[Senate Hearing 112-285]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 112-285
NOMINATION OF BRIAN T. BAENIG,
OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,
TO BE AN ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF
AGRICULTURE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE,
NUTRITION AND FORESTRY
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
JULY 28, 2011
__________
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Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
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COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION AND FORESTRY
DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan, Chairwoman
PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont PAT ROBERTS, Kansas
TOM HARKIN, Iowa RICHARD G. LUGAR, Indiana
KENT CONRAD, North Dakota THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi
MAX BAUCUS, Montana MITCH McCONNELL, Kentucky
E. BENJAMIN NELSON, Nebraska SAXBY CHAMBLISS, Georgia
SHERROD BROWN, Ohio MIKE JOHANNS, Nebraska
ROBERT P. CASEY, Jr., Pennsylvania JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, Iowa
MICHAEL BENNET, Colorado JOHN THUNE, South Dakota
KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, New York JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota
Christopher J. Adamo, Majority Staff Director
Jonathan W. Coppess, Majority Chief Counsel
Jessica L. Williams, Chief Clerk
Michael J. Seyfert, Minority Staff Director
Anne C. Hazlett, Minority Chief Counsel
(ii)
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Hearing(s):
Nomination of Brian T. Baenig, of the District of Columbia, to be
an Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, U.S. Department of
Agriculture.................................................... 1
----------
Thursday, July 28, 2011
STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY SENATORS
Stabenow, Hon. Debbie, U.S. Senator from the State of Michigan,
Chairwoman, Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry... 1
Roberts, Hon. Pat, U.S. Senator from the State of Kansas......... 8
Leahy, Hon. Patrick J., U.S. Senator from the State of Vermont... 2
Witness
Baenig, Brian T., of the District of Columbia, Nominated to be an
Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Washington, DC.................................... 4
----------
APPENDIX
Prepared Statements:
Roberts, Hon. Pat............................................ 12
Chambliss, Hon. Saxby........................................ 13
Leahy, Hon. Patrick J........................................ 14
Baenig, Brian T.............................................. 16
Document(s) Submitted for the Record:
Dairy Farmers of America, written letter of support for the
nomination of Brian T. Baenig to be an Assistant Secretary
of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture............. 20
Various Organizations, written letter of support for the
nomination of Brian T. Baenig to be an Assistant Secretary
of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture............. 21
Question and Answer:
Roberts, Hon. Pat:
Written questions to Brian T. Baenig......................... 24
Chambliss, Hon. Saxby:
Written questions to Brian T. Baenig......................... 25
Klobuchar, Hon. Amy:
Written questions to Brian T. Baenig......................... 26
Thune, Hon. John:
Written questions to Brian T. Baenig......................... 26
Baenig, Brian T.:
Written response to questions from Hon. Pat Roberts.......... 24
Written response to questions from Hon. Amy Klobuchar........ 26
Written response to questions from Hon. Saxby Chambliss...... 25
Written response to questions from Hon. John Thune........... 26
NOMINATION OF BRIAN T. BAENIG,
OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,
TO BE AN ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF
AGRICULTURE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
----------
Thursday, July 28, 2011
United States Senate,
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry,
Washington, DC
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:32 a.m., in
Room G-50, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Debbie
Stabenow, Chairwoman of the committee, presiding.
Present or submitting a statement: Senators Stabenow,
Leahy, Roberts, Lugar, and Thune.
STATEMENT OF HON. DEBBIE STABENOW, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE
OF MICHIGAN, CHAIRWOMAN, COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION
AND FORESTRY
Chairwoman Stabenow. Well, good morning. The Committee on
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry will now come to order.
Today, the committee, as first order of business, is going
to consider the nomination of Brian Baenig to serve as
Assistant Secretary for Congressional Relations at USDA.
Welcome. We are so pleased that you are here. Congratulations
on your nomination, Mr. Baenig. We extend a warm welcome to you
and your family and friends, including, I understand, your mom
is here, Linda Baenig, and I am sure she is very, very proud of
you, and I am sure all of your family and friends are, as well.
I know I speak for all the members of the committee when we
say that we take our obligation to advise and consent very
seriously. We look forward to your remarks and the opportunity
to exercise our constitutional duties.
