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S. HRG. 111–243 

HEARING TO CONSIDER THE NOMINATIONS 

OF JOE LEONARD JR., KATHLEEN A. 

MERRIGAN, AND JAMES W. MILLER 

TO THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, 

NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

APRIL 1, 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 Joe Leonard Jr., Kathleen A. 

Merrigan, and James W. Miller, to the U.S. Department of Agriculture ........ 1 

Wednesday, April 1, 2009 

STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY SENATORS 

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

Chambliss, Hon. Saxby, U.S. Senator from the State of Georgia ........................ 6 

Cochran, Hon. Thad, U.S. Senator from the State of Mississippi ....................... 3 

Conrad, Hon. Kent, U.S. Senator from the State of North Dakota ..................... 11 

Leahy, Hon. Patrick J., U.S. Senator from the State of Vermont ....................... 3 

Kilpatrick, Hon. Carolyn C., a Representative in Congress from the State 

of Michigan ........................................................................................................... 8 

Panel I 

Leonard, Joe, Jr., of the District of Columbia, Nominee to be Under Secretary 

for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Agriculture .............................................. 9 

Merrigan, Kathleen A., of Massachusetts, Nominee to be Deputy Secretary, 

U.S. Department of Agriculture .......................................................................... 4 

Miller, James W., of Virginia, Nominee to be Under Secretary for Farm 

and Foreign Agricultural Services, U.S. Department of Agriculture ............... 12 

APPENDIX 

PREPARED STATEMENTS: 

Cochran, Hon. Thad ......................................................................................... 30 

Grassley, Hon. Charles E. ................................................................................ 33 

Leonard, Joe, Jr. ............................................................................................... 34 

Merrigan, Kathleen A. ..................................................................................... 37 

Miller, James W. ............................................................................................... 40 

DOCUMENT(S) SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD: 

Committee questionnaire and Office of Government Ethics Executive 

Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report filed by Joe Leonard, Jr. ........................................................................................................... 44 

Committee questionnaire and Office of Government Ethics Executive 

Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report filed by Kathleen 

A. Merrigan ................................................................................................... 59 

Committee questionnaire and Office of Government Ethics Executive 

Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report filed by James 

W. Miller ........................................................................................................ 82 

QUESTION(S) AND ANSWER(S): 

Harkin, Hon. Tom: 

Written questions to Kathleen Merrigan ....................................................... 104 

Written questions to Joe Leonard, Jr. ............................................................ 105 

Written questions to James W. Miller ............................................................ 106 

Baucus, Hon. Max: 

Written questions to Kathleen Merrigan ....................................................... 107 

Page

IV 

Baucus, Hon. Max—Continued 

Written questions to Joe Leonard, Jr. ............................................................ 107 

Written questions to James W. Miller ............................................................ 108 

Chambliss, Hon. Saxby: 

Written questions to Kathleen Merrigan ....................................................... 110 

Written questions to James W. Miller ............................................................ 110 

Cochran, Hon. Thad: 

Written questions to Kathleen Merrigan ....................................................... 112 

Written questions to James W. Miller ............................................................ 113 

Grassley, Hon. Charles E.: 

Written questions to James W. Miller ............................................................ 114 

Written questions to Kathleen Merrigan ....................................................... 114 

Written questions to Joe Leonard, Jr. ............................................................ 115 

Roberts, Hon. Pat: 

Written questions to Kathleen Merrigan ....................................................... 116 

Written questions to James W. Miller ............................................................ 116 

Leonard, Joe, Jr.: 

Written response to questions from Hon. Tom Harkin ................................. 117 

Written response to questions from Hon. Max Baucus ................................. 118 

Written response to questions from Hon. Charles E. Grassley .................... 118 

Merrigan, Kathleen A.: 

Written response to questions from Hon. Tom Harkin ................................. 120 

Written response to questions from Hon. Saxby Chambliss ......................... 122 

Written response to questions from Hon. Max Baucus ................................. 123 

Written response to questions from Hon. Thad Cochran .............................. 124 

Written response to questions from Hon. Pat Roberts .................................. 126 

Written response to questions from Hon. Charles E. Grassley .................... 127 

Miller, James W.: 

Written response to questions from Hon. Tom Harkin ................................. 129 

