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S. HRG. 111–244 

HEARING TO CONSIDER THE NOMINATIONS 

OF KRYSTA HARDEN, PEARLIE S. REED, 

RAJIV J. SHAH, AND DALLAS P. TONSAGER 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, 

NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

MAY 7, 2009 

Printed for the use of the 

Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

( 

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.agriculture.senate.gov 

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY 

TOM HARKIN, Iowa, Chairman 

PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont 

KENT CONRAD, North Dakota 

MAX BAUCUS, Montana 

BLANCHE L. LINCOLN, Arkansas 

DEBBIE A. STABENOW, Michigan 

E. BENJAMIN NELSON, Nebraska 

SHERROD BROWN, Ohio 

ROBERT P. CASEY, Jr., Pennsylvania 

AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota 

KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, New York 

MICHAEL BENNET, Colorado 

SAXBY CHAMBLISS, Georgia 

RICHARD G. LUGAR, Indiana 

THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi 

MITCH MCCONNELL, Kentucky 

PAT ROBERTS, Kansas 

MIKE JOHANNS, Nebraska 

CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, Iowa 

JOHN THUNE, South Dakota 

MARK HALVERSON, Majority Staff Director 

JESSICA L. WILLIAMS, Chief Clerk 

MARTHA SCOTT POINDEXTER, Minority Staff Director 

VERNIE HUBERT, Minority Chief Counsel 

(II) 

(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Page 

HEARING(S): 

Hearing to Consider the Nominations of Krysta Harden, Pearlie S. Reed, 

Rajiv J. Shah, and Dallas P. Tonsager ............................................................... 1 

Thursday, May 7, 2009 

STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY SENATORS 

Harkin, Hon. Tom, U.S. Senator from the State of Iowa, Chairman, Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry ................................................. 1 

Casey, Hon. Robert P., Jr., U.S. Senator from the State of Pennsylvania ......... 23 

Chambliss, Hon. Saxby, U.S. Senator from the State of Georgia ........................ 2 

Cochran, Hon. Thad, U.S. Senator from the State of Mississippi ....................... 25 

Klobuchar, Hon. Amy, U.S. Senator from the State of Minnesota ...................... 26 

Lincoln, Hon. Blanche L., U.S. Senator from the State of Arkansas .................. 11 

Sandlin, Hon. Stephanie Herseth, a Representative in Congress from the 

State of South Dakota .......................................................................................... 4 

Panel I 

Harden, Krysta, Nominee, Assistant Secretary of Congressional Relations, 

U.S. Department of Agriculture .......................................................................... 9 

Reed, Pearlie S., Nominee, Assistant Secretary of Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture ....................................................................................... 12 

Shah, Rajiv J., M.D., Nominee, Under Secretary of Research, Education and 

Economics, U.S. Department of Agriculture ...................................................... 14 

Tonsager,Dallas P., Nominee, Under Secretary of Rural Development, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture .................................................................................. 6 

APPENDIX 

PREPARED STATEMENTS: 

Thune, Hon. John ............................................................................................. 32 

Harden, Krysta ................................................................................................. 33 

Reed, Pearlie S. ................................................................................................. 36 

Shah, Rajiv J. .................................................................................................... 39 

Tonsager, Dallas P. .......................................................................................... 42 

DOCUMENT(S) SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD: 

Committee questionnaire and Office of Government Ethics Executive 

Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report filed by Krysta 

Harden ........................................................................................................... 48 

Committee questionnaire and Office of Government Ethics Executive 

Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report filed by Pearlie 

S. Reed ........................................................................................................... 62 

Committee questionnaire and Office of Government Ethics Executive 

Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report filed by Rajiv 

J. Shah ........................................................................................................... 79 

Committee questionnaire and Office of Government Ethics Executive 

Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report filed by Dallas 

P. Tonsager .................................................................................................... 99 

Page

IV 

QUESTION AND ANSWER: 

Harkin, Hon. Tom: 

Written questions to Pearlie S. Reed .............................................................. 138 

Written questions to Rajiv J. Shah ................................................................. 139 

Written questions to Dallas P. Tonsager ........................................................ 145 

Bennet, Hon. Michael: 

Written questions to Krysta Harden .............................................................. 137 

Written questions to Dallas P. Tonsager ........................................................ 153 

Chambliss, Hon. Saxby: 

Written questions to Rajiv J. Shah ................................................................. 142 

Written questions to Dallas P. Tonsager ........................................................ 147 

Grassley, Hon. Charles E.: 

Written questions to Krysta Harden .............................................................. 136 

Written questions to Rajiv J. Shah ................................................................. 143 

Written questions to Dallas P. Tonsager ........................................................ 153 

Lincoln, Hon. Blanche L.: 

Written questions to Rajiv J. Shah ................................................................. 140 

Nelson, Hon. Ben: 

Written questions to Rajiv J. Shah ................................................................. 142 

Written questions to Dallas P. Tonsager ........................................................ 148 

Roberts, Hon. Pat: 

Written questions to Dallas P. Tonsager ........................................................ 149 

Thune, Hon. John: 

Written questions to Krysta Harden .............................................................. 136 

Written questions to Rajiv J. Shah ................................................................. 143 

Written questions to Dallas P. Tonsager ........................................................ 151 

Harden, Krysta: 

Written response to questions from Hon. Charles E. Grassley .................... 136 

Written response to questions from Hon. John Thune .................................. 136 

Written response to questions from Hon. Michael F. Bennet ....................... 137 

Reed, Pearlie S.: 

Written response to questions from Hon. Tom Harkin ................................. 138 

Shah, Rajiv J.: 

Written response to questions from Hon. Tom Harkin ................................. 139 

Written response to questions from Hon. Blanche L. Lincoln ...................... 140 

Written response to questions from Hon. Saxby Chambliss ......................... 142 

Written response to questions from Hon. Ben Nelson .................................. 142 

Written response to questions from Hon. Charles E. Grassley .................... 143 

Written response to questions from Hon. John Thune .................................. 143 

Tonsager, Dallas P.: 

Written response to questions from Hon. Tom Harkin ................................. 145 

Written response to questions from Hon. Saxby Chambliss ......................... 147 

Written response to questions from Hon. Ben Nelson .................................. 148 

Written response to questions from Hon. Pat Roberts .................................. 149 

Written response to questions from Hon. Charles E. Grassley .................... 153 

Written response to questions from Hon. John Thune .................................. 151 

Written response to questions from Hon. Michael F. Bennet ....................... 153 

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL(S) SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD: 

Various organizations, letters of endorsement for Krysta Harden ............... 156 

Various organizations, letters of endorsement for Rajiv J. Shah ................. 160 

Various organizations, letters of endorsement for Dallas P. Tonsager ........ 162 

(1) 

HEARING TO CONSIDER THE NOMINATIONS 

OF KRYSTA HARDEN, PEARLIE S. REED, 

RAJIV J. SHAH, AND DALLAS P. TONSAGER 

Thursday, May 7, 2009 

U.S. SENATE, 

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION AND FORESTRY

Washington, DC 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:37 a.m., in room 

SD–106, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Tom Harkin, Chairman of the Committee, presiding. 

Present: Senators Harkin, Lincoln, Casey, Klobuchar, Bennet, 

Chambliss, Lugar, Cochran, Johanns, and Thune. 

STATEMENT OF HON. TOM HARKIN, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE 

STATE OF IOWA, CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, 

NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY 

Chairman HARKIN. The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry will come to order. 

Today, the Committee meets to hear from four individuals nominated by President Obama to important positions at the Department of Agriculture: Dallas P. Tonsager for Under Secretary for 

Rural Development; Krysta Harden for Assistant Secretary for 

Congressional Relations; Pearlie S. Reed for Assistant Secretary for 

Administration; and Rajiv J. Shah for Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics. 

I will just make a few opening comments, but more formal introductions will follow momentarily. 

We will look to the new Under Secretary for Rural Development 

for leadership and skill in helping our nation’s rural communities 

tackle some very big challenges, including economic recession, job 

loss, lack of services, and aging infrastructure. In combination, the 

New Farm Bill that we passed last year, the Food, Conservation 

and Energy Act, along with the recent American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the so-called Stimulus Bill, contain important initiatives and investments for USDA rural development to carry out. 

Among the key objectives are supporting new and expanding 

businesses, boosting renewable energy development, upgrading outdated and deficient rural water and waste water systems, expanding broadband telecommunications, and attracting new public and 

private investments in rural America. 

We rely on the Assistant Secretary for congressional relations to 

keep the lines of communication open and to supply us with the inVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:58 Mar 24, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\DOCS\54568.TXT SAG2 PsN: SAG2
2 

formation we need for crafting legislation and responding to the 

concerns of people that we serve. 

Effective management by the Assistant Secretary for Administration is, in practical terms, vital to the success of every program, an 

undertaking at the Department of Agriculture. Simply put, USDA 

cannot function without proper attention to personnel, procurement 

and day-to-day operations. 

The Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics is 

now also the chief scientist at USDA with the responsibility for carrying out USDA’s own in-house research activities, supporting research, education and extension at our nation’s state, land grant 

and other institutions, and maintaining USDA’s vital economics 

and statistics functions. The manifold benefits of these activities 

extend throughout our society, from abundant food and fiber to renewable energy, bio-based materials, and a better way of life for all 

Americans. 

So those are the four departments that we are looking at today 

and the nominees for those. I have refrained from mentioning their 

names because I know certain people want to have the pleasure of 

introducing these individuals. And so I will recognize individuals 

for the purposes of introduction. But before I do that, I would like 

to yield to your ranking member, Senator Chambliss, for his opening comments. 

