldogs.
Would you like to come?
[Laughter.]
Mr. Perdue. I will accept that invitation, except for the
last clause there.
[Laughter.]
Senator Donnelly. I wanted to talk to you a little bit
about crop insurance. It is critically important to my state.
It is something that we are going to be working on in the Farm
Bill, and to my farmers in Indiana, that is something that they
want to make sure stays strong and stays protected. I wanted to
get your views on that.
Mr. Perdue. Thank you, Senator. I thought you all in the
2014 Farm Bill made a lot of progress in the crop insurance
area.
Obviously, it can always be refined and be made better, but
it is vital to farmers, good producers there that need that
safety net of both the risk of production and pricing that you
all did so well in that area, and I hope we can even continue
that and enhance that and, as some of your colleagues have
mentioned, look at risk management proposals and other
commodities that make sense.
To me, I think the American taxpayer gets a good value for
that, and hopefully, we can work together. I look forward to
working with you all as we continue, if I am confirmed, to make
sure that the crop insurance program is sound, solid, and a
good economic value for both--not only the producers, but the
taxpayers as well.
Senator Donnelly. One of the things that we are all
shooting for, I know in Kansas and Michigan and Indiana and
Mississippi, is for growth of our rural areas and maximizing
economic opportunities there. That is a passion of mine to make
sure--we have 92 counties--that every county has a chance,
every community has a chance, the chance to buy a home, raise a
family, take a vacation, retire with dignity.
The Secretary of Agriculture plays a huge role in rural
communities especially. We need to make sure our rural
communities have broadband, so companies located there can
compete with those across the world, and that they have the
same access to educational opportunities that our children do,
as in the cities, to expand market opportunities. I want to
make sure that as Secretary of Agriculture, you look at this in
a way that you will be looking at things like broadband and
others to maximize economic opportunities for our rural
communities.
Mr. Perdue. Certainly. Not only broadband, Senator, but the
opportunity the USDA has in rural development in so many other
areas. I mean, the vitality of our small communities around
your state and all these states really depends on a strong
agricultural economy, but the USDA has in the past with its
Rural Development Program--has been able to help communities
maybe just not--just get them over the line to do some things
they wanted to do, whether it is health care or other types of
things to do that. That is one of the great benefits that I
look forward to being able to do, if confirmed, to make the
lives of people across America, particularly in rural areas,
better because of the presence of the USDA.
Senator Donnelly. One other thing that--we work on a lot of
conservation programs. We are very, very proud of our cover
crop programs. I think we are first in the Nation with that,
and as our Chairman and Ranking Member always talk about,
nobody cares about the environment more than the farmers and
the families that live there. We want to make sure that as you
look at your job going forward, you are going to commit to work
to support and improve the conservation programs as well.
Mr. Perdue. Certainly. The NRCS is a big part of American
agriculture, and as more farmers learn how to preserve and care
and create clean water, reduce runoff, use more efficient use
of water and irrigation and precision agriculture, those are
the research arm of USDA and the extension arm pushing those--
that education information out. It is critical to continue to
improve.
The good thing, what I like about farmers is they are all
about continuing improvement----
Senator Donnelly. Right.
Mr. Perdue. --and they are competitive. They want to do
better each and every year.
Senator Donnelly. I apologize. I am running out of time, so
I wanted to ask one last thing. The USDA has worked to increase
access to treatment for opioid and heroin abuse in rural
communities. It is breathtaking. They have assisted in creating
transitional housing, funded initiatives to improve education,
and raise awareness to the dangers of this. Purdue has been an
amazing partner in all of this, and I want to make sure that
the USDA is our partner in this, in this critical battle
against opioid and heroin abuse.
Mr. Perdue. Secretary Vilsack and I had an extended
conversation about the ability just to do that. That was one of
the things that I was mentioning, an ability of USDA in its
rural development program to add value in rural communities,
even the areas of health care, so certainly.
Senator Donnelly. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, Marines are my heroes, and I would be honored
to go to the mess with you. Anytime you want to bring me, I
will be your wing man, sir.