Written response to questions from Hon. Saxby Chambliss ......................... 130 

Written response to questions from Hon. Max Baucus ................................. 130 

Written response to questions from Hon. Thad Cochran .............................. 132 

Written response to questions from Hon. Pat Roberts .................................. 132 

Written response to questions from Hon. Charles E. Grassley .................... 133 

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL(S) SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD: 

Various organizations, letters of endorsement for Joe Leonard, Jr. ............ 136 

Various organizations, letters of endorsement for Kathleen A. Merrigan ... 139 

Various organizations, letters of endorsement for James W. Miller ............ 185 

(1) 

HEARING TO CONSIDER THE NOMINATIONS 

OF JOE LEONARD JR., KATHLEEN A. 

MERRIGAN, AND JAMES W. MILLER 

TO THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Wednesday, April 1, 2009 

U.S. SENATE, 

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY, 

Washington, DC 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:02 p.m., in room 

SH–216, Hart Senate Office Building, Hon. Tom Harkin, Chairman 

of the Committee, presiding. 

Present: Senators Harkin, Leahy, Conrad, Casey, Chambliss, 

Cochran, Roberts, 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. 

We have a joyous occasion today. We are here to do some really 

good things this afternoon, and that is to hopefully get through 

three eminently well-qualified individuals to carry on the responsibilities and functions of the Department of Agriculture. 

First would be the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture. This is a 

very demanding role, spanning the entirety of USDA’s responsibilities. The person in that role must, of course, be capable of carrying 

out the job and also understand the range of food, agriculture, and 

rural issues and be committed to serving all of the people who rely 

on the Department of Agriculture. Kathleen Merrigan is certainly 

no stranger to this Committee. We welcome her today, and I will 

yield shortly to Senator Leahy for purposes of introduction. 

The Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, responsible for essential functions of USDA, the 

farm commodity and income support programs, farm loans, crop insurance, disaster assistance, the Conservation Reserve Program, 

commodity operations, also include the overseas marketing information and development programs, including export assistance and 

foreign food assistance. Jim Miller has an extensive and strong 

background and experience from a working farmer on to very capable work in helping us craft the Food, Conservation, and Energy 

Act of 2008. And, again, we congratulate him on his nomination to 

this key Under Secretary position, and I will hold the record open 

2 

at this point for introductions by Senator Conrad, but he is 

chairing the budget debate on the floor right now. 

The Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights may well be the toughest job anyone will take on at the Department. Stretching back 

many decades, USDA has run up a string of documented failures, 

abject failures, in respecting civil rights of both the employees and 

USDA customers. The most visible manifestation of these failures 

is the consent decree in the Pigford v. Glickman case under which 

USDA has thus far paid out nearly $1 billion to settle racial discrimination claims of African American farmers. 

The Pigford v. Glickman consent decree by no means cures all of 

the sad record of civil rights and neglect in that Department. Native Americans, Hispanic female farmers, are all currently suing 

the Department for program discrimination. African American 

farmers continue to file and to seek to settle cases involved in the 

Pigford litigation. And USDA has a vast backlog of race discrimination claims from employees as well. 

So we congratulate and welcome to the Committee Dr. Joe Leonard, Jr., as nominee for Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights. He 

has a long history of working in key roles in civil rights issues. We 

look to him to draw upon that experience to turn around a very 

troubling civil rights situation at USDA. 

Again, I will hold open the record at this point for a more formal 

introduction by Congresswoman Kilpatrick from Michigan, who I 

understand is on the floor at this time. 

I will also hold the record open at this time for an opening statement by our Ranking Member, Senator Chambliss. 

Before I turn to Senator Leahy, I have an obligation to ask you 

all to rise and take an oath. If you would please raise your right 

hand, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing 

but the truth? 

Ms. MERRIGAN. I do. 

Mr. MILLER. I do. 

Mr. LEONARD. I do. 

Chairman HARKIN. Second, do you agree—you can lower your 

hands, but do you agree that, if confirmed, you will appear before 

any duly constituted member of the Congress if asked? Dr. 

Merrigan? 

Mr. MILLER. Yes, I do. 

Chairman HARKIN. Dr. Leonard? 