I recognize Senator Chambliss. 

STATEMENT OF HON. SAXBY CHAMBLISS, U.S. SENATOR FROM 

THE STATE OF GEORGIA 

Senator CHAMBLISS. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and welcome to all of our nominees out there. We are very pleased to see 

you here, pleased to see you willing to commit yourself to America’s 

farmers and ranchers, and we look forward to this hearing today. 

Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing to consider the 

nominations of Mr. Tonsager, Dr. Shah, Mr. Reed and Ms. Harden 

for appointments to USDA. I look forward to hearing the testimony 

from each of you, and I know that you would agree with me that 

it is vital that we have good leadership in place at the Department 

to deal with the many issues, including implementation of the 

Farm Bill and the Recovery Act, as well as an important role in 

monitoring the H1N1 virus outbreak. 

I am pleased that during today’s proceedings, we are considering 

the Under Secretary for Rural Development. As our country faces 

economic and financial hardships, our rural citizens are certainly 

not exempt. And although 2008 saw a record high of net farm income, recent Bureau of Labor statistics show that rural counties 

are losing jobs at a faster rate than their urban counterparts. 

This is particularly true in rural areas that rely more on the 

manufacturing sector than on the traditional farm income. They 

have now lost nearly 5 percent of their job since the recession 

began in December of 2007. This report is disturbing, but I believe 

that the opportunities on the horizon have never been brighter for 

rural America. And I am hopeful that 1 day in the near future, the 

use of renewables, such as biomass, will fulfill their potential of becoming a major source of energy production. 

3 

This development will positively affect all our sectors of rural 

America and the country at large through our businesses, industries and consumers. The Rural Development Agency is clearly in 

a position to assist in that effort in addition to helping improve the 

overall quality of life for rural citizens through the expansion of 

broadband access and support of basic public facilities and services. 

Mr. Tonsager, I can see that you have a deep breadth of knowledge and experience in all things rural, from growing up on a dairy 

farm to your public service as state director of Rural Development 

in South Dakota, and most recently, serving on the Farm Credit 

Administration Board of Directors. I look forward to hearing your 

perspective on America’s rural economy. 

Dr. Shah, our nation’s agricultural research system is held up as 

a model for other countries. The Federal, state and local investment in agricultural research, education and extension has led to 

increased productivity and yields, new crop varieties, and a multitude of techniques and practices to help us preserve our natural 

resource base. 

Today, this system is under strain. The entire system is underfunded. Within the administration, USDA struggles for budgetary 

support. In Congress, the system is pitted against other funding 

priorities. The 2008 Farm Bill made significant changes to some 

agricultural research programs. The changes provide an opportunity for the agricultural research system to rebuild and meet the 

challenges of the 21st century. 

As you undertake this task in your role of under secretary and 

chief scientist of the Department, I encourage you to work with 

Congress and get to know the land-grant universities and the 

USDA research agencies because we are all partners in this effort. 

Please do not let these challenges get you down. You have a good 

system and good people already in place, and they need a champion. And I hope you are ready to be that champion, and I look forward to working with you. 

Mr. Reed, you have spent more than 30 years at USDA, and I 

am pleased that you are willing to return to public service at the 

Department once again. The office for which you are nominated is 

a tremendous responsibility, and you will be responsible for providing departmental leadership on a variety of management services essential to the direction and operation of the Department’s 

mission and goals. 

Perhaps the most critical role you will have involves the protection and well-being of the Department’s greatest resource, its employees. USDA employees nationwide will count on you to act in 

their best interest and provide them an environment to effectively 

and efficiently serve our constituents. We appreciate your interest 

in serving. 

Mr. Chairman, I will hold my remarks regarding Krysta Harden 

for when I have the pleasure of introducing her to the Committee. 

So thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you very much, Senator Chambliss. 

We are joined today by our distinguished colleague from the 

House side, a very distinguished member of the House Agriculture 

Committee and here for the purposes of introductions. And that is 

4 

the way we will go. We will start with Mr. Tonsager, then Ms. 

Harden, and then Mr. Reed, and then Dr. Shah. 

So we welcome Congresswoman Herseth Sandlin to the Committee, and I would yield to you for purposes of an introduction. 

STATEMENT OF HON. STEPHANIE HERSETH SANDLIN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF SOUTH 

DAKOTA 

Ms. SANDLIN. Chairman Harkin, Senator Chambliss and members of the Committee, thank you very much for allowing me the 

opportunity to introduce a fellow South Dakotan and my very good 

friend, Mr. Dallas Tonsager, as the Senate Agriculture Committee 

considers his nomination for the United States Department of Agriculture Under Secretary for Rural Development. 

Together with Senator Johnson, who, unfortunately, could not be 

here in person with us today, we are pleased to support Dallas’ 

nomination and recommend him wholeheartedly for this position. I 

can think of no one better qualified for this important appointment 

than Dallas. He brings to this position an extraordinary work ethic 

and a history of working in a bipartisan fashion for the betterment 

of rural America. 

I have known Dallas, his wife, Sharon, and their sons for many 

years. And I know that Dallas is widely respected in no small part 

because of his constructive approach, his informed and innovative 

ideas, and his honest, forthright communication. His advice, counsel and creative thinking have served many policymakers, including me, over the years. 

In partnership with his brother, Doug, Dallas owns Plain View 

Farm in Oldham, South Dakota, a family operation that includes 

corn, soybeans, wheat and hay. His family farming roots and extensive leadership experience will substantially contribute to shaping 

a rural agenda that bolsters and enhances our rural communities 

and to seizing opportunities for rural America to help solve many 

of the challenges facing our country today; at the same time, creating jobs for the next generation of Americans who choose to live 

and raise their families in rural communities. 

Dallas has held board positions on the Farm Credit Administration and Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation and contributed to economic development as the executive director of the 

South Dakota Value-Added Agriculture Development Center. 

He was appointed by President Clinton as the South Dakota 

State Rural Development Director in 1993 and was named one of 

two outstanding state directors by USDA in 1999. As president of 

the South Dakota Farmers Union, Dallas worked to advance farming and ranching priorities and to preserve the quality of life in 

rural America. His record speaks for itself with respect to the accomplishments and progress he has achieved. 

I am confident that Dallas would be among the strongest assets 

that USDA could have in helping to implement the priorities of 

President Obama’s administration. Further, our rural communities, 

rural businesses, and rural citizens will surely benefit from having 

Dallas as their advocate, and I urge the members of this committee 

and the Senate to confirm Dallas Tonsager’s nomination. 

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

5 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you very much, Congresswoman. I appreciate your being here for this introduction. 

Here is the way we will proceed. First of all, I have to administer 

and oath and ask a question to all of you. We will hear Mr. 

Tonsager’s opening statement. I will then yield to Senator Chambliss for an introduction and a statement, and then Senator Lincoln 

for Mr. Reed and a statement, and then Senator Cantwell, who is 

on her way, will be here for purposes of introduction. 

So if I could ask all four of you to rise; raise your right hand. 

Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but 

the truth? 

Mr. TONSAGER. Yes. 

Ms. HARDEN. Yes. 

Mr. REED. Yes. 

Mr. SHAH. Yes. 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you. 

Do you agree that if confirmed, you will appear before any duly 

constituted committee of the Congress if asked? 

Mr. Tonsager? 

Mr. TONSAGER. Yes. 

Chairman HARKIN. Ms. Harden? 

Ms. HARDEN. Yes. 

Chairman HARKIN. Mr. Reed? 

Mr. REED. Yes. 

Chairman HARKIN. Dr. Shah? 

Mr. SHAH. Yes. 

Chairman HARKIN. Please be seated. Thank you very much. 

Well, Mr. Tonsager, a great introduction. Welcome. You are not 

too much of a stranger to this committee. Welcome back, I should 

say. And before you start your statement, perhaps you would like 

to introduce your family that is here. 

I ask all, because they have great families here, and we would 

like to know who you have got here. 

Mr. TONSAGER. Thank you, Senator. And, yes, I would very much 

like to, if I could. 

First of all, my wife, Sharon; my son, Keith, and his wife, 

Lindsey; my son, Joshua; my sister-in-law, Sharon, as well; my 

brother, Dennis; my sister, Diane; and my brother, Douglas, who 

actually does the work in our family. 

Chairman HARKIN. Welcome here. Welcome, everybody. Thank 

you for coming. 

[Applause.] 

Chairman HARKIN. I could make some crack about is there anyone left in South Dakota, but I will refrain. 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman HARKIN. I will refrain. 

Please proceed, Mr. Tonsager. 

And all of your statements will be made part of the record in 

their entirety. If you would like to sum up, we would appreciate 

that. 

Mr. Tonsager. 

Mr. TONSAGER. Thank you very much, Senator. 

6 

TESTIMONY OF DALLAS P. TONSAGER, NOMINEE, UNDER SECRETARY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF 

AGRICULTURE 

Mr. TONSAGER. Thank you, Chairman Harkin, Senator Chambliss, members of the Committee. It is a privilege to sit before the 

Committee, which continues to provide the leadership and foresight 

for the benefit of all agriculture and rural America. Specifically, I 

want to acknowledge your leadership, Chairman Harkin and Ranking Member Chambliss, and should I be confirmed, I will enjoy 

working with you to improve the quality of life for rural Americans. 

I also want to thank our good friend, Congresswoman Stephanie 

Herseth Sandlin, for her introduction today. I have learned a great 

deal about how to help rural communities by watching Congresswoman Herseth Sandlin’s leadership in South Dakota. 