Chairman Roberts. Semper Fi.
Senator Daines.
Senator Daines. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member
Stabenow.
Governor Perdue, thank you so much for your willingness to
step up and to serve as our next Secretary of Agriculture. This
is a big deal from my home State of Montana because agriculture
is our state's number one industry. It is $6 billion a year
back home. Without agriculture, Montana does not have a strong
economy.
Our farmers, our ranchers, they produce wheat, barley,
cattle, sugar beets, pulse crops. In fact, we are the Nation's
leading producer of pulse crops now, which has been an exciting
development to see in our state as we diversify our ag
portfolio. Our products play a critical role in not only
feeding our country, but certainly feeding the entire world.
Ag production across our Nation is diverse. Montana ag
presents some unique and especially specific challenges, but
great opportunities. With that in mind, I want to make sure I
extend an invitation to you, Governor Perdue, to come out to
Montana. We are going to have an Ag Summit May 31st and June
1st in Great Falls, which is kind of Ground Zero of our ag
economy in Montana. We would love to have you consider coming
out. If nothing else, we do some preseason elk scouting there
too for the fall, but we would love to have you come out.
Mr. Perdue. Well, I welcome that opportunity.
Senator Daines. Regarding trade, 95 percent of the world's
consumers are outside the United States. Certainly, we have
more spending power today on a per capita basis, but as we
think about the longer term, as Wayne Gretzky famously said,
``Skate to where the puck is headed, not where it is at,''
trade becomes very important, I think, not only for today's
generation, but future generations of farmers and ranchers.
We are seeing low commodity prices, declining farm incomes.
I had my barley and wheat producers in my office the last
couple weeks, our cattle producers. It is a pretty tough
climate right now because of low prices.
The access to foreign markets for long-term growth in ag, I
do not think can be overstated. Vast amounts of our wheat, our
beef, our barley, pulse crops are exported every year, and that
helps us in this price arena, helps create jobs, helps grow our
economy.
Governor, as Secretary, how will you ensure that Ag's voice
is heard loud and clear within this administration, to fight
for our farmers and ranchers, to ensure we have access to new
markets abroad, and not face retaliation?
Mr. Perdue. Thank you, Senator. I think the good news is we
have got a growing middle class around the world that is hungry
for those products, and food is a noble thing to trade. As I
have indicated several times before, we have got a great story
to tell. We have got producers here that can produce more than
we need to consume. That is not the case in many parts of the
world. So why don't we use that bounty to supply one of the
fundamental needs of mankind around the world, and I will
continue tirelessly to advocate that within our administration
and in conjunction with you all in development.
I plan to be on site as USDA's chief salesman around the
world to sell these products and negotiate these deals side by
side with USTR, side by side with Secretary Ross, and our whole
team there. I believe that USDA will be intimately involved in
the personal, on-the-ground, boots-on-the-ground negotiations
at tables around this world with ag ministers and foreign
dignitaries there selling our product.
Senator Daines. I know that will be music to the ears of
Montana farmers and ranchers to have an advocate like yourself,
and I think as a governor, you bring that unique experience of
having to be the chief salesperson certainly on behalf of your
farmers and ranchers across the world.
I want to shift gears and talk for a moment about forest
management and reform. Of course, we always refer to this
Committee as the ``Ag Committee,'' and that has always been one
of our highest priorities, but it is the Agriculture,
Nutrition, and Forestry Committee. Back home in my state, one
of my highest priorities is restoring active management to
Montana's national forests. Unfortunately, excessive federal
regulations, laws, we have chronic litigation from extremist
groups, have limited our management of our national forests,
and a healthy forest is a forest that is actively managed.
Even projects that we move forward through collaboration,
bringing sportsman groups, conservation groups, folks from the
logging industry, we move forward and were litigated at the end
and go--and oftentimes lose our cases before the Ninth Circuit,
as they unfortunately have continuous litigation.