As Mr. Baenig well knows from his years of service in the
Senate, the Department of Agriculture and this committee have
an important and special relationship. The position of
Assistant Secretary for the Office of Congressional Relations
is very important because, if confirmed, you will be the key
contact of this committee as we oversee policy and program
implementation that is critical for agriculture, for jobs, and
for rural America.
Mr. Baenig's nomination comes at a very important time, as
this committee is beginning its farm bill process. The staff at
USDA will be an indispensable resource for us as we move
forward. They are the boots on the ground, implementing the
programs that we have created and will create, so they are able
to provide valuable feedback on performance.
The Assistant Secretary of Congressional Relations manages
these lines of communication, facilitating the timely exchange
of information. An open and honest relationship between the
Assistant Secretary and those of us who are on the Hill is
absolutely essential.
Mr. Baenig has spent the majority of his career here in the
Senate, including some time as a staff member of this
committee, so we welcome you back. He is very familiar with the
way this body works and the day-to-day challenges we face. I
hope and trust that, if confirmed, Mr. Baenig will remember his
time here fondly and be a straightforward and sincere voice at
the USDA.
I would like to submit two letters of support for Mr.
Baenig's nomination. The first is from over 20 different
agriculture industries and the second is from the Dairy Farmers
of America. If there are no objections, the letters will be
inserted into the record.
[The letters can be found on pages 20 and 21 in the
appendix.]
Chairwoman Stabenow. And now I would like to turn for a
moment to Senator Leahy, who would like to add some words at
the beginning of our session. Senator Leahy.
STATEMENT OF HON. PATRICK J. LEAHY, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE
OF VERMONT
Senator Leahy. Thank you, and thank you, Senator Lugar.
Madam Chairwoman, being here with two excellent Chairs of this
committee, yourself and Senator Lugar, the three of us have had
the honor of chairing this committee and we all know the
nominee well. I do not think the President or Secretary Vilsack
could have selected a more qualified and practiced professional
to help lead the Department of Agriculture's Office of
Congressional Relations than Brian.
I know how important it is--I will put my whole statement
in the record, but how important it is to keep the lines of
communication open. He understands this as well as anybody who
could ever be in that position. He worked most recently as
Deputy Staff Director on this committee. He has earned the
respect of members from both parties and from all regions of
the country, but what is very important in this area, from all
segments of the agriculture community and the nutrition
community and the environmental community and many others.
Brian, it was an honor to have you on my staff. I always
wondered about somebody who might have a B.S. in political
science from St. Michael's College, but then I was reminded
that is exactly the degree I got from St. Michael's College----
[Laughter.]
Senator Leahy. --so I said, well, it worked before. Let us
see if it might work again.
[Laughter.]
Senator Leahy. I know your mother, Linda, is here, and, as
the Chairwoman mentioned, how proud she must be, and I know how
proud your father would have been had he been able to be here
and see this.
You spent on my staff six years, Senior Advisor on
agriculture, energy, conservation issues. You helped Vermont
dairy farmers find consensus across the nationwide industry in
which consensus is like transporting bullfrogs in a wheelbarrow
and increase support for funding for conservation and forestry
programs, fighting invasive species, like the lamprey that
invaded Lake Champlain. You have helped rural communities get
clean water, broadband services. You know, these are amazing
things when you stop to think what you have done and the people
you have worked with, three different members of this
committee, including our late friend Paul Wellstone, and your
in-depth knowledge is extremely important.
So, Madam Chairwoman, as I mentioned, I have to go to a
mark-up in another committee I serve on, Judiciary, although I
have been told they will not start until I get there. But I
just want to be here to say I am so pleased that you and
Senator Lugar, and, actually, if Senator Roberts comes here, we
are going to have a number of Chairs and former Chairs.
Brian, I told you last night when we met privately in my
hideaway office how proud I am of you, and I just want to
reiterate it publicly. I have always been proud of you and I am
glad that you are willing to take on this job.
[The prepared statement of Senator Leahy can be found on
page 14 in the appendix.]
Chairwoman Stabenow. Well, thank you very much, Senator
Leahy.
I know that Senator Roberts will be joining us shortly and
we will certainly turn to him when he arrives.
Senator Lugar, you are welcome to make any comments. If
not, we will proceed.
Senator Lugar. I will withhold.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you very much, and I want to
thank both Senator Leahy and Senator Lugar, who are very
distinguished former Chairs of this committee. I am very, very
fortunate to have a committee with so much experience,
including a number of former Chairs. We are temporarily in this
space. I have indicated to both of them, we will feel at home
when their portraits are up on the wall.