Thank you, Stephanie. 

It is an honor to appear before you today as President Obama’s 

choice to be the next Under Secretary of Rural Development at the 

United States Department of Agriculture. 

Now, here is the part where I would have put my family in, Senator, so thank you for letting me do that in advance. 

It is indeed a great honor and privilege to be selected by President Obama to carry out his vision for the revitalization of rural 

America, and I am excited by the opportunity to serve with Secretary Vilsack, who is a strong advocate for America’s agricultural 

producers and defender of rural residents throughout this country. 

My enthusiasm is tempered only by the realization of the challenges rural Americans face everyday with lost jobs, disappearing 

essential services, out-migration, and crumbling infrastructure. 

We find ourselves in difficult times. President Obama’s vision for 

America is aggressive and will take commitment, sacrifice and perseverance to be successful. I want the members of this committee 

to know that if you should confirm me, I will accept this responsibility. 

Mr. Chairman, I am not telling you, or the members of the Committee, anything you do not already recognize. You know all too 

well the challenges we face in addressing the needs of the 50 million Americans residing in our small towns and rural communities. 

The Farm Bill written by this committee and passed last year, and 

the stimulus packaged passed earlier this year, provide the foundation and funding for many of the president’s initiatives. 

The president has rolled out an appropriately ambitious and 

multifaceted plan to stimulate the faltering economy. In the area 

of rural economic development, the president’s vision focuses on 

several important goals. First and foremost, the funding provided 

in the stimulus package to rural development will be allocated as 

quickly as possible and at the same time, ensuring that it is ordered in a fair, transparent and responsible manner. 

Renewable energy is not only critically important for the rural 

economy, it is important for the entire U.S. economy and national 

security. The burgeoning renewable energy industries will grow the 

U.S. economy, make the U.S. more energy independent, and help 

address climate change. USDA rural development has a number of 

programs to advance renewable technologies that will bring skilled 

jobs to rural communities. 

7 

Broadband access to rural residents is also a key to bringing important services to rural residents and providing skilled jobs. 

Thanks to this committee’s insistence, the stimulus package provided significant additional funding for the development of 

broadband access. I know that this is an important issue for the 

members of this committee. 

In all of these areas, I pledge to work with you and your staffs 

to ensure that we identify the communities with the greatest need. 

Of course, rural development has many other programs that will 

aid rural residents in their communities so that we can thrive and 

prosper. Rural development has a strong portfolio of housing community facilities, business, and utility programs that provide the 

building blocks for community development. 

Agriculture and rural communities are dependent upon one another. It is my experience that farmer-owned, value-added enterprises can breathe new life into small towns and communities. 

Rural development’s cooperative services and the value-added programs provide the agriculture producers the tool to work together 

to receive the maximum value from their land and their labor and 

bring their jobs to a community. 

It takes teamwork and cooperation to be successful, especially 

within rural development. If confirmed, I will work to bring all parties to the table: community leaders, planning districts, councils of 

governments, cooperative development centers, community development corporations, land-grant universities, and others to develop 

projects and successful development strategies. 

As a former state director for rural development, I know and 

have worked with the employees at USDA’s Rural Development 

and have great respect for the work they do and their dedication 

to the mission of rural economic development. If confirmed, I will 

look forward to rejoining my former colleagues, and together we 

will do our very best to find solutions to the challenges rural communities face. I will be a tireless advocate for the constituents we 

are all sworn to serve. 

With that in mind, I also want to emphasize my commitment to 

working to resolve any outstanding civil rights claims, whether in 

program or employment practices. If confirmed, I will not tolerate 

any form of discrimination in the agencies that I will be leading, 

and I will look forward to working with Secretary Vilsack to address this very important issue. 

Finally, Mr. Chairman, as a farmer and lifelong resident of a 

rural community, as a South Dakota rural development director 

during the Clinton administration, as an executive director for the 

South Dakota Value-Added Agriculture Center, and currently as a 

Farm Credit Administration board member, I have spent most of 

my professional adult life in and around agriculture and rural communities and, challenges notwithstanding, if confirmed, I look forward to rolling up my sleeves to do what I can to renew the hopes 

of rural Americans everywhere, so that America, specifically rural 

America, will once again prosper. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Tonsager can be found on page 

42 in the appendix.] 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you very much, Mr. Tonsager. 

8 

Again, we will withhold questions until everyone’s made their 

statements. 

Now, I will yield to our distinguished ranking member, Senator 

Chambliss, for purposes, again, of an introduction of someone who 

is certainly not a stranger around here. 

Senator CHAMBLISS. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 

And Krysta Harden is not a stranger to this crowd. She has been 

on the Hill for many years, went off the Hill, and is now willing 

to come back. And we are very pleased about that. And I know she 

will introduce her family, but I know her because of her family. 

Her husband, Congressman Charles Hatcher, has been my dear 

friend for longer than he and I either care to disclose in public 

here. But we practiced law with and against each other in South 

Georgia for many years, and he is a great guy and a dear friend. 

I see her sister, JaBra, back there. 

JaBra, it is great to see you. Glad to have you here supporting 

Krysta. 

I actually met Krysta Harden in 1980, while we were both working on Charles’ campaign for his first run at Congress, in which he 

was successful because of Krysta. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator CHAMBLISS. She proceeded on to graduate from the University of Georgia. She is a great loyal Georgia Bulldog, but she 

also is a huge baseball fan. One thing I remember about Krysta is 

that she told me one time during the 1980’s that she was putting 

her name in to buy Washington baseball tickets with the hope that 

1 day that we would have a baseball team in Washington. So she 

got in line early. 

She grew up on a farm in Mitchell County, Georgia. Her parents, 

Jamie and Jimmie—or Hard Rock, as we know him—Harden are 

just salt-of-the-earth people. And Jimmie is a hardworking farmer, 

and Krysta knows what hard work on a farm is all about. And she 

certainly knows agriculture inside and out from a grassroots perspective. 

She served on Charles’ staff for many years; ultimately became 

his chief staff, then went to the committee and served as staff director on the committee, dealing primarily with peanuts and tobacco back, then, when tobacco was a program. 

She went downtown for a while, and then now, in 2004, became 

the director of the National Association of Conservation Districts. 

And she has done a great job down there. She has a real passion, 

Mr. Chairman, along with you, for conservation. And I am very 

pleased to see someone with her experience, her passion, her commitment to agriculture, and her energy, which is unbelievable, to 

be willing to come to the Department. 

She will have a very important role with this Committee because 

she is going to be responsible for interacting with us on a regular 

daily basis, and it is going to be a real pleasure to work with her. 

Krysta, we are pleased to have you here, pleased to have you 

being willing to come back into public service. 

Mr. Chairman, it is my pleasure to present to the Committee 

Krysta Harden. 

Chairman HARKIN. Very good. 

9 

Well, Ms. Harden, again, while I do not share that long history, 

we do share some history in the more recent past. But I share the 

sentiments expressed by my friend and my colleague. Welcome to 

the Committee. And even though he has introduced your family, go 

ahead and do it for me so we recognize them. 

TESTIMONY OF KRYSTA HARDEN, NOMINEE, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF CONGRESSIONAL RELATIONS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Ms. HARDEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Senator Chambliss. 

My husband, Charles Hatcher, which Senator Chambliss introduced, right there; and my baby sister, JaBra Harden from Valdosta, Georgia. 

[Applause.] 

Ms. HARDEN. I have been saying baby sister her whole life, so 

she is probably not happy. 

It is with great pride and pleasure that I am here today before 

the members of the Senate Agriculture Committee as a nominee for 

Assistant Secretary for Congressional Relations. 

Senator Chambliss, who would have ever thought, when we first 

met, that either one of us would be here today in these roles? It 

is such an honor. It is just a special, special honor to have you introduce me before the Committee today. I appreciate your leadership, and your friendship, especially. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It has been a pleasure to work with 

you on many issues impacting agriculture. I enjoyed my years 

working with soybean growers, a lot of them from your state, and 

I learned a great deal about agriculture and conservation from you 

and your constituents. 

Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chambliss, and members of the Committee, 

I come before you with an open mind and a willingness to work 

with each and every one of you. I will be responsive to your requests and respectful of your concerns and questions. And while I 

will not always have the answers you seek, and certainly your positions on issues may differ from those of USDA leadership, I will be 

fair and honest and straightforward in my dealings with you and 

your staff. I know that successful relationships are two way. There 

must be open communication, a sharing of information, and trust 

between parties. If confirmed, I pledge to do my part in making 

sure that happens. I truly look forward to strengthening old relationships and building some new ones. 

As the Committee considers my nomination for this position, I 

hope you will take into account my record, my experiences, my 

commitment of service to the Congress, as well as the functions 

and missions of the Department of Agriculture. 

As a daughter of a Georgia farm family, I have a very strong appreciation for American agriculture. I know firsthand the challenges that farmers and ranchers face trying to make a living in 

today’s tough economic climate. I also know that those who work 

the land are diligent and innovative enough to continue to advance 

agriculture, for my almost 12 years as a staffer on Capitol Hill 

gives me a clear understanding of the pressures and demands of 

your jobs. I know the value of prompt attention to your questions 

10 

and concerns, and the importance of listening to and learning 

about each of your states’ unique situations. 

I also believe that my experience in the private sector has helped 

me prepare for this role. I have worked with landowners from 

every state and territory. I have traveled extensively and seen the 

variety and diversity of agriculture. I have been involved in a wide 

range of issues, including conservation, renewable energy, nutrition, research, and forestry. I look forward to working with each of 

you to make sure our policies are forward-thinking and keep American agriculture competitive. 