Mr. LEONARD. Yes. 

Chairman HARKIN. Jim Miller? 

Mr. MILLER. I do. 

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

I just want everyone to know that the Leader has informed us 

that we will start voting at 3 o’clock, and there will be a long series 

of votes, so it will not be the kind of thing where we can go and 

come back. And so we are going to try to conduct this and finish 

by 3 o’clock. 

With that, I will yield to our former distinguished Chairman of 

the Committee, Senator Leahy. 

3 

STATEMENT OF HON. PATRICK J. LEAHY, U.S. SENATOR FROM 

THE STATE OF VERMONT 

Senator LEAHY. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and thank 

you for the opportunity to make a couple comments. 

First off, you have three excellent people here in Dr. Merrigan, 

Dr. Leonard, and Mr. Miller, and I can assure you all three will 

have my support, both in the Committee and on the floor. And it 

is nothing against Dr. Leonard or Mr. Miller if I refer to Dr. 

Merrigan, who used to work for me on the Committee of Agriculture and has been a great friend throughout both to my wife 

and myself. She was my senior adviser in science and technology 

issues. She worked on a wide range of things—the Organic Foods 

Production Act, developing international pesticide legislation, the 

emerging field of biotechnology. I have relied on her both as Chairman and as Ranking Member. 

She had firsthand knowledge of the inner workings of the Department of Agriculture. She was Administrator of the Agriculture 

Marketing Service, a $1.2 billion agency, over 10,000 employees, 

oversaw food grading and certification and research promotion programs. Most recently, she has spent the past 7 years at Tufts educating the future leaders in agricultural policy, has a long and impressive resume. She understands rural America. She understands 

all the various- -I will not say much more if we are going to 

have—— 

[Laughter.] 

Senator LEAHY. I do not know if this is some kind of a thing. I 

will put the full statement in the record, and just have it noted for 

the record that the lights dimmed briefly. I do not know if it is a 

sign from above, but, Kathy, I am so happy you are here. I am so 

happy your husband and your two absolutely wonderful children 

are here, and I congratulate you. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you, Senator Leahy. 

I yield to Senator Cochran for a statement. 

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

THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI 

Senator COCHRAN. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. People 

think we are operating in the dark up here sometimes, and they 

are right. 

Well, I am glad to join you and other colleagues on the Committee in welcoming the nominees to the Committee. We appreciate 

your willingness to serve at high and important positions of responsibility at the Department of Agriculture, and we look forward to 

working with you as you assume these duties. 

I have a statement that I would like to have printed in the 

record, Mr. Chairman. Otherwise, we look forward to your testimony. 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you very much. Without objection. 

[The prepared statement of Hon. Thad Cochran can be found on 

page 30 in the appendix.] 

Chairman HARKIN. This is the order in which we will proceed: 

Dr. Merrigan, Dr. Leonard, then Mr. Miller. 

4 

Dr. Merrigan, again, I just want to join in welcoming you back 

to the Committee in this capacity. And as I said, these are joyous 

occasions, and if you have family members with you, I would appreciate it if you would introduce them, and maybe they could 

stand and be recognized. 

Ms. MERRIGAN. Senator Harkin, thank you. I have with me my 

husband, Michael Selmi; and my children, Fiona and Seamus 

Selmi. 

Chairman HARKIN. Very good. Welcome. Glad to have you here. 

[Applause.] 

Chairman HARKIN. Seamus? And who is the other one? 

Ms. MERRIGAN. Fiona. My husband is Italian. They have his last 

name. And so my people needed to be represented. 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman HARKIN. Very good. Welcome. 

I will say this at the outset: All of your statements will be made 

a part of the record in their entirety. If you would want to sum 

them up, we would be most appreciative. And there go the lights 

again. What is happening here, anyway? 

Ms. MERRIGAN. It has something to do with April Fool’s, I guess. 

Senator COCHRAN. It is automatic. Maybe we are going to have 

an automatic committee. 

Chairman HARKIN. Can someone—— 

Senator COCHRAN. We will not even have to show up. 

Chairman HARKIN. Oh, man. 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman HARKIN. It is one way or the other. It is all or nothing 

around here. 

Please go ahead, Dr. Merrigan. 