Unfortunately, we have a recent Ninth Circuit decision
called the Cottonwood Environmental Law Center v. the Forest
Service. It has added another layer of unnecessary red tape and
is threatening dozens of forest management projects. The
Supreme Court will not hear this case, unfortunately, but we
think we can change the outcome here statutorily, and I have a
bipartisan support for this legislation. I would ask, Would you
work with me to reverse this disastrous decision that we have
seen from the Ninth Circuit?
Mr. Perdue. Senator, if confirmed, I would welcome the
opportunity to work with you. I have seen your legislation,
proposed legislation. I agree with it wholeheartedly. I think
at some point, you have got to say the end is the end, and
rather than stopping things that have been agreed to with
continuing legislation--or litigation, rather, is just
unproductive and creates what you talked about by unproductive
and unmanaged forests. At some point, we have got to say,
``That is it. We have done that. We have made a decision, and
we are moving forward.''
Many of your colleagues already have NEPA-approved projects
that we have not gotten to yet. That is a top priority, but
then to continue to move forward.
I am hopeful, Senator, that as we demonstrate good
stewardship and good management of the U.S. forests, the
litigators on the other side will see this is good, this is
productive, forests are renewable, they are healthy, they are
better. They are better for everyone when they are managed well
rather than just to lie out there and die upon themselves. So,
hopefully, we can do that.
Senator Daines. Well said, Governor. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Roberts. Senator Klobuchar.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Governor. I enjoyed our meeting in our office,
and as you know, Minnesota is fifth in the country for
agriculture. We discussed the differences, which you are well
aware of, of the Southern and Midwestern agriculture.
Some things in common, one of them may be birds. As you
know, we were hit by the avian flu hard in the Midwest and
around the country. As a result, almost 9 million birds died,
causing economic losses of $650 million. Given the recent
detections in Tennessee, Alabama, and Wisconsin, are you
prepared to respond immediately to prevent the possible spread
of the disease, if and when you are confirmed as Secretary?
Mr. Perdue. Certainly, Senator. As you know, the poultry
production of this country is amazing. The whole ecosystem that
has been developed around that protein, being able to export
worldwide, whether it is eggs or poultry protein, is critical.
I am very proud of the work that I have seen that the USDA has
done in Tennessee in their very quick confinement and working
cooperation with both States of Alabama and Tennessee, and I
think the hardworking people in that animal health area have
done a wonderful job. I think they learned a lot from the 2015
outbreak, where we might have been a little slow there. They
got on this very quickly, and we are praying that that is
confined. So, certainly, we cannot afford an industry such as
our poultry industry and any sector to be affected by the
damages of a very severe high-pathogen avian influenza.
Senator Klobuchar. But what if the proposed 21 percent cut
to USDA went through? Do you think this could still be the
priority that it is? How would you manage it if it comes?
Mr. Perdue. Well, I am hoping that we can work with you and
the appropriators. We understand what the President's proposal
is, but I hope that you all will help in looking at the keepers
of the purse.
Senator Klobuchar. A different amount of money, thank you;
that is a good answer.
I am the lead sponsor of this Senate bill to end the
embargo with Cuba, and how would you respond to farmers who are
concerned about the administration cutting off opportunities
for American business in Cuba or somehow changing President
Obama's executive order? I mean, we would like to go further,
of course, and pass legislation, but we are where we are right
now.
Mr. Perdue. Again, I have answered earlier that I think if
we can get the private financing done there--and there are some
proposals already to do that--I think American agriculture,
both in the Upper Plains and the Gulf Coast and the East Coast
have a wonderful opportunity. That is a country that is hungry.
I led a delegation there in 2010 from Georgia, and they
wanted our product. They just could not afford it and pay for
it there based on the financial crisis that they were in. So,
hopefully, we can mitigate that.
Senator Klobuchar. I know Senator Thune asked you about the
RFS, and will you work to advocate for a strong renewable fuel
standard during interagency review with some of your other
Secretaries?
Mr. Perdue. I will.