I am keenly aware of the many challenges we face, including implementation of the 2008 Farm Bill, getting economic recovery dollars on the ground, addressing lasting implications of recent disasters, defining agriculture’s role in climate change, reauthorizing the 

Child Nutrition Act, and the list goes on and on. But I feel confident that my upbringing, my experience and my passion for the 

land, and those who work the land everyday, make me right for 

this position. 

I look forward to assisting Secretary Vilsack with his strong commitment to civil rights at the Department. It is crucial that our 

programs and policies are fair, open for full participation, and provide service to all constituencies. If confirmed, I pledge to have an 

open door. I will do all that I can to ensure that everyone has access to the same information, and discrimination in any form is not 

tolerated. 

I know, Mr. Chairman, it is totally unlikely I will ever win an 

Academy Award for anything because I am not an actor, you know. 

So I hope you will allow me just a few minutes to thank a couple 

of people who are responsible for me being here today. 

Certainly, the first person is President Obama, who is nominating me for this position, and Secretary Vilsack, who is allowing 

me to serve if confirmed. I also want to thank my sweet husband, 

Charles Hatcher, who has taught me so many things, including 

that public service is an honor and a privilege and should never be 

abused or taken for granted; that working in a bipartisan manner 

is a tradition in agriculture and that compromise can be a good 

thing. 

Thank you, Charles, for your important lessons, your love and 

your support. 

I also want to thank my wonderful parents, Jamie and Jimmie 

Harden, who are at home in Camilla, Georgia, hopefully watching 

me via Internet, which is hard to believe, but that is true, even in 

rural south Georgia; and my sister, JaBra Harden Fuller, who you 

met. Thank you to the three of them for always being there for me, 

guiding me, loving me, and supporting me. 

I would also like to recognize a couple young boys that are here, 

have taken the day off from school for me; my godson, Henry 

Mitchell, and his brother, Campbell, who are behaving very nicely 

back there. 

I would like to thank some folks who have helped shaped my professional life. First, my friends and colleagues on and off Capitol 

Hill, many are in the room today; and my colleagues at Gordley Associates; and, certainly, the leaders and staff of the National Association of Conservation Districts, where I have spent the last 5 

11 

years of my career. I especially want to recognize Steve Robinson, 

the president of NACD, who is here from Ohio. 

Thank you all for your help and support. 

Mr. Chairman, Senator Chambliss, if recommended by the Committee and confirmed by the Senate, I pledge to serve as Assistant 

Secretary for Congressional Relations with honor and respect. I 

look forward to working with you. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Harden can be found on page 33 

in the appendix.] 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you, Ms. Harden. And, again, it has 

been a real pleasure to work with you in various capacities in the 

past. And I would be remiss if I did not say I welcome your husband back here, my former colleague on the House Agriculture 

Committee. We served together for a few years on the House Agriculture Committee before I came over here. So it is good to see 

Charlie again. Thank you very much. This is going to be very good. 

Now, I will turn to Senator Lincoln for an introduction of another 

person who is not very much of a stranger around here. 

Senator Lincoln. 

STATEMENT OF HON. BLANCHE L. LINCOLN, U.S. SENATOR 

FROM THE STATE OF ARKANSAS 

Senator LINCOLN. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and to you 

and Senator Chambliss both for bringing this group before us 

today. I want to say a special thanks to Ms. Harden, because as 

a farmer’s daughter myself, I am glad to know that we will have 

someone over there that has spent a lifetime really admiring what 

farm families do across this great country. So we appreciate that. 

But, Mr. Chairman, I am here today very proud to introduce a 

fellow Arkansan, Pearlie Reed, who has been nominated by the 

Obama administration for Assistant Secretary for the Administration at USDA. As you have mentioned, Pearlie is certainly no 

stranger. He has a track record in public service and working in 

USDA that few people can match, Mr. Chairman. And Pearlie’s 

story starts in Heth, Arkansas. 

Now, Pearlie, you may not know this, but Senator Bennet from 

Colorado is married to a woman from Marianna, Arkansas. And so, 

we have got Phillips, Lee and St. Francis County well represented 

here before the Senate Agriculture Committee. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator LINCOLN. But Pearlie’s story does start in Heth, Arkansas. It is a small town in the Mississippi Delta. In those counties 

that I mentioned, Pearlie is well known, for sure. He attained is 

undergraduate degree from the University of Arkansas at Pine 

Bluff. Incredibly, he began his 32–year career with USDA as a student trainee in 1968. From there, he worked his way up as a conservation professional, and was eventually named chief of the National Resource Conservation Service in 1998, and served in that 

capacity until 2002. He has made all of us in Arkansas extremely 

proud. He also served as acting assistant secretary for Administration, where he provided leadership to more than 300 employees on 

the Civil Rights Action Team. 

Pearlie’s accomplishments have not gone un-noticed, Mr. Chairman. He was awarded the Presidential Rank Award, the highest 

12 

award for career government officials. Pearlie has accomplished 

much. His stellar record speaks for itself, Mr. Chairman. Some 

might ask what is there for him to accomplish at USDA, and everyone in this room knows that USDA faces some enormous challenges 

in serving producers and ranchers across the country. 

Should he be confirmed, Mr. Chairman, Pearlie’s experience, his 

wisdom, his passion and his background will be an invaluable asset 

in confronting those challenges head on. And he certainly has my 

full support, and I am proud to call Pearlie not only a colleague 

from Arkansas, but a friend, and we are delighted to have him here 

in the Committee. 

Good luck, Pearlie. Congratulations. 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you very much, Senator. And, Mr. 

Reed, again, welcome back to the Committee from appearances in 

the past, and, again, recognize you for an opening statement and 

introduction of family members who may be with you. 

TESTIMONY OF PEARLIE S. REED, NOMINEE, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF ADMINISTRATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Mr. REED. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have one family member, 

the boss, my spouse, Lesia. 

[Applause.] 

Mr. REED. Chairman Harkin, Ranking Member Chambliss, and 

members of the Committee, I am pleased to have this opportunity 

to appear before you today. A special thank you to Senator Lincoln 

for that kind introduction. I would also like to thank all of those 

who have been responsible for my success in life, especially my 

family and the many great men and women who have served with 

during my career at USDA. 

I thank President Obama and Secretary Vilsack for their vote of 

confidence manifested in my nomination for the position of Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Administration. Secretary Vilsack 

has shared with me his vision for USDA. I understand and believe 

in what he would like to accomplish. If confirmed, I will be 100 percent committed to ensuring that the management apparatus of the 

Department is focused on the efficient and effective delivery of programs and services USDA-wide. 

I have worked and lived in four of the major regions of our great 

country, the Southeast, Mid-West and West. I have had two tours 

of duty in USDA Headquarters in Washington. During my career 

in and out of government, I have seen all sides of USDA, the excellent, the good, the bad and the ugly. I have had a remarkable career, rising from a Grade GS–03 to be the chief of the National Resources Conservation Service. Also, from 1997 to 1998, I served as 

acting assistant secretary for Administration, the position I am 

now being nominated for. I have also served as state conservationist for Maryland and California. 

I took advantage of training, self-development and other opportunities made available to me by USDA. I do not know of any other 

organization where I could have accomplished more, and because 

of these opportunities and my background, I feel that I am uniquely qualified to help USDA. And if confirmed, I will work tirelessly 

13 

with Secretary Vilsack, his leadership team, the Congress and 

stakeholders to improve USDA. 

I fully understand the complexities of the Department of Agriculture. The complexity is compounded by the massive structure of 

USDA field-based agencies and the system of state and county commissions and boards. The management of the Department much 

ensure that the delivery of programs and services impacted by this 

system is made available to all who qualify. 

It is with this in mind that I want to emphasize my commitment 

to resolving outstanding civil rights claims and any discriminatory 

employment practices. I believe that if we work together, many of 

the challenges we currently face we can correct. 

The management agenda of the Department must include an aggressive investment in its human capital. The development and selection of top talent are paramount. If confirmed, I will use all authorities available to USDA to pursue excellence in human resources management. In addition, I believe that all departmental 

administration areas are important. If confirmed, I will ensure that 

departmental administration is providing the services needed to 

underpin the effective and efficient delivery of USDA programs and 

services. 

I will conclude by, once again, thanking President Obama and 

Secretary Vilsack for their confidence in me, and also thank you, 

Mr. Chairman, Senator Chambliss, and members of the Committee, 

for the opportunity to appear there today. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Reed can be found on page 36 

in the appendix.] 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you very much, Mr. Reed, and we will 

hold the questions for final introduction. And, for that I will, to introduce Dr. Shah, turn to our distinguished colleague from the 

state of Washington, Senator Cantwell. 

Senator CANTWELL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Ranking 

Member Chambliss, and members of the Committee, for holding 

this important hearing. And I am pleased to be here to introduce 

Dr. Raj Shah, and I urge my colleagues to swiftly confirm him as 

the next Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics 

at the United States Department of Agriculture. 

Raj has an extremely impressive resume that equips him for success at the Department of Agriculture. He earned him M.D. from 

the University of Pennsylvania and a Masters of Science in Health 

Economics at the Wharton School of Business. He has attended the 

London School of Economics, the University of Michigan, and has 

published several articles on the health policy and global development. 