STATEMENT OF KATHLEEN A. MERRIGAN, OF MASSACHUSETTS, TO BE DEPUTY SECRETARY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF 

AGRICULTURE 

Ms. MERRIGAN. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, it is a great honor to have been nominated by President 

Obama to the position of Deputy Secretary. I am honored by Secretary Vilsack’s confidence in me and his invitation to join him in 

leading the People’s Department. 

I appreciate Senator Leahy’s generous introduction. He has been 

an inspirational leader, a wonderful boss, and a true friend to me 

and my family over the years. 

Mr. Chairman, thank you for a very warm, kind introduction in 

a return to the flock here. I have recognized my husband and my 

children who accompany me here today. 

I am grateful for the opportunity and privilege to appear before 

you, to return home to the Committee where I worked with many 

of you, and your able staff, to craft legislation and oversee USDA 

operations. During my 6 years as a staff member for this Committee, I came to understand firsthand how essential it is for members of the Committee to receive timely, robust, and honest assessments from the administration on issues before the Committee. For 

this reason, I want to begin my testimony pledging that, if confirmed, I will always prioritize answering the Committee’s questions and calls for input. It would be an honor to join you in the 

5 

common cause of improving the lives of all Americans because 

whether they understand it or not, each and every citizen needs 

U.S. agriculture to thrive. 

It was from a distance, in my role as a college professor, that I 

watched as the 2008 farm bill took shape. It is a masterful piece 

of legislation, with its 15 titles, 600 provisions, and creative new 

ventures. As someone who cares deeply about American agriculture, I am grateful for the hard work Committee members and 

staff devoted over a period of years to bring about this historic law. 

During the 1990 farm bill deliberations, I worked to help Senator 

Leahy realize his vision for a national organic food standards program, which was included in that omnibus bill. My excitement, 

however, soon turned to frustration once we began waiting for the 

law to be implemented, which took nearly 12 years. I do not want 

similar tales to be told about the 2008 farm bill. I understand that 

farmers and ranchers need certainty. In some areas of the country, 

farmers have already begun or are about to begin planting, and 

they need to fully understand the programs that they will be utilizing. If confirmed, I understand that it will be my job to assist 

the Secretary and other leaders of the Department to ensure that 

this law is implemented as Congress intended and as quickly as 

possible. 

The last time I appeared before this distinguished Committee 2 

years ago, it was during the shaping of the 2008 farm bill. I testified on ways to improve what is now the Conservation Stewardship 

Program—CSP—a jewel among many wonderful USDA programs. 

What I like about CSP program—your program, Mr. Chairman— 

is that it recognizes farmers as environmental stewards and rewards their contributions to healthy food, land, water, and wildlife. 

If confirmed as Deputy, one of my priorities will be to communicate 

the important contributions made by farmers in protecting and enhancing our natural resources, such as mitigating climate change. 

As Secretary Vilsack has so ably articulated, we must harness our 

research enterprise to find ways to expedite the next generation of 

biofuels, develop new and market-worthy crop rotations, and advance the use of agroforestry and biomass strategies. 

I teach at a graduate school of nutrition science and policy, 

where understanding the paradox of childhood obesity and hunger 

is central to our mandate. As Administrator of the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, I spearheaded efforts to purchase commodities for our national school lunch and breakfast programs. If 

confirmed as Deputy, I will seize the opportunity to work with the 

Committee to assist your efforts to reauthorize the Child Nutrition 

Reauthorization Act this year. It is my goal and my passion to improve access and delivery of nutritious foods—particularly fresh 

fruits and vegetables—to our Nation’s children. It is something we 

can do; it is something we must do. 

I will ask that the rest of my statement be entered into the 

record because I know time is short. I just want to conclude, Mr. 

Chairman, by saying I look forward to this opportunity. I stand 

ready to serve, and I appreciate your kind consideration. 

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

37 in the appendix.] 

6 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you very much, Dr. Merrigan, for your 

testimony and also for all your past help on this Committee going 

back many, many years. 

And now I would like to recognize our distinguished Ranking 

Member, Senator Chambliss. 

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

THE STATE OF GEORGIA 

Senator CHAMBLISS. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank 

you for holding this important hearing to consider the nominations 

of Joe Leonard, Jr., Kathleen Merrigan, and Jim Miller for key positions with USDA. 