Senator Klobuchar. Okay. That is a great answer too.
The dairy program, what would you do as Secretary to ensure
the resources needed are available for the Margin Protection
Program to be a meaningful safety net for dairy farmers?
Mr. Perdue. Thank you, Senator. I think we have--I have
heard some recent ideas recently that, hopefully, will even
enhance that Margin Protection Program with a risk management
program for immediate relief as well as possible solutions for
the 2018 Farm Bill. The volatility of the prices that we have
seen in dairy are just unsustainable, and you have got not only
family dairy farms, but large dairy farms that are just
unprofitable. Many of them do not have the equity to continue
in that area, and it will change their whole lives.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you very much.
Senator Daines was just discussing forestry with you. In
the 2014 Farm Bill, I worked on expanding the Good Neighbor
Authority that gives the Forest Service additional flexibility
to work with willing state and private landowners to implement
forest management practices. Will you commit to ensuring the
Good Neighbor Authority and other tools to improve forest
health from the 2014 Farm Bill are fully implemented and
emphasized as we continue to work on the next Farm Bill?
Mr. Perdue. I love that name, ``Good Neighbor,'' and that
is what I hope that we can become. I think, again, where the
U.S. Forest Service becomes a welcome part of the community in
dwelling there and working with the private citizens there, not
only for jobs, but for good forest management and just
literally being good neighbors, there is not a better way to
say that.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you.
Lastly, I am the Co-Chair of the Senate Broadband Caucus,
and I also am on the Commerce Committee. You and I talked
briefly in my office about the importance of broadband in rural
areas. Do you want to just end with that and what you would
like to see there coming out of USDA?
Mr. Perdue. I would love to see it, get it done all across
this country. With the infrastructure proposal, we are going to
have a seat at the table there. The White House has already
asked USDA for their ideas about that. That is number one----
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you.
Mr. Perdue. --as well as water resources as well.
Senator Klobuchar. Okay, very good.
Mr. Perdue. Thank you.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you very much, Governor.
Chairman Roberts. Senator Hoeven.
Senator Hoeven. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Governor Perdue, it is great to see you. I want to welcome
you and Mary and your beautiful family.
Mr. Perdue. Thank you.
Senator Hoeven. Thanks for being here and for your
willingness to serve.
I chair the Ag Appropriations Committee, and so I want to
express my appreciation for Senator Klobuchar's question, and
even more, I want to express my appreciation for your answer. I
look forward to working with you on that very important issue.
Also, one of our former colleagues, Senator Mike Johanns,
as you know, was an outstanding Secretary of Agriculture, and
he visited North Dakota on several occasions. I want to ask if,
in fact, you would be good enough to show up and visit our
farmers and ranchers in North Dakota who do a fantastic job and
would love to see you.
Mr. Perdue. What is the record, Senator?
Senator Hoeven. You know, I do not know, but I know Johanns
was there multiple occasions, and you cannot let him show you
up. So I need a commitment that you are coming.
Mr. Perdue. I look forward to surpassing my mentor.
Senator Hoeven. I appreciate it.
Can you build the coalition we need to build North, South,
and Midwest to pass a strong Farm Bill that really works for
our producers?
Mr. Perdue. I believe we can. I think in working with you
all and you working on behalf of your constituents, I think
that we can.
I think there was a great progress made in the 2014 Farm
Bill. We know that we have got a couple of areas that felt left
out, and we talked about those today. I think that we can get
ahead of that. It is even more critical today in the light of
commodity prices and where they are that we get a safety net
not only for our producers, but also our consumers in going
forward. So that is a challenge I look forward to, Senator, if
I am confirmed, to work with you all and providing the
resources and enabling you all to get a Farm Bill that will be
embraced by American agriculture.
Senator Hoeven. But you agree it takes that North, South,
Midwest coalition to get it done?
Mr. Perdue. Oh, absolutely, as well as our nutrition people
as well.