Currently, Raj is the director of Agriculture Development and 

Global Development Programs at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In this position, he has worked with some of the poorest 

farmers in the world to help them improve productivity and their 

standard of living. Raj has also served as the foundation’s director 

of Strategic Opportunities and as deputy director of Policy for Finance for Global Health Programs. In these roles, he has helped 

launch the Global Development Program and International Finance 

Facility for Immunization, an effort that has raised more than $5 

billion for child immunization. 

14 

Raj has the tools, the knowledge, and the unique global perspective necessary to excel as Under Secretary of Research, Education 

and Economics at USDA. In his new role, Raj would oversee the 

agricultural research service and cooperative state research education and extension services and several other important research 

agencies within USDA. I am glad that President Obama has recognized Raj’s work at the Gates Foundation, which will allow him to 

bring that unique perspective and point of view to USDA. 

Raj is well aware of the power of research to transform and improve the lives of everyone. Raj has previously worked with the 

University of Washington, in Washington State, on many projects 

related to animal and human health, and his past commitment to 

various services shows that he will bring dedication to the USDA 

to produce the best agricultural science in the world. 

I am confident that he will do all that he can to ensure the 

United States continues to be a leader in agricultural research, especially research in the areas of advanced biofuels and bioengineering. I hope that we can work with the Committee to successfully move his nomination to the floor, so that all my colleagues 

can quickly confirm his nomination. I thank the Chairman for this 

ability to introduce him before the Agriculture Committee. 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you very much, Senator Cantwell. 

Dr. Shah, welcome to the Committee. I might just add for the 

record that I was privy to spend a pleasant evening with Dr. Shah 

last year. And it was a very enlightening evening because we were 

talking about health and what Dr. Shah was doing with the Gates 

Foundation. So it was a very pleasant revelation when later on, I 

found out that you had been nominated for this position. 

So congratulations, welcome, and if you would introduce your 

family members who are with you so we could recognize them. 

Dr. Shah. 

TESTIMONY OF RAJIV J. SHAH, M.D., NOMINEE, UNDER SECRETARY OF RESEARCH, EDUCATION AND ECONOMICS, U.S. 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Mr. SHAH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do have a large family 

with me today. So my wife, Shivam Mallick Shah behind me; my 

1–year-old daughter, Amna, who is sleeping over here; my son, 

Sajan, who out of deference for the Committee today wanted to 

wear a shirt with a truck on it, but we convinced him otherwise. 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. SHAH. My mother and father, Rina and Janard [ph.]; and my 

in-laws just behind them, Kamala and Isha Mallick. 

Chairman HARKIN. Well, thank you very much. 

[Applause.] 

Mr. SHAH. Mr. Chairman, Senator Chambliss, members of the 

Committee, I am honored to be nominated by President Obama to 

this position, and I appreciate Secretary Vilsack’s confidence in me 

in his invitation to join his leadership team. 

Thank you, Senator Cantwell, for that very kind introduction and 

for your commitment to the people of Washington State. It is always fun to think about the great work that is happening in Washington State on agricultural research and any number of other scientific endeavors. 

15 

I am excited by the opportunity to lead the research portfolios of 

the Department at a time when this work touches so many of our 

national challenges: agricultural production, nutrition, food safety, 

energy independence, and the sustainability of our natural resources. I also recognize the responsibilities of serving as the chief 

scientist at USDA. President Obama has often emphasized his commitment to ensure decision making is based on scientific evidence, 

and if confirmed, I will seek to carry out that mandate. 

In my work at the Gates Foundation, I have had the opportunity 

to meet agricultural scientists from around the world, and I have 

drawn inspiration from many of them. One of my heroes is Dr. 

Norman Borlaug, the only agricultural scientist to win the Nobel 

Peace Prize—perhaps there should have been many others—for his 

use of science to help prevent widespread starvation. His life is a 

testament to the fact that effective agricultural research, coupled 

with the determination to make the world a better place, can help 

address our most pressing challenges at home and abroad. 

These challenges have been stated clearly by Secretary Vilsack. 

Food production must meet the needs of a world population that 

will exceed 9 billion in 2050, and it must do so while taking into 

account a warming planet and the need to use nitrogen, water and 

other inputs, far more efficiently. 

Agriculture, including forestry, has the potential to provide a 

sustainable source of energy at a time when the president, the secretary and members of this committee have highlighted the need 

for our nation to work toward energy independence. Second and 

third-generation biofuels and advanced biomass strategies are critical to that endeavor. 

Americans following the leadership of this committee are increasingly aware of the critical links between agriculture and human 

health. All Americans rely on strong agricultural science as it relates to the safety of our food supplies, protection against animal 

diseases, including zoonotic diseases that transmit from animals to 

humans, and the critical role that a healthy, nutritious diet can 

play in preventing debilitating chronic disease, diseases like obesity, diabetes and hypertension. 

We can and should do more to identify these links, connect to the 

health community, and work to ensure every American can identify 

and access a healthy diet. In 1977, this committee changed its 

name, as you know, to add nutrition. If confirmed, I hope to benefit 

from your ongoing guidance in carrying out this mandate. 

Last year, an additional nearly 100 million people entered into 

extreme poverty around the world, resulting in nearly 1 billion people going hungry. President Obama has called for our agricultural 

research, education and aid institutions to work together to demonstrate American leadership in preventing global hunger. If confirmed, I will seek your guidance on how to contribute to this goal. 

With the founding of the Land-Grant University System in 1862 

and the critically important 1890 schools, the United States became the world leader in agricultural production, based on the 

strength of its research and by linking research, education and extension. 

The Agricultural Research Service, which developed the original 

method for large-scale production of penicillin, and did so in time 

16 

for its use in World War II, also has a storied history. Last year, 

this committee laid the groundwork for taking this leadership into 

the future by creating the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Establishing a new national institute is a unique opportunity to create a strategic focused and results-oriented research 

enterprise. I believe there are important lessons to be learned from 

the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation in carrying out this task, and if confirmed, I look forward to 

working with the Committee to implement this important provision 

of the Farm Bill. The Economic Research Service and National Agricultural Statistical Service also represent critical assets at any effort to make research and policy relevant to American producers 

and consumers. 

I share Secretary Vilsack’s commitment to addressing civil rights 

concerns as a top priority for this Department. And also share the 

secretary’s aspiration to modernize the Department’s technology 

platforms. If confirmed, I hope to use these new technologies to improve the transparency and outcomes of the research investments 

we made. 

I became a medical doctor to care for and, hopefully, heal individuals. I quickly became absorbed in broader issues of public health, 

as I felt that was a path to serve larger populations. That path has 

given me a lot of great opportunities to help address child obesity 

in the Philadelphia schools, to help children in poor countries gain 

access to life-saving immunizations, and, most recently, to launch 

an agricultural development program to address the global crisis of 

extreme hunger and rural poverty. 

In each area, I have tried to learn from others, be pragmatic and 

fact-based in the pursuit of solutions, and stay focused on the goal 

of making a difference in people’s lives. If confirmed, I hope to 

bring that same spirit of learning, energy for service, and commitment to outcome to this position. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, the Ranking Member, and the Committee for the opportunity to appear before you today. I, again, 

want to thank President Obama and Secretary Vilsack for their 

confidence, and my wife, Shivam, whose support allows me to embrace this important challenge and opportunity. Thank you very 

much. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Shah can be found on page 39 

in the appendix.] 

Chairman HARKIN. Dr. Shah, thank you very much for your 

statement, and all of you. 

He has a pending engagement; he has to leave, so I will yield 

now to Senator Chambliss. 

Senator CHAMBLISS. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, 

and I apologize for having to step out and do a radio show, but 

thanks for letting me go first. 

Mr. Tonsager—am I saying that right? 

Mr. TONSAGER. Yes, sir. 

Senator CHAMBLISS. If you are confirmed, you will oversee all of 

the rural development mission area. The rural electric programs 

are vital to the nation, and especially to my home state. In Georgia, 

my electric co-ops, as well as the municipal systems, are what we 

call MEAG and Georgia Power. 

17 

If teamed up to be a new nuclear power facility on an existing 

site, what is known as Plant Vogtle, since nuclear power is a noncarbon emitting source of power, it would seem to me that this 

project would be a perfect candidate for our U.S. baseload financing. 

Can I get a commitment from you to work to re-establish baseload financing for nuclear power at RUS? 

Mr. TONSAGER. I am not entirely familiar with the issue relative 

to that at this time. I understand that there are prohibitions in 

place regarding the use of financing for nuclear power or coal-based 

power through the rural utility service. I would be anxious to work 

with you to go further on the issue because I am a great fan of the 

rural electrical systems, and I know the needs regarding baseload 

power and the problems associated with baseload power. 

Senator CHAMBLISS. Well, I appreciate that. It is unfortunate we 

did not build more nuclear plants 20 years ago because it has 

turned out to be the most efficient, cleanest way we can produce 

it. And going forward, I think it is going to be important for rural 

America that we are able to provide them that clean, efficient 

power. And nuclear seems to be the best way. 

Ms. Harden, rather than a question, it is just a comment to you. 

There is no more important position than yours when it comes to 

dialoguing with members of this committee, as well as other Members of Congress. You have vast experience that lends you to be 

very well-qualified there. 

I was pleased to hear you say that you recognize there are going 

to be differences. You had your difference with administrations 

that were in place when you served on the Hill, and Secretary, or 

now Senator Johanns, and I had significant differences from time 

to time when he was at the Department. But we were always able 

to work through them, and we worked through them because of the 

dialog. 

I have no doubt you are going to be very efficient in staying in 

touch with folks on both sides of the aisle here. And, again, I just 

thank you for your willingness to serve and let Charles go play golf 

more often or something there. 