I would like to welcome each of you to the hearing today and certainly am glad you have all your families with you there. It is nice 

to see what great support you have. 

After several years of input and development, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 was enacted last summer. A tremendous amount of work remains for successful implementation of 

this legislation. Today’s hearing is a step toward filling important 

roles at the Department, and we look forward to hearing how these 

nominees will contribute to timely and proper implementation. 

It is my pleasure to welcome and congratulate Joe Leonard, Jr., 

as the nominee for Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at USDA. 

Based on your extensive background and your experience with civil 

rights issues, it is no mystery why you sit here today before this 

Committee. 

USDA is a vast agency that has an impact on the lives of every 

American. In your capacity as the Assistant Secretary for Civil 

Rights, you will be tasked to ensure that all USDA customers and 

employees are able to fully participate in USDA programs and employment. 

Indeed, one of the first things you will encounter is the ongoing 

effort at USDA to resolve the many Pigford claims which resulted 

from past USDA actions. Although the 2008 farm bill provides an 

additional $100 million to resolve these cases, it also authorized additional claimants. I am hopeful that you will be able to resolve 

these claims as expeditiously as possible. And as the former Executive Director of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Black 

Leadership Forum, you bring a unique perspective, Mr. Leonard, to 

these issues and, if confirmed, I certainly look forward to working 

with you to bring about a conclusion to this particular issue. 

Ms. Merrigan, I have reviewed your testimony, your written articles, as well as statements that you have made, and I appreciate 

your passion and enthusiasm for the things that you believe in— 

organic production, sustainable agriculture, agricultural research, 

and human nutrition. However, as I stated to you in person, I do 

have some concerns that in promoting your passion for organic production and sustainable agriculture, that you tear down other types 

of agricultural production for those with different points of view. 

For example, you wrote in an article in Nutrition Today that ‘‘the 

production of raw farm products is the stage of food production that 

entails the greatest potential environmental damage, water pollution, wildlife destruction, soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, and global climate change. It may also cover processing, which can entail 

7 

toxic effluents, water pollution, and solid waste.’’ And I would simply remind you that farmers and ranchers are the best environmentalists that we have in America because they make their living 

off of the land and they do everything they can to seek to protect 

it. 

I know that perhaps if you had a chance to clarify this statement—and you will have that opportunity today—you might say it 

a little differently or more moderately. 

I think it is the lack of balance in your views and your writings 

that concerns me the most. No one denies there are environmental 

challenges with production agriculture. But how fortunate we are 

as Americans to have the financial resources, ability, and commitment to ensure we have an agricultural sector that produces an 

enormous variety of safe and abundant food in an environmentally 

friendly manner. 

In 2003, you wrote in an open letter to Senators that was published in Catholic Rural Life Magazine, stating that, and I quote: 

‘‘We must preserve a diverse farm base.’’ While you were not necessarily referring to agriculture generally, you unintentionally 

make my case. There are 922 million acres of farmland in this 

country. We have so many different crops, climatic conditions, soil 

types, cultural practices, and producers that there is no logic to believing that any one method of production is better than another. 

Within our system of government, there is not one of us that gets 

to decide what constitutes a diverse farm base or how agricultural 

products should be produced. 

These issues that you are passionate about are very important, 

but the Department of Agriculture handles a myriad of important 

issues. As many arguments as there are for organic production, 

there are just as many arguments against it. So please keep a special place in your heart for organic production. Don’t let that be diminished. But, also, be open to other types of production which 

gives all farmers options. As Deputy Secretary at USDA, your job 

will not be to focus on your personal interests or promote one type 

of agriculture at the expense of the other. Your job will be to help 

run the Department and its programs so that they work for all producers and consumers, all Americans. 

I think you know this, and I hope you plan to implement this, 

and if confirmed, I look forward to working with you on behalf of 

all of agriculture. 

And to my good friend Jim Miller, it is a pleasure to welcome you 

to the Committee in this capacity, Jim. As to filling the need for 

Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural 

Services, you bring a lot of experience, knowledge, and common 

sense to the Committee, and we are glad that you are willing to 

come to the Department and continue to be a public servant in this 

capacity. Given your hands-on farm experience, your leadership 

roles in the agriculture community, and your advisory role to my 

dear friend Kent Conrad, we have great expectations for you. 