Senator Hoeven. Do you also agree that it is the heart and
the soul--and you kind of were going here in your answer, but
the heart and soul of risk management comes down to that
countercyclical safety net, building on ARC and PLC, and then
making sure we strongly, strongly support crop insurance as a
risk management tool. Do you agree with that, and do you see
that as the heart and soul of risk management for our----
Mr. Perdue. Certainly. Absolutely. A well-run, well-
managed, well-designed, well-administered program in that, I
think, gives farmers a lot of confidence.
Senator Hoeven. Then talk a little bit about the importance
of ag research. We have talked about the importance of trade,
and I absolutely agree with that, but ag research is making
such a difference in the crops we can grow, disease resistance,
our yields, which lead to profitability. Talk a little bit
about your willingness--and this goes back to the budget issue
as well, but talk about your commitment to ag research.
Mr. Perdue. You know, it is interesting. We talk a lot
about high-tech manufacturing. I would submit to the President
and anyone that our agricultural sector has been the highest-
tech manufacturing industry we have had in this country for
several years. The phenomenal growth in productivity with less
inputs and less water and better management, better soil
preservation is actually phenomenal. It is really--it is really
wonderful, and the basis of that, as you said, is not only good
basic research in our land-grant universities and others, but
the transmission of that information through our extension
service as well.
Senator Hoeven. Are you committed and willing to support
the sugar program?
Mr. Perdue. I have, as I mentioned earlier, and certainly,
I think you all have done a great job in the past in the sugar
program, and for those who grow the beets as well as the cane,
I think you all--they have come together with a pretty unified
front.
Senator Hoeven. Talk about trade. I mean, it looks to me
like we are in kind of a new era on how we are going to do
trade. Clearly, the administration likes bilateral agreements
over the larger group agreements, which can work, but really
important that we continue to press the trade issue. How do you
go about doing that as Ag Secretary leading the world of
agriculture?
Mr. Perdue. I think speedily, I think, because our farmers
cannot----
Senator Hoeven. Right.
Mr. Perdue. --cannot wait very long. The TPP had been
around for a while and negotiated, but the bilateral will take
time, and we just need to get about the business of selling
U.S. products.
So, if confirmed, my first stop is going to be at Mr.
Lighthizer's office door. We have already discussed some of
this, and he indicated to me that 80 percent of what he had
heard had been about agriculture. So I thought that was good
news, and we just got to get on it.
Senator Hoeven. I think, obviously, with your background is
so strong in agriculture across the board, but clearly, your
background and your knowledge of trade, it is going to be very
important that you are a lead player in negotiating those
agreements.
Mr. Perdue. We hope to be, Senator.
Senator Hoeven. Great to see you. Thanks for being here----
Mr. Perdue. Thank you.
Senator Hoeven. --and for your willingness to serve.
Chairman Roberts. I remember well, back in 1918, when
Senator Joseph France became a member of the Committee. He was
a good man, very willing and able to work with. Ninety-nine
years later, we have the benefit of Senator Van Hollen coming
from Maryland to join us on the Agriculture Committee. Welcome,
sir.
Senator Van Hollen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you
for noting that. I am very proud of the fact that I am the
first Maryland Senator to serve on this Committee since back in
1922, I believe, if our math is correct.
Chairman Roberts. That is when he ended his service. He
began in 1918.
Senator Van Hollen. Governor, it is great to see you----
Mr. Perdue. Thank you.
Senator Van Hollen. --and I enjoyed our conversation as
well. I want to pick up on one of the things we talked about,
which is the Chesapeake Bay----
Mr. Perdue. Yes.
Senator Van Hollen. --which is a national treasure. It is
also vital to the economy in the State of Maryland, having a
healthy and clean bay, both for the watermen, the people who
get the bounty of the bay, the oystermen, and the crabs, which
many people around the country enjoy, to our tourism industry,
where people from around the country come to the bay because of
its beauty, and the boating industry. What we have worked in
Maryland to do is work closely with our farmers to make sure
that we have a vibrant farming industry on the Eastern Shore of
Maryland along with a healthy bay, and so the conservation
programs are very important to our state and the bay states, as
many others.