Ms. HARDEN. I think he will enjoy that. And I am certain that 

my private line will be on your speed dial. 

Senator CHAMBLISS. It will be. 

Mr. Reed, again, thank you for your commitment. You are going 

to be overseeing a very important function that I have a significant 

interest in and Senator Harkin and I have talked about over the 

course of the last several years, and that is trying to make sure 

that we get our IT updated within our FSA offices. 

We have got farmers who sit in their tractors now, and with 

their GPS’s, they kind of mash a button and the tractor puts out 

all the fertilizer that they need, in the right spots they need, at the 

amounts that are needed. And they have got to go down to the FSA 

office, rather than sit at their computer, and fill out all their forms 

by hand. 

We have got to move away from that. We are in a true IT age, 

and we have not made the commitment that we need to make to 

provide you with the resources to do this. But I hope you will continue to oversee that, and you will let us know what those resource 

18 

needs are, so that we can move in a positive direction relative to 

the IT world and agriculture. 

Dr. Shah, I am a huge fan of research. I do not care whether it 

is agriculture, medicine or defense areas. I think it is foundation 

of where farmers are going to be 20 years from now, and it is just 

critically important that we continue to maintain a good source, 

from a funding standpoint as well as otherwise. 

I was pleased to hear the president set an ambitious goal of devoting more than 3 percent of GDP to research and development 

in a statement he made not long ago, but, unfortunately, I did not 

hear him mention agricultural research in there. 

I would like to ask you for your commitment to lean on the administration to ensure that agriculture gets its fair share, from a 

resource standpoint, from the administration when it comes to 

budgeting agricultural research along with other areas of research. 

Mr. SHAH. I absolutely can offer that commitment. I believe if the 

agricultural research community, as it already does, can continue 

to provide a high level of scientific rigor in the decisions that it 

makes about resource allocation, and focus the work on achieving 

important results for producers and also for consumers, and be 

more transparent in the process, that it should be possible to advocate for that type of increased commitment to agricultural research. 

Senator CHAMBLISS. Thank you very much. And again, thanks to 

all of you for your willingness to serve. 

Thanks, The Chairman. 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you very much, Senator Chambliss. 

Mr. Tonsager, again, in the stimulus bill that we put out, we put 

in $2.5 billion to get broadband out as fast as possible, $2.5 billion. 

Now, the public comment period is still open—I do not know when 

it is closing, but pretty soon I hope—and this is something that has 

not been really aggressively pursued for the last several years. 

If confirmed, will you work to get economic recovery funding on 

the ground as quickly as possible, again, while maintaining accountability and transparency, to ensure that these taxpayer dollars are being invested as effectively and efficiently, but as rapidly 

as possible, to get broadband out as soon as we can? 

Mr. TONSAGER. Absolutely. I think it is extremely important we 

move as quickly as we can. I think we need to coordinate our efforts closely with the NTIA and develop clear understandings with 

them about getting the resources out. I think it is very important 

we look at affordability for those users of broadband access in rural 

areas, and try to make it as affordable as possible, so it is not only 

available but it is accessible by those people who have the resources or the need to use broadband communications. 

Chairman HARKIN. I am glad that Ms. Harden’s folks must have 

broadband where you are. 

Ms. HARDEN. We just got it. 

Chairman HARKIN. But I am still chafing. I live in a town of 160 

people, and I still do not have it. So we have got it out. Maybe not 

the towns, but we have got to get it out to our rural communities. 

Mr. TONSAGER. I believe that it is certainly one of the top priorities for me walking into this, to address this quickly as possible. 

Chairman HARKIN. I appreciate that. 

19 

Again, Ms. Harden, thank you again very much for your willingness to serve and for all of your past working with us here. As head 

of congressional relations now, I do not know if I can add anything, 

except that when that over committee over on the House side, 

when they call you up about something, just tell them you have got 

to check with us first. OK? 

[Laughter.] 

Ms. HARDEN. I will try that. I will see if it works. 

Thank you, sir. 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you very much, Ms. Harden. 

Mr. Reed, as a follow up on that question that Senator Cham- bliss said, we put $50 million mandatory funding for FSA computers, and then we put 22 million in fiscal year 09 appropriations, 

and 50 more million in the Recovery Bill, the Stimulus Bill. So we 

need to get these upgraded as soon as possible. I just want to get 

those figures out there, that that money’s there, and we have to get 

this done as soon as possible. 

But the one thing I just want to cover, Mr. Reed, is a program 

that we started in the 2002 Farm Bill. There is a provision in that 

farm bill, which is permanent law, which states—well, I don’t know 

if I can—it basically says that every department and agency of the 

Federal Government shall give a priority to bio-based products in 

their purchasing, as long as they are equivalent in price performance and availability. 

Well, we have been pushing this for a long time. We have had 

hearings on it. The Department of Defense had a wonderful couple 

days—what will I call it, fair or something like that, for people to 

come in and exhibit what they had. But we still have not gone too 

far. We had a labeling program to label it. That was established 

in 2002, and we still do not have it. We still do not have a labeling 

program for that. 

Secretary Vilsack, when he was here for his nomination, said 

that the program is a priority, and I know since that time, he has 

reached out to the other departments. He has brought it up in a 

cabinet meeting at the White House. I know that other secretaries 

did not even know they had that responsibility, but they do. It is 

in permanent law, and does not say ‘‘may’’, it says ‘‘shall’’. So it applies to every department and every agency. 

So I guess my question to you is, would you be willing to personally champion expeditious implementation of this bio-based markets program, including the labeling program? 

Mr. REED. Absolutely, Mr. Chairman. I have already taken a look 

at that, and I know that from a USDA perspective, we can and 

need to employ all of the procurement authorities we have to do as 

much as we possibly can at USDA. And, also, I see it as my role, 

if confirmed, to make sure that I keep abreast of what is going on 

governmentwide and work with Secretary Vilsack so that he knows 

and understands, from an operating, practical level, what is going 

on and where we might have opportunities to take—where we 

might have the opportunity to take advantage of ratcheting up the 

focus on the 2002 Farm Bill. 

Chairman HARKIN. Mr. Reed, would you be willing to have 

USDA report back to this committee within 90 days, that is 3 

months from now, of taking office, so we can learn of the progress 

20 

that you are making on this? This is something that has just been 

sitting there for far too long, and we have got to get hot on it. 

So I would like to ask if you would come up here in 3 months— 

that would be the end of the summer sometime, maybe—let’s see. 

This is May, June, July, end of July, maybe even the first of September, something like that, to report on that? 

Mr. REED. So ordered. 

Chairman HARKIN. All right. Thank you. I appreciate that very 

much. 

Dr. Shah, again, thank you for your willingness to serve and take 

over this important position. Someone noted—I do not know who 

it was—our middle name is nutrition. And we have a big responsibility this year—the only thing that we really have to do in this 

committee, aside from nominations, is we have to reauthorize the 

Child Nutrition Bill. That is school lunch, school breakfast, the 

WIC program, afterschool, summer feeding programs, and the 

adult and child care food programs. 

We are working closely with the House—it is not on the House 

Agriculture Committee, it is in the House, Education and Labor 

Committee. But we have jurisdiction here. And we need your best 

input into that and your help, so that we can have the best science 

and the best research that is available to us from the National 

Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine and others to 

make sure that we get better food, better quality of food for our 

kids in school, and updating the nutritional standards, which have 

not been updated in almost 30 years. And a lot has changed in 30 

years. 

So I just want your assurances that you will be working with us 

closely as we reauthorize this bill to give us the best possible 

science that we can get to apply to this. 

Mr. SHAH. Thank you. I absolutely can offer that assurance. As 

you note, the science community, whether on the economic research 

side or the agricultural research side, has a tremendous amount to 

offer through this reauthorization and to support those programs. 

I also thank you for mentioning the linkages to the health community and the health research community, where a lot of that 

work does also take place. And one of my aspirations is to help 

build those bridges in an effective way to further our collective 

goals. 

With respect to updating the standards, I hope to be able to work 

with members of the Committee to understand how to most effectively do that with a real science-based approach. So, thank you, 

and absolutely. 

Chairman HARKIN. You bet. Thank you very much, Dr. Shah. 

Now, I will yield to Senator Lugar. 

Senator LUGAR. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. My comments and questions are directed to Mr. Tonsager and Dr. Shah. 

They arise from a specific recommendation recently by the head of 

EPA taking a look at corn ethanol and its environmental effects. 

The predicament is this. 

For many years, starting with President Bush, now with President Obama, presidents and everyone else have said we have a dependence upon imported oil, which is dangerous in terms of our 

strategic position in the world. Agriculture stepped forward and 

21 

said that, Mr. President, in both cases, we can be helpful. And the 

first attempt was with corn ethanol. And we have talked, all of us, 

about cellulosic ethanol for the last 10 years; although, the past administration did not move very rapidly in terms of research funds; 

had them appropriated by all of this, but simply could not get 

through the bureaucracy. I hope that will not be case with the current administration and the Department of Energy. 

But my point currently is that on top of all of this, EPA has come 

up with a strange ruling that the 20 percent benefit that would 

come from ethanol as opposed to the regular gasoline formulations 

is not going to be met because corn that otherwise would have been 

available for foreign countries to feed people would not be available 

to them because it is being used for corn ethanol in the United 

States. Therefore, these foreign countries will chop down trees, will 

do environmentally unsatisfactory things, all based upon the supposition that corn would not be exported to them, which, on the 

face of this, is ridiculous. 