In reviewing materials provided to the Committee, I learned that 

Jim was President of the National Association of Wheat Growers 

during the 1980’s, a very challenging time for agriculture. In news 

articles provided, I was pleased to read about the confidence that 

8 

he maintained in the American farmer through those difficult 

times, and certainly they were difficult. 

My experience with Jim Miller is that he is a hard worker. He 

is a fair-minded individual. He is certainly blessed with intellect 

about agricultural policy, and during the farm bill discussions and 

debate last year, there is nobody that I had more confidence in or 

felt was blessed with more integrity than Jim Miller, and you are 

to be commended for that. 

Mr. Chairman, we certainly face challenges in agriculture 

today—thankfully, not to the degree of the 1980’s. Through these 

uncertain times, we must support the American farmer and rancher. They supply this Nation, and many others, a safe, abundant, 

and affordable food and fiber supply. The Congress and the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture must stand by our agricultural producers and provide them an environment in which they can prosper. Decisions related to the budget, commodity policy, risk management, trade, and conservation policy all play a role in creating 

such an environment. 

Congratulations again to each of you as nominees, and I look forward to visiting with you today. 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you very much, Senator Chambliss. 

I was just getting ready to introduce Dr. Leonard myself, but we 

are joined by our distinguished colleague from the House side, the 

Honorable Congresswoman Kilpatrick from Detroit, who has come 

here for the purpose of an introduction. 

We welcome you to the Committee, and we now yield to you for 

the purpose of introducing Dr. Leonard. 

STATEMENT OF HON. CAROLYN C. KILPATRICK, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MICHIGAN 

Ms. KILPATRICK. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member and members of the Committee. Forgive our tardiness. As always happens, the bells ring, we have five votes, and I am yielding 

two of them to be here with my good friend and assistant, who is 

an outstanding gentleman. 

I come today to recommend and to highly support Dr. Joe Leonard to be the next Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights within the 

United States Department of Agriculture. As Chairperson of the 

Congressional Black Caucus in the 110th session, Dr. Leonard 

served as the best Executive Director I have worked with in my 31 

years of public service—tenacious, intelligent, coalition builder, and 

one who understands the body politic as well as why we build and 

must have a strong Department of Agriculture. 

Dr. Leonard hails from the city of Austin, Texas, is a renowned 

author, historian. He also lived some part of his time in New Orleans, and as Chairperson of the Congressional Black Caucus in the 

110th, Dr. Leonard helped me steer our 43 members from 26 

States. We represented over 300 million Americans in those States, 

and he to a person was the reason why our 110th session was so 

important. 

It is important that we come to today, and I want to commend 

the President’s administration, President Obama’s administration 

for nominating such a fine gentleman. I have worked with him. 

9 

Our caucus highly regards you, sir. We will miss you tremendously. 

We know of your civil rights history, your Ph.D. from Howard University, your under grad, well learned, historian on his feet, Chairman Harkin, and he will be an asset to these United States of 

America. 

It is my honor and privilege to recommend highly and to put forward the name of Dr. Joe Leonard as Assistant Secretary for the 

Department of Civil Rights in the Department of Agriculture. He 

will serve our country tremendously. 

Thank you very much. 

Chairman HARKIN. Well, thank you very much, Congresswoman. 

Dr. Leonard, I notice that you have family here too, and would 

you please introduce your family members who are here? Push the 

button. 

Mr. LEONARD. Seated to my left is, if you don’t mind standing up, 

Cole Edward Leonard, and my wife of 15 years, Dr. Natasha ColeLeonard. 

[Applause.] 

Chairman HARKIN. Welcome to the Committee. As I said, this is 

a great day for all of us, and especially for all the families who are 

here. 

I just wanted to add, Congresswoman, that reading over Dr. 

Leonard’s bio and stuff, I read that his great-great- great-grandfather fought at the Alamo. 

Mr. LEONARD. That is correct. 

Chairman HARKIN. I hope those genes are passed on. 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman HARKIN. You are going to need that at the Department 

of Agriculture, I think. 