In the 2008 Farm Bill, I worked very closely with our
Ranking Member and others to create a Chesapeake Bay
conservation program, and that became very popular. Other
states with water bodies were understandably interested. It
became the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, and our
conservation efforts also rely on the EQIP program and the
Conservation Reserve Program.
My question to you is, Do you agree that these are
important programs that we have got in place that we need to
continue?
Mr. Perdue. Senator, I certainly agree because we cannot
continue the progress that has been made in the Chesapeake Bay,
and you have articulated what a vital resource nationally it is
and certainly for the people who live in that watershed and
around the body of water for so many reasons. But I do not
believe we can continue the progress that has been made, much
to the credit of farmers, agribusinesses, and others who have
acknowledged that the runoff of nitrogen and phosphorous has
damaged that. Hopefully, we could continue by, again, the
education and the national--NRCS there, that we could continue
that program. So I certainly hope that we will be able to and
even increase and continue the progress.
Senator Van Hollen. I appreciate that, and as you indicate,
we have worked on a very cooperative relationship with the
farmers in connection with this particular program, and as
stewards of the land, it is very important that we have a good
working and cooperative relationship, which we have had.
I do just want to say, as a number of Senators have raised
the issue of the proposed budget cuts to the rural water and
waste disposal, the loan grant program. I listened carefully
when the Chairman of our Committee said that the President
proposes and the Congress disposes, and it is great to have the
Chairman of the Appropriations Committee as well as the
Chairman of the Subcommittee Appropriations for Agriculture. So
we are going to, hopefully, work to make sure we address those
issues.
I can tell you 15 of Maryland's 24 counties would be in
really tough positions if they do not get the benefit of those
loans.
I also say I look forward to working with the Chairman of
the Appropriations Committee on the EPA budget. The Trump
administration proposal wipes out the EPA's Chesapeake Bay
program, which has had bipartisan support in our State of
Maryland, so I do want to flag that issue.
Senator Donnelly and others talked about the crop insurance
and dealing with risk. In Maryland, most of our farms are
small-and medium-size farms, and especially with respect to
specialty crops, some of the way the crop insurance is
currently designed does not fully meet their needs. So I just
want to hear from you a willingness to talk and explore ways
where we could modify some of those provisions to make sure we
address the needs of some of the smaller, medium-size farms.
Mr. Perdue. Certainly.
By the way, congratulations on your desire to be on this
Committee. I think Maryland--many people do not understand the
value of agriculture to Maryland, but it is significant in that
way, and your smaller farms particularly. The 2014 Farm Bill
recognized the need for crop insurance and specialty crops in
many ways. I think that was a great beginning. Can we go
further? I believe absolutely. If we look at how we can--what
we learned from the 2014 Farm Bill, how we can continue to
enhance that, and to make small or specialty crops of
particularly smaller farmers a viable alternative for them.
Senator Van Hollen. All right.
Finally, on the food and nutrition programs, I just want to
add my voice to our Senators who have said how important that
is to our states.
Finally, Mr. Chairman, if I could just say that we have in
Maryland an 1890 land-grant HBCU, University of Maryland
Eastern Shore, that is doing innovative work. You know that our
HBCUs have faced significant challenges, including maintenance
funds and others, and I know you have worked on this issue. I
would just like to get your commitment to follow up in a
conversation to try and address the issue of strengthening the
1890 HBCUs.
Mr. Perdue. I would welcome that. We obviously have those
in Georgia as well, and I think I was pleased to see our
President welcome them as well and commit, to make commitments
about those areas. So I look forward to working with you
directly regarding your specific HBCU.
Senator Van Hollen. We have a particular challenge and
issue with one of our HBCU, 1890.
Mr. Perdue. Okay.
Senator Van Hollen. So thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Roberts. Senator Brown.
Senator Brown. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and welcome,
Governor.
Mr. Perdue. Thank you.
Senator Brown. Nice to see you again, thank you.