[Laughter.]
Chairwoman Stabenow. So we will look forward to making that
happen.
But, Mr. Baenig, I have two things that I now need to do.
First is to administer an oath that we have for all of the
nominees, if you would like to stand and raise your right hand.
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. Baenig. Yes.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you very much.
And, secondly, do you agree that, if confirmed, you will
appear before any duly constituted committee of Congress, if
asked to appear?
Mr. Baenig. Yes.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you very much.
And again, welcome, and we would ask you to proceed with
your testimony. As you know, we are happy to take any written
testimony and we would ask that your verbal testimony be kept
to five minutes. Thank you.
TESTIMONY OF BRIAN T. BAENIG, OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,
NOMINATED TO BE AN ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE, U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Mr. Baenig. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. Chairwoman
Stabenow, Ranking Member Roberts, former Chairman Senator
Lugar, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity
to appear before you today as a nominee for Assistant Secretary
for Congressional Relations at the Department of Agriculture.
Chairman Leahy, thank you for that kind introduction. When
you hired me nearly ten years ago, I could have never imagined
sitting on this side of the table. Your leadership, your
guidance, your friendship have been very important to me in my
personal life and my professional career, so thank you very
much.
Madam Chairwoman, members of the committee, it is a great
honor to be nominated by President Obama to serve in this
position, and if confirmed, you have my commitment that I will
work diligently to live up to the high standards and
expectations that this committee has set and the administration
has set. I commit to always being responsive to all of your
questions and concerns.
Madam Chairwoman, as you recognized, I have spent my career
in this institution and I treasure it and I hold dear
especially the long bipartisan traditions of this committee. As
you know, I have worked for Senators Wellstone, Leahy, and most
recently, Senator Lincoln on this committee. I have had the
honor to work for a diverse set of Senators who all had the
same passion--the same bipartisan passion--for supporting
America's farmers, ranchers, and rural communities. I will
bring that same commitment to work each day if I am confirmed
for this position.
Most recently, I have worked as a staff member of this
committee, and I feel strongly that straightforward
communication between the Department of Agriculture and the
Congress is critical to the legislative process and essential
to the position for which I am being considered today. While
your positions on specific issues may not always match those of
the Secretary or the President, I will always be responsive to
your requests and respectful of your concerns and questions.
And while I may not always have the answers you are looking for
immediately, I will commit to each and every one of you to find
the answers and always be fair, honest, and straightforward
with you and your staff.
I am keenly aware of the current budget situation that we
all face and the tremendous obstacles that it presents to this
committee and our country. But I believe we must always
remember that America's farmers and ranchers and our
agriculture sector are responsible in no small way for the
health and strength of this great nation. Not only does
American agriculture produce the highest and most abundant
quality of food, feed, fiber, and fuel at affordable prices,
but American producers preserve our environment, sustain our
rural communities, and help drive our national economy.
Along with Secretary Vilsack, I am committed to working
with this committee and the House committee to ensure that the
next farm bill retains a strong and effective safety net for
all of American agriculture. If confirmed, I pledge to work
closely with each of you and your staff to make all the needed
resources available during this process. I believe that we
share the goal of ensuring that American agriculture and our
rural communities remain productive and competitive, and
working together, I am confident we can accomplish that goal,
as this committee always has, in a bipartisan fashion.
The Department of Agriculture has an aggressive agenda to
serve our nation's farmers, ranchers, and rural communities.
Secretary Vilsack and the Department is focused on delivering
results that create jobs, promote innovation in our rural
communities. If confirmed, I look forward to helping him with
this important work.
Finally, Madam Chairwoman, if you would grant me a moment,
I would like to recognize just a few people who are here today,
Nancy Smetanka, Jayne Visser, and Dirk Visser. Thank you today
for your support and always.
To my mother, Linda Baenig, thank you for your love and
guidance.
Madam Chairwoman, Ranking Member Roberts, former Chairman
Lugar, and the rest of the members of the committee, thank you
for the opportunity to appear before you today. I want to
express my gratitude to President Obama, to Secretary Vilsack,
for the confidence in me to take on this important
responsibility. If I have the honor of being supported by this
committee and confirmed by the
United States Senate, I look forward to building a strong
working relationship with each and every one of you.
Again, thank you for the opportunity. I look forward to
answering any questions you may have.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Baenig can be found on page
16 in the appendix.]