The point that I am hopeful you are able to make at USDA is 

that American agriculture can rise in productivity to meet whatever challenges there are in an export market. As a corn farmer, 

I know our livelihood is dependent, for years, on our ability to export. We are desirous of feeding the world if we can, but the world 

is so bollixed up in terms of the rural trade system to begin with, 

even moving the corn is very difficult. 

But to counter back that, somehow or other, we are responsible 

as corn farmers for the chopping down of the trees of Brazil or anyplace else is, on the face of it, ludicrous. And I make that comment, 

I suppose, with some reserve because I found the whole—this is 

outrageous. 

Here we are attempting in agriculture, with biofuels, to make a 

difference in national security, and having some success, and also 

having many obstacles, given the ups and downs of the price of oil, 

the differentials and so forth in the markets. And the reliance upon 

biofuels is well taken, and we have already mandated that in legislation we passed in 2007, but without the research, we have a few 

thousand gallons of it somewhere. This is not a replacement in 

terms of the hundreds of billions of gallons that we are supposed 

to be coming forward with. 

Now, what I would ask either of you is, first of all, I presume 

your cognizant of the problem, the EPA ruling most recently. And, 

second, what can we do at USDA so that, first of all, the rest of 

the government is informed as to what actually happens in terms 

of productivity and agriculture; our desire to feed, our desire also 

to provide energy for our country to displace imported oil? 

I think these are vital objectives. 

Mr. Tonsager, do you have a comment? And then Dr. Shah. 

Mr. TONSAGER. I cannot speak to the science aspects of this. I 

have not read the ruling or the summary of the ruling at this time. 

But I can speak to the economic aspects of rural America because 

I have been intimately involved with ethanol for many years, of 

course, as you have, Senator. 

From my perspective, what I want to see us do is make sure we 

build an economically sustainable, alternative energy system, including corn-based ethanol, cellulosic ethanol, biofuels, as broadly 

22 

and as logically and sensibly as we can. Even now during my time 

at the Farm Credit administration, I get to see the economic challenges that it is currently faced with as a system, and I still believe 

greatly in the economic opportunities associated with that. And I 

can assure you, our agency will be heavily involved in working with 

the biofuels industry from the economic perspective. 

Senator LUGAR. Great. 

Dr. Shah? 

Mr. SHAH. Thank you. I, too, am aware of the problem, perhaps 

more from the science and production aspects than from the rural 

economic aspects. And so, I look forward to working with my colleagues because I think this is the kind of problem that requires 

that cooperation. 

Meeting the renewable fuel targets broadly, of course, will require increased contributions from Agriculture. I am glad to hear 

the way you framed the comments about cellulosic technology. 

There clearly are research opportunities to help develop new technologies that will power second and third-generation biofuels to 

help fill the gaps, and what people estimate will be the gaps, on 

the renewable fuel targets. 

I think that will require a more focused and results-oriented approach with the research funding and also public/private partnerships since some of the best research on those programs might be 

happening in other parts of the world and in other sectors outside 

of the pure public sector or university system. 

With respect to agriculture productivity, I think you are absolutely right. I was visiting a program at the University of Nebraska 

at Lincoln, and they are getting significant yield improvements on 

experimental stations, and doing it with a real focus on nitrogen 

and water-use efficiency. So without being very responsible on the 

use of inputs and being more precision oriented in their production, 

they are getting significant yield improvements. That seems to me 

like the kind of research that will enable a broader and more successful future in this area, and it ought to be supported broadly 

where it is being done very well. 

Senator LUGAR. Thank you, sir. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you very much, Senator Lugar. 

Senator Thune also has another engagement he has to leave for, 

but I wanted to recognize him for the purposes of a statement and 

other things right now. 

Senator Thune. 

Senator THUNE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do not want to get 

in the way. I know you have other people who have been waiting 

here. 

I want to associate myself with the comments from the Senator 

from Indiana with regard to that issue. I absolutely agree with everything you said. 

I do want to thank all our nominees for their willingness to 

serve. We look forward to working with each of you in your new 

positions. This is an important time for agriculture. I particularly 

want to recognize a fellow South Dakotan, Dallas Tonsager. 

Congratulations to you, Dallas. He is someone I have worked 

with for a long time. He has held a number of important positions 

23 

in our state that give him great experience for this job. And most 

importantly, he is a farmer, so he relates, I think, to the day-today challenges that we face in agriculture. 

So I would like to submit a statement, if I could, for the record, 

Mr. Chairman. But I do want to recognize our noms, thank them 

for their service, and look forward to working with each of you. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

[The prepared statement of Hon. John Thune can be found on 

page 32 in the appendix.] 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you very much, Senator Thune. 

Now, I will turn to Senator Casey. 

STATEMENT OF HON. ROBERT P. CASEY, JR., U.S. SENATOR 

FROM THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA 

Senator CASEY. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. and I want 

to thank each and all of the nominees for your willingness to serve, 

your commitment to public service, and that of your families. That 

is one of the reasons why Chairman Harkin and other chairmen in 

the Senate recognize family members, is because we know when 

you make a commitment to public service, you do not do it alone, 

and that commitment is shared by your family. So we are grateful 

for that. 

I, like many members of this committee, look forward to getting 

Department of Agriculture, the Department itself I should say, 

fully staffed so the Department can continue working on so many 

of the issues we are here to discuss today. 

The nominees before the Committee today will be in charge of 

agencies and missionaries that are critical to families struggling to 

make a living in rural Pennsylvania, as well as rural America. For 

our farmers, that means, unfortunately, in this economy, dropping 

prices and other challenges they have in their lives; the affordability of risk-management loans and tools to protect farmers from 

disasters; and for families living in rural communities across Pennsylvania and across the country, it means installing broadband 

service throughout a state like ours, as well as the country. We 

need upgrades to rural hospitals, keeping country roads and sewer 

systems operating, and other types of rural development. So we all 

know that agriculture itself is not immune to the global and national economic crisis. 

We have the opportunity at hearings like this to be able to associate ourselves more directly with witnesses. And I was pleased 

that Senator Cantwell was able to provide that connection to Dr. 

Shah. I also want to make a connection, and I wanted to do it in 

my time. I did not want to have the Committee’s time used for this 

because it is my preference to do this. 

So, Dr. Shah, I want the record to reflect that you have two degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, the Wharton School and 

the University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine, two very challenging assignments to get degrees from both of those institutions. 

So we are grateful. And I know you also helped Governor Rendell 

in his transition. He has had several good years as our Governor, 

and I know you were part of that early work. Let me start with 

you not only for that reason, but that connection helps. 

24 

I wanted to talk to you about, just for a moment in the limited 

time we have, dairy farmers. We have had a terrible problem in 

our state, where so many dairy farmers have lost not just income; 

they have lost their livelihood, destroyed, hundred and hundreds, 

year after year. 

One of the areas of responsibility that you would have upon confirmation is the Economic Research Service as well as the National 

Agricultural Statistical Service, and you made reference in your 

statement to both, I believe, or at least one. 

These two agencies could help us calculate the reimbursement to 

dairy farmers for problems we had a couple of years ago, in particular, 2006–2007, and the milk powder reporting problems that 

cost dairy farmers millions of dollars. 

Is there anything you can say about that, just parenthetically, by 

way of a statement on the record, to ask you to work with us on 

this challenge, as well as your colleagues, because it is a problem 

I know that Secretary Vilsack is well aware of, the general challenge that dairy farmers have. 

But, in particular, is there anything you can say about it today 

or supplement the record? 

Mr. SHAH. Well, thank you for your comment and your kind additional introduction. I have a lot of faith and support from Pennsylvania, and I love spending a lot of time there. And I spent a lot 

of time there because school took me a while. 

I do think I would like to follow up on that very specifically with 

your staff and with your office. 

Senator CASEY. OK. 

Mr. SHAH. It is clear the ERS and NASS both contribute to that, 

and there are, perhaps, other resources within the research portfolios that could both retrospectively look at that and make those 

calculations as you have defined, but also identify research priorities that can be supportive of that general industry, both in Pennsylvania and in other places. And so, I have done more work on 

productivity and production in that area, but look forward to learning more about that specific issue with you and your team. 

Senator CASEY. Thanks very much. And I hope someday, you are 

able to move back to Pennsylvania. 

Mr. SHAH. Thank you. 

Senator CASEY. To live and to pay taxes and all. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator CASEY. We are grateful. Thank you, Doctor. 

I know I only have very limited time. Maybe I will submit this 

question for the record just for Mr. Tonsager. 

Senator CASEY. The question pertains to not just rural development, more broadly, but, in particular, strategies that I know you 

have thought about and will be able to implement to get targeted 

economic assistance or economic revitalization assistance. I know a 

good bit of that is in the Recovery and Reinvestment Act, but I just 

wanted to put that on your plate even though I am out of time. 

Maybe we will submit it for the record, so you could provide the 

Committee with an answer. 

Thank you very much. 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you, Senator Casey. 

Senator Cochran. 

25 

STATEMENT OF HON. THAD COCHRAN, U.S. SENATOR FROM 

THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI 

Senator COCHRAN. Mr. Chairman, thank you. Let me join you 

and others in congratulating this impressive panel of nominees to 

serve in very important, high positions in the Department of Agriculture. I have been impressed with the comments that I have 

heard today from our witnesses, and I am glad to have an opportunity to personally congratulate you on your nominations, and assure you that we want to partner with you in helping to identify 

ways to help sustain the economic vitality of farms and ranches 

across America, and also help ensure that we remain competitive 

in the international marketplace. 