My colleagues do not know, but during the Secretary-
designee's time in the Air Force, Governor Perdue spent time at
Lockbourne Air Force Base in Columbus, Ohio, now Rickenbacker.
I am glad you will always put Ohio second, right after Georgia,
so thank you for that.
Senator Van Hollen had a couple of points I want to
reemphasize and then I'll go to a good handful of questions.
One is the importance of the Chesapeake Bay. A lot of those
same exact issues apply to the Great Lakes Restoration
Initiative. The President has proposed to cut it by 100
percent, which is just ludicrous.
Senator Portman and myself and Senator Stabenow, all of us
in the Great Lakes states--the irony, it was the Great Lakes
states that really won him the election, and we have--I am old
enough to remember--Senator Stabenow is not old enough, but I
am old enough to remember what the Great Lakes looked like when
I was a kid. It is one of the great accomplishments of
government and communities and the Federal Government
especially to clean this up, and we cannot backslide. So I
would emphasize the importance of Great Lakes cleanup.
The Chesapeake Bay is pretty important. The Great Lakes,
though, are the largest collection of fresh water in the world.
Chesapeake Bay is not even fresh water, so anyway----
Senator Van Hollen. Can I object to that?
Senator Brown. You can object.
But he is a new member. He does not get to object.
[Laughter.]
Senator Brown. Also, I want to emphasize and thank Chairman
Roberts, his comments about ag and nutrition and the Farm Bill
holding it together when there is always pressures to divide
it. I know that the Governor has supported that too, but thank
you, Chairman Roberts, for your statements about that and the
statements of Senator Van Hollen on the Historically Black
Colleges and Universities. It is really, really important, and
I wanted--Central State is an 1890 in my state, so this is
particularly important to me. I know you have worked with
Georgia's HBCU as governor, and that Fort Valley State
University in your home state is an 1890 land grant.
Thoughts? If you would give us, real briefly, because we
are running out of time and a vote is coming, what specifically
are your thoughts and ideas on the next steps you plan to take
in support of these universities?
Mr. Perdue. Again, I was pleased to hear the President
welcome them and commit to do that. As you--I think you
referred to Fort Valley State. They are in our adjacent county,
and we know the work that they do as a land-grant university
and unique niche programs there in the state. I look forward--
they have got a value to serve, and I look forward to helping
them with the research, providing--asking them for particular
research projects with USDA that has the opportunity to do
that, give them an opportunity to compete in those areas, and
to listen and learn from them as well as they can provide good
information for us in areas in which they operate.
Senator Brown. I appreciate your sensitivity to the
Historically Black Colleges, unlike your soon-to-be colleague
in the Cabinet who said that they were about choice or
something when it came to black colleges. It was a rather
peculiar statement, but that is not you.
Senator Donnelly mentioned opioids. My state has more
opioid deaths than any other state in the country. The repeal
of the Affordable Care Act, there are 200,000--right now
200,000 Ohioans that are getting opioid addiction treatment
that are on the Affordable Care Act. I know that is not your
issue exactly, although it is your party's issue and the
President's issue. I just ask if something happens and that
insurance is taken away, as it would be with the House bill,
for all those people that have opioid addictions and are
getting treatment, I would ask you if you would go back to OMB
and the White House to protect funding used in the battle
against opioid addiction in rural Ohio and rural America.
Mr. Perdue. Yeah. I am not sure you were here when I had a
great--when I mentioned the great conversation I had with
Secretary Vilsack. He was very proud of the input the USDA had
in the--on the sad opioid, and the sad thing about that, as you
well know, Senator, much of this is in rural areas of despair,
so I will--I will absolutely be an advocate of that for the
betterment. Obviously, USDA does not have the basic capacity to
supplant everything in health care, but it does have an
opportunity to help in that regard. I would welcome doing that.