Chairwoman Stabenow. Well, thank you very much.
Mr. Baenig, as Assistant Secretary for Congressional
Relations, you and your staff will serve as key conduits
between the USDA and the Congress, and it will be your job, of
course, to maintain open communication, transparency, and this
is particularly important as we go into writing of the farm
bill, which is the critical responsibility of this committee.
How do you plan to enhance the USDA's relationship with
Congress and what role will you play as Assistant Secretary in
facilitating the next farm bill?
Mr. Baenig. Madam Chairwoman, thank you for that question.
As you recognized, I have spent some time here and understand
the importance of this role in providing timely communication,
advance notice when appropriate and possible, and always
providing the technical resources needed during the farm bill
drafting process. I remember the long nights and the many
weekends that you spent over the course of a two-year period in
writing the 2008 farm bill and I strongly feel the USDA needs
to be a partner in that effort to always provide the technical
resources and the guidance that this committee seeks.
So, if confirmed for this position, you have my commitment
to provide what you need and to provide the answers to your
questions and effectively communicate the administration's
positions.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you. When we talk about writing
the farm bill, this is going to be a challenging time, as we
all know, and we are very much focused on how we can do things
better, how we can consolidate, streamline from the standpoint
of our farmers, how we can stretch dollars farther. That is
going to be a very important part of what we are doing, and it
is going to be vital that the Assistant Secretary is proficient
in navigating all the various programs within the Department
because it is a large, complex, important agency.
I wonder if you might speak to what experience you have had
specifically that have familiarized yourself with the various
agencies within the USDA. How has the experience of working on
past farm bills prepared you for engaging in this farm bill
process, which we all know is going to take everybody working
together and is going to be very challenging for us?
Mr. Baenig. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. You are correct.
This is--clearly, the budget environment is going to make this
farm bill as difficult as any in the past. I do want to just
take the opportunity to recognize that agriculture, as a
sector, has already made some significant contributions to the
deficit reduction last year, with the significant reduction in
the Crop Insurance Program. I think that is important to note,
and I know you have and other members of this committee have,
also.
In terms of navigating the Department, it is a large
institution, 17 agencies, seven mission areas. I have spent the
last three months getting to know each and every one of those
mission area heads. During my time here, I had direct
communication with the agency staff. So I feel like, given my
time here, I have a firm grasp on where the Department is.
Again, I think it is going to be essential as we look to
the farm bill to make sure that this committee has the right
people available, and I think that is important. I think it is
important to make career staff available to this committee who
have the technical resources and knowledge to help you in the
drafting process.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you. And then, finally, we are
talking a lot about accountability because we have to make
right decisions, and as I said, stretch dollars as far as
possible and bring accountability. We are going to be asked to
do more with less, as we all know. Could you speak a little bit
about how you, in your role, can help us carry out the
oversight responsibilities, ensuring accountability within
USDA, and any challenges that you would foresee in that
process.
Mr. Baenig. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. As you know,
Secretary Vilsack has instituted an aggressive examination of
the Department, looking at ways to create new efficiencies, and
I look forward to the opportunity to support him in that role
and communicate that effectively with you.
He has also--Secretary Vilsack, in terms of accountability,
has also made aggressive efforts in the area of civil rights,
and if confirmed to this position, I look forward to helping
him implement many of the recommendations the Department has
received from an independent audit.
In addition, I think we need to be cognizant of doing more
with less in these times of budget constraints. I look forward
to providing all that information to the committee as the
Department makes its next steps.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you very much.
Senator Lugar.
Senator Lugar. Well, thank you very much, Madam Chairman.
Mr. Baenig, this is just an off-the-top-of-the-head
suggestion, but I ask it because you are knowledgeable about
this committee as well as the Department. I have found that I
find much more that is occurring in the Department of
Agriculture through commercial newsletters, some that I take
because as a corn and soybean farmer, I am interested in the
market every day, so this is very informative. At the same
time, usually the letters go on to point out what is happening
in the Department, what Secretary Vilsack really thinks about
things, or the various other people.
Now, your job, as you have expressed--and we have all been
talking about--is to convey information back and forth to the
committee from the Department and likewise our views. I have
often wondered if, in fact, the person in your position
composed a newsletter, maybe not each day, but every third or
fourth day, which really gave a pretty good idea of what is on
the mind of the Secretary, what new initiatives he has or
things that he believes we ought to be informed about. Simply
so that this information is shared with all the members of the
committee and our staffs. That would probably be true of our
counterparts in the House of Representatives, likewise.