So much of what our farmers and ranchers produce, products 

that come from our farms, our sold in the international marketplace. I know that is particularly true in some of the traditional 

southern crops and other activities, even agricultural activities. 

And we are also involved in competition from other countries who 

are competing with us for new markets and to deal with the challenges of having not only nutritious and sound products to sell, but 

also making sure that they are priced at a competitive level. 

So I am here just to wish you well. 

I was very impressed reading the background of Mr. Tonsager. 

You have, obviously, had a tremendous amount of personal experience, and your educational background certainly seems to me to 

make you an ideal person to be selected to serve in this important 

position. So we look forward to working with you. 

Krysta Harden I have known for a good while. Her husband, 

Charles, and I got to know each other when I was a member of the 

House of Representatives, and that seems like a long, long time ago 

when our paths would cross in the House of Representatives. But 

I am confident you have the ability and the background. Your experience here working in the Senate, as well as in the House, makes 

it very clear to me that you are an excellent choice to be Assistant 

Secretary for Congressional Relations, and I look forward to a close 

working relationship during your service at the Department. 

Pearlie Reed is a name that has been well known down in the 

south for a good while. He is from our neighboring state of Arkansas, and he has a lot of friends in Mississippi, and he is highly regarded. And I am glad to be here today to welcome you and to compliment you on your previous service. Obviously, you have done a 

good job; people know about it. And you have been asked and called 

on to serve again at the Department, and we appreciate your willingness to do that and wish you well. 

Dr. Shah, I was quite impressed with your background and your 

testimony today. I am very impressed with the challenges that you 

understand we have in the area of research, education and economics. You will come to know, if you do not already have these pieces 

of information, that our state is very heavily engaged in agricultural research, not only the land-grant university assets and resources we have, but a lot of individual targeted research programs 

are located in our state. Aquaculture is one of them, but in many 

other areas, too, we are heavily engaged. And so, I know our paths 

will cross often, and I look forward to getting to know you better. 

And I congratulate on your selection and wish you well. I hope you 

26 

derive a great deal of satisfaction in the opportunities you will have 

at the Department of Agriculture. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you very much, Senator Cochran. 

Senator Klobuchar, I would just note that a roll-call vote was 

just called at 11:53. 

Senator Klobuchar. 

STATEMENT OF HON. AMY KLOBUCHAR, U.S. SENATOR FROM 

THE STATE OF MINNESOTA 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. OK. I think I can make it. 

Well, congratulations to all of you. I did notice, Dr. Shah, that 

when Senator Casey was talking about all of your credentials, your 

daughter woke up, so she must have a good idea for that or for 

Pennsylvania. 

I wanted to talk a little bit about, first of all, the H1N1 virus. 

Just so you know, our state, the make up of our agriculture, we are 

No. 1 in the country for turkeys, little did you know; No. 3 for hogs. 

We, obviously, have a lot of crops and a very vibrant alternative 

energy economy. We have an aggressive renewable electricity 

standard, 25 percent by 2025, so we have done a lot with wind and 

solar in our rural areas as well as biofuels. We are one of the leading states with biofuels. 

So we have a pretty well-rounded agricultural sector, in addition 

to food processing with Schwans and food companies, General 

Mills. We are ninth in the country for Fortune 500 companies. So 

we have a broad economy in our state. 

But one of the things that has been very damaging for our pork 

producers has been the name, which I will not say, of the flu, 

which we call the H1N1 flu. And I wonder, Ms. Harden, with your 

role with congressional relations, if you could talk a little bit about 

how we can stop this from happening again, where, one—and 

maybe, Dr. Shah, you can confirm this, the fact that you cannot get 

this flu from eating bacon, which is what I served this morning at 

my Minnesota breakfast to prove the point—— 

Ms. HARDEN. Good for you. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR [continuing]. Or from any kind of pork. 

But how do we stop—the same thing happened to peppers with 

the salmonella scare, when it turned out it was peppers. And the 

tomato industry got in trouble when it was not tomatoes. 

Could you please comment on that? 

Ms. HARDEN. Well, I think if I had the perfect answer, I would 

be pretty rich and not need to go to the USDA. But I agree that 

we need to get our arms around it very quickly and work very aggressively to make sure education is out there and that research 

is made aware, and the facts. 

Obviously, the other name, the common name, is an easy buzz 

word that the press glommed on to. I think the president and the 

secretary should be commended, as well as the members of this 

committee and Members of Congress, to call it by its official name 

and encourage the press to do so, and the public. But it was a little 

late it seems because the name had stuck. 

So I think we do have to be much more aggressive in getting the 

word out, making sure that all of you have the information firstVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:58 Mar 24, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00030 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\DOCS\54568.TXT SAG2 PsN: SAG2
27 

hand in what is going on, quickly, so you can get the word out to 

your press and your states and work very aggressively to make 

sure we are getting the education and the word out there through 

our research department and our nutrition department as well. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. OK. 

Dr. Shah? 

Mr. SHAH. Well, thank you. I agree with your sentiments and 

would just add that I think the principle of strong science underpinning the communications statements we make on issues like 

this is critically important. 

In this particular case, I just in Seattle got a lot of the information around this particular issue from CDC briefings. And I think 

one of the opportunities will be building very strong linkages between the agricultural research communities and the CDC and 

other agencies like that, so that if more people are watching and 

learning from that kind of a vehicle, that they are communicating 

the types of things that are consistent with sound, interagency 

science. So I think building those linkages becomes very important 

to underpinning a strong communication strategy, but the science 

seems very clear. 

I would also just add, in terms of your comments about Minnesota, that I have had the opportunity to work with great crop scientists, and wheat and other crops, and also with economic modeling teams at the university there. And they really are outstanding and doing some of the best work in the world on those 

issues. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. And you mentioned Norman Borlaug, who 

did a lot—— 

Mr. SHAH. Of course. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR [continuing]. Of his work at the University 

of Minnesota and some work in Iowa as well. 

The other thing, just along these lines of some of the cutting-edge 

work in Minnesota, is the University of Minnesota’s ability to catch 

the cause of a lot of the problems we have had with food safety, 

whether it was the University of Minnesota that traced it and the 

Minnesota health department did a peanut issue. Then, we also 

had the salmonella I just mentioned from the peppers. That was 

also traced by the Minnesota group. 

I do not want to spend our time right now talking about that, 

but I hope you will look into that model. Senator Durbin and I and 

others, on a bipartisan basis, have worked on this food safety bill. 

And we are going to be hoping to have, as part of that, some of 

these regional models of how to catch these things sooner where 

the problems arise, as well as, you know, the USDA has done some 

good work with food safety. And we have this problem with the 

FDA, and we need to figure out how to merge these two systems. 

So I just wanted to put that on your radar screen. 

Just one last question, Mr. Tonsager, on the broadband. You 

were asked about the broadband and the speed of getting the 

broadband out. 

Can you talk about how you are going to coordinate with the 

other program coming out of Commerce with those broadband 

grants, and if you have talked about that yet, from your perch, 

with rural development? 

28 

Mr. TONSAGER. Of course, until we get the opportunity to go 

there and learn a little more, it will be difficult. I do have personal 

relationships with people involved with the NTIA, working, and so 

I am hopeful that that will work well with them. And I am very 

excited about the opportunity that, perhaps, Jonathan Adelstein 

will get to join me at the RUS. Jonathan’s background—— 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. I know him. 

Mr. TONSAGER [continuing]. Old friend of mine, Jonathan as well, 

that I know he brings great capacity to that area. 

I would like to get into the dialog quite a ways before really saying how we might do it. It just strikes me that there are similarities to other kinds of things we have done in the past, especially 

in the other utility programs, about affordability for people in more 

remote areas that might be more economically challenged. 

So, from my perspective, I will probably start with that in the 

discussion, how do we make it affordable to people as well, not just 

available, but so they can use it well. And I think that is an important aspect to bring to it. 

But I believe that there is a great opportunity to coordinate with 

Commerce and with the NTIA, and working together with that. I 

think Secretary Vilsack has been actively engaged in dialogs regarding communications, from what I have heard, so I am excited 

that we can work closely with the other entity that has received 

resources. But I do know that the service to the rural areas is the 

mission of our deed, and I want to make sure that we are fully engaged with that as quickly as possible. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Thank you. Because Senator Thune and I, 

and a few others here, I think, serve on both Agriculture and Commerce, so we will be able to be the intersection of making sure 

these programs are coordinated. 

Mr. TONSAGER. I am sure we have to get service to Murdo, South 

Dakota before John will be particularly happy. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. All right. I could give you some even smaller towns in Minnesota. Thank you very much. 

Congratulations to all of you. 

Chairman HARKIN. Well, listen, thank you all very much for all 

of your past things that you have done on behalf of agriculture and 

health in America. Congratulations on your appointments. We look 

forward to working with you. 

Again, I want to join with what Senator Casey said. When you 

enter public life like this, it is a family affair; no doubt about it. 

Spouses and families are involved in this in many ways, and so I 

want to thank all your family members. 

Dr. Shah, I see your dad has got the 8–month-old granddaughter 

in his arms back there. I have an 8–month-old granddaughter, so 

it appeals to me very much. 

But thank you all for being willing to serve. We look forward to 

working with you. 

I would just state for the record that we would like to have all 

written questions from members of the Committee in by 5 this 

afternoon so that we can get those questions to you and you could 

respond. And, hopefully, we will be able to report your names out 

of the Committee rapidly and get you down to work as soon as possible. 

29 

With that, if there are no further questions, we have got to go 

vote. Thank you very much. The Committee will stand adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 12:03 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.] 

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