Senator Brown. That again is why my Republican governor and
my colleague in the Senate, Senator Portman, have both
expressed great concern about the Affordable Care Act and what
would happen to Medicaid. 700,000 Ohioans are on Medicaid
expansion, and those are--it is pretty amazing to me that a
bunch of us in this body who get government-supported
insurance, whose taxpayers subsidize our health insurance, that
people in this body and the other house want to take away
insurance for a whole lot of low-income, working people. Those
are the Medicaid expansion people, and I just needed to say
that because it is such a big part of the opioid picture.
Last issue--and I know you are getting impatient, Mr.
Chairman, but thank you. I worked with Senator Thune in on the
last Farm Bill on the Ag Risk Coverage program. I mentioned
that in our meeting, the ARC. The program protects against
unforeseen declines when either prices are low or production is
low because of unforeseen circumstances, it ensures that
farmers have a safety net. The administration's budget proposal
included sharp cuts to the National Ag Statistics Service,
which raises real questions about USDA having the resources
necessary to collect the independent unbiased price and yield
data so that ARC, A-R-C, can actually be implemented with the
proper information. One in seven jobs in my state depends on
agriculture.
That is why I am on this Committee. I need to know that
farmers can depend on you. I know that your specialty is not
the same agriculture as most of the agriculture in the Ranking
Member's, and my home states. I understand; I accept that. But
I just want to know that you will work with us and use your
authority to make sure that, A: we can find ways to carry out
ARC, the Ag Risk Coverage program, and that B: you can help us
provide short-term assistance for dairy farmers. I heard you
mention them briefly, and I just need assurance on both of
those issues.
Mr. Perdue. Certainly. Let me just take the second one
last. We have affirmed assistance on the dairy risk management,
but farmers have to rely on the credibility of good independent
data through the NASS to provide that, that information,
because the ARC and the PLC program both depend on it. That is
the independent source that is trusted worldwide, supply and
demand and different things that move markets, so that is a
critical, critical part of USDA, and I certainly will support
that to the best of my ability.
Senator Brown. Thank you. Governor, you can tell your
children and grandchildren that your confirmation hearing was
in the Kennedy Caucus Room, where the Titanic hearings were,
the Watergate hearings, the markup of the Affordable Care Act--
what else happened?--the McCarthy hearings in the 1950s. All
were in this room. So if your children and grandchildren are
here, now you know, and if they are not here, tell them. All
right?
Mr. Perdue. I think you just told them, Senator.
Senator Brown. I think so. Thank you.
Chairman Roberts. Senator Stabenow.
Senator Stabenow. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I just want to indicate--I know we have a vote coming, and
that you are about to wrap up. I do have additional questions
that I will submit for the record, as well as the letter that I
referenced earlier regarding dairy. I would like those to be
placed into the record. Thank you very much.
Chairman Roberts. All members should understand they can
submit letters for the record.
[The following information can be found on page 104 in the
appendix.]
Chairman Roberts. I do want to mention the fact that the
Committee has received a number of letters in support of your
nomination, including one from nearly 700--700 organizations
across the agriculture and food value chain, as well as one
from six former U.S. Secretaries of Agriculture representing
both Republican and Democrat Presidents.
Governor Perdue, thank you for your willingness to be
considered for service to agriculture and rural America as
Secretary of Agriculture. This Committee has a history of
working in a bipartisan fashion, as this hearing has
demonstrated, as opposed to others that have been going on in
the Senate while crafting legislation and considering
nominations, and we will move as quickly as possible to
consider your nomination. As you know, we will not be voting on
your nomination today, but we will work to schedule a business
meeting ASAP for a Committee vote.
Again, I ask members to submit any additional questions you
may have for the record by five o'clock tomorrow, Friday, March
24. In addition, the record will remain open for 5 business
days for members so submit a statement or additional materials.
Thank you to everyone for your time today. Young man with a
red tie, who seems to be anxious to leave----
Senator Stabenow. We have got two red ties here.
Chairman Roberts. --we gotcha, man.
[Laughter.]
Chairman Roberts. We are adjourned.
Mr. Perdue. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[Whereupon, at 12:22 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
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MARCH 23, 2017
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