It would seem to me that we would be on the same page more
likely, or know our disagreements early on, and then have
opportunities for correspondence, or with you as our emissary,
to get the word back. This looks good or it does not look so
good, or, in fact, we have delight that the Department is doing
a lot of things affirmatively. I am one who admires what
Secretary Vilsack has been achieving, and he has many chores
that he cannot really express to us day by day.
But I just simply take advantage of this hearing to throw
out that suggestion. If, in fact, such a piece of paper, or
maybe two or three pages or what have you, would come with some
regularity, I would be an avid reader and, likewise, would
have, I think, a better idea, honestly, of what is going on in
the Department than I might be receiving through the commercial
agricultural newsletters that I am reading. Do you have any
initial reaction to that idea?
Mr. Baenig. Well, Senator Lugar, I think it is an excellent
suggestion. I think the more we can do in terms of paper
communication and face-to-face meetings with the committee or
the committee staff, I think it is an excellent suggestion, and
if confirmed, I would be happy to commit to see if we can get
that done on a regular basis. I think it is an excellent way to
let the committee know what the various 17 agencies are doing
on a daily basis. I think it would be extremely helpful.
Senator Lugar. Likewise, to the extent that you have this
information before any of the rest of us--this is a very
dynamic period in American agriculture in terms of land values,
quite apart from crop prices. And there is a change in many
States of the income status of farmers which is very
encouraging. It really has not been seen during many of the
years in which we have been deliberating in this committee.
Just to have those facts, and likewise, how this is affecting
the people to whom we are exporting around the globe, how our
crop prices are affecting both their demand as well as some of
the constraints.
We have a feeling, in other words that even as we talk
about our farm bill, we are in the midst, if not of a world
food crisis, something approaching that, in which the supplies
of food throughout this earth and the number of people who are
enhancing their diets plus maybe the increasing number of
people, is putting strains on this, and that not just Arab
Spring, with young people out in the square, but back in the
Hustings where small children, elderly people, and what have
you are in severe need. This is likely to persist for some
time.
So some better knowledge on the part of our committee, our
staff, day by day--we can pick up some of this in the regular
press, and I do not fault that coverage worldwide. But there
may be some perspectives from the Department standpoint of how
the Secretary or others view what our responsibility ought to
be so that our farm bill debate is not purely a parochial
affair, but one that really encompasses the world in which we
live and the interaction of our exports or lack of that with
other countries.
Thank you very much, Madam Chairman.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Well, thank you very much, Senator
Lugar.
I am going to turn this over to my friend and Ranking
Member, Senator Roberts, for any both opening comments you
would like to make as well as questions. We say good morning.
HON. PAT ROBERTS, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF KANSAS
Senator Roberts. Good morning, Madam Chairwoman, and thank
you for holding this hearing. I think I am going to submit my
opening comments for the record in the interest of time.
If you could talk to the D.C. patrolman who evidently gave
somebody a ticket in the tunnel on the way to the Capitol, it
would be very helpful. I know you have a lot of influence
there.
[Laughter.]
Chairwoman Stabenow. I wonder if the Assistant Secretary
would have any control over this. It might help his
confirmation.
Senator Roberts. It was not by the USDA building at all----
[Laughter.]
Senator Roberts. --but at any rate, I do not understand
that. That is beside the point. At any rate, I think I will
just make my statement part of the record and we can proceed.
[The prepared statement of Senator Roberts can be found on
page 12 in the appendix.]
Chairwoman Stabenow. And we have gone through our
questions.
Senator Roberts. Oh, I see. Well, I think that as I go over
the questions here that staff has outlined for me, they are
very repetitive of the questions that we had. We had a very
good visit yesterday, and I think more especially with the
experience that he has had with two members, one of which I am
extremely fond of, and we talked about that, and then we talked
about what would happen when we get into a tough situation and
how we would work that out, more especially his relationship
with other agencies, EPA, et cetera, et cetera. So I think I am
going to simply have these submitted for the record.
At the same time, he answered all the questions to my
satisfaction, so thank you for coming in this morning.
Mr. Baenig. Thank you, Ranking Member.
Chairwoman Stabenow. All right. Well, let me say again,
congratulations on being nominated. In my judgment, you have
proved to be a thoughtful, competent candidate for this
position and I look forward to supporting you for this
position. I think the Assistant Secretary for Congressional
Relations for the USDA is a position very, very important to
our committee, very important to our success as we move forward
in working with the Department in tackling and writing a farm
bill that works for everyone.
We know we have a difficult challenge coming up, but we
know with your help, we will be able to get this done. And so
let me again thank you for being here.
Mr. Baenig. Thank you very much.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you. And I would ask our first
panel for our specialty crop portion of the meeting to come
forward.
Senator Roberts. Madam Chairman, if I could----
Chairwoman Stabenow. Yes.
Senator Roberts. If I could be recognized just for a
moment, I would like to take a few moments at this particular
time to wander, if you will, or get into another pasture from
regular order to recognize a long-term staffer that we have had
here----
Chairwoman Stabenow. Yes, please.
Senator Roberts. --and public servant that will be retiring
as of Friday.
August 5 will be Dave Johnson's last day, unfortunately--
fortunately for him, perhaps, but unfortunately for us--as a
Republican staffer on the Senate
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. It will
also be the end of a 23-year career in public service, most of
that right here on this committee.
Dave has served me as Ranking Member since March. He came
on board and helped us get going and running, organized. He
previously served as both the Chief Republican Counsel and
Deputy Staff Director of this committee. His service includes
working for Chairman Lugar from 1987 to 1991, again from 1994
to 2003. He then served Chairman Cochran from 2003 to 2005, and
then finally Chairman Chambliss from 2005 to 2007. That is a
lot of chairmen. From 2007 to 2008, he served then-Secretary of
Agriculture Mike Johanns as Deputy Chief of Staff at the
Department. He then moved to the Commodity Futures Trading
Commission, where he served until we convinced him to come back
and help us get up and running this past spring.
Madam Chairwoman, Dave's record speaks for itself, but I am
not sure some understand just how valuable his service has been
to this committee and agriculture and nutrition policy. Anybody
that knows Dave can tell you his first love has been nutrition
policy. He has worked on numerous child nutrition bills and the
nutrition title in no less than four farm bills. I also know
that if you sit down and visit with him, he would probably tell
you that one of his proudest moments was the work he did on the
1996 Welfare Reform Act, for which a lot of people take credit,
but Dave should, as well.
He has been a straight shooter. He gives you the answers
you need to hear. But one of his greatest strengths is
reminding you of the things you have not considered and need to
think about, the law of unintended effects. He has been a
tremendous mentor to young staff on both sides of the aisle. He
was often the first stop many of them made when looking for
advice on how to learn the ropes of the committee.
Finally, Dave's attention to detail and proofing proposed
legislation is absolutely legendary. If you are scrubbing a
bill and making sure it is done right, he is the set of eyes
that you want on it. He is the scrubber. As a member of my
staff, I was once told by a former member of the Senate
Parliamentarian's Office that a farm bill David helped write
and scrub was among the best written bills we have ever seen
come through the Senate.
Madam Chairwoman, that pretty well sums it up in regards to
Dave's service to this committee. Dave, as a former bucket-
toter myself--staffer--thank you for your years of service to
our country, the Senate, the members of this committee, and our
constituents. You have been a true public servant. We all wish
you only the best as you head home to Indiana. Job well done.
Thank you, Madam Chairwoman.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Well, thank you very much, Senator
Roberts, and we congratulate Dave and we thank him, and I think
he deserves a round of applause.
[Applause.]
Senator Roberts. Thanks.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Well, thank you so much for those
comments. You know, it is important to remember, even in the
context of challenging, rough and tumble times that we are in
right now, that we have wonderful staff that serve us in the
Department and both sides of the aisle who have come for the
right reasons, who care deeply about our country, who care
deeply about agriculture and nutrition, families, getting this
right, people who work with us every day that I think we do not
say thank you enough to, who are the reason that we are able to
move forward and get things done, because we have smart people
with us that care, and that is one of the reasons I am very
confident we will be able to proceed with the farm bill, and as
we have in the Agriculture Committee over and over again showed
that folks can work together and get things done. I know that
that is what we are committed to doing, so thank you very much,
Senator Roberts.
[Whereupon, at 10:07 a.m., the committee proceeded to other
business.]
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A P P E N D I X
JULY 28, 2011
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DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD
JULY 28, 2011
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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
JULY 28, 2011
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