Mr. LEONARD. They have been. 

Chairman HARKIN. Well, Dr. Leonard, welcome very much. Your 

statement will be made a part of the record in its entirety, and 

please proceed. 

STATEMENT OF JOE LEONARD, JR., OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, TO BE UNDER SECRETARY FOR CIVIL RIGHTS, U.S. 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Mr. LEONARD. Thank you, Chairman Harkin, Ranking? 

Member Chambliss, members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. It is an honor to appear before 

you today. I would like to thank Chairman Harkin and Ranking 

Member Chambliss for their longstanding commitment and dedication to the principles of civil rights while serving on this Committee. I would also like to thank Representative Carolyn Cheeks 

Kilpatrick for her warm introduction and to indicate to her what 

an honor and privilege it has been to work with her during the 

110th Congress and as a senior advisor on your staff. Thank you 

very much, Congresswoman. 

I would also like to thank the Executive Director of the Black 

Leadership Forum who is here for his friendship, long-time friendship, and that is Mr. Gary Flowers. 

It is a sincere honor and privilege to be selected by President 

Obama to serve as Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the 

United States Department of Agriculture during this critical period 

10 

in American history. As a historian, I am mindful of the challenges 

that have been associated with this office. USDA has recorded a 

turbulent history in civil rights since the establishment of the Office of Equal Employment in 1971. Initially, the total civil rights 

program experienced an almost revolving door situation with its 

leadership, and for several years it averaged one director a year. 

Furthermore, unfortunately, the allocation of resources—both 

human and monetary—did not match its needs. 

The suspension of investigations and compliance reviews in the 

early 1980’s and the associated reduction in the budget left a crippling legacy. The establishment of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights in 2003, through language included in the 

2002 farm bill by this Committee, was a step in the right direction, 

but the challenges of addressing a ballooning inventory of complaints and complex class action complaints has not allowed it to 

fully address the many functions under its jurisdiction. 

The Department has also been confronted with complex legal 

issues related to program discrimination complaints. USDA must 

acknowledge its past mistakes and discrimination, correct its errors, and move forward into a new era of transparency and accountability that provides equal employment, equal access, and 

equal treatment to all employees and customers. 

It is important for me right now actually, before I get into the 

rest of my statement, to thank my parents, Joe and Shirley Leonard, for their support, sacrifice, and teaching of what we refer to 

in my family as ‘‘stickability.’’ It is also very important, as I look 

at this august body, for me to invoke the names of past Leonard 

men—Jose, Levy, Charles, Dave, and Joe Sr.—all of whom endured 

slavery or segregation so I might have better opportunities today. 

I am confident that, if confirmed, I, along with the staff that Secretary Vilsack is putting together at the Department, will be able 

to tackle these longstanding challenges and implement the requirements of the 2008 farm bill as you intended. 

Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Chambliss, and members of the 

Committee, if confirmed, I will do my best of my abilities to reinvigorate the Office of Civil Rights. Specifically, I will: 

Initiate preparations for the construction of a single accurate 

data base for customer complaints and a separate data base for employee complaints; 

Take immediate steps to analyze this information to ensure that 

the provisions of the farm bill on suspension of foreclosures are 

being properly implemented; 

Work to streamline the process for filing complaints for USDA 

customers; 

Work within USDA to employ full-time investigators, encourage 

onsite investigations, and hire staff qualified to support and assist 

the investigators and adjudicators in processing USDA claims; 

Conduct analysis at the points of service delivery to pinpoint barriers to providing equitable access and treatment, and develop solutions to overcome these barriers, including providing tools to our 

customers to achieve intensive grassroots effects; 

Increase alternative dispute resolution and mediation efforts to 

resolve complaints at the local and State level; 

11 

And review the overall organization of the Office of the Assistant 

Secretary of Civil Rights to ensure optimal information flow, cooperation, coordination. 

When Secretary Vilsack was before you, he reaffirmed his commitment to resolving longstanding civil rights claims at USDA. I 

am equally committed to that end and hope that my career is a testament to that. 

This Committee plays a vital role in overseeing the operations of 

USDA and the Office of Civil Rights, and, if confirmed, I look forward to working with you to ensure that you and your staff are 

fully informed of the work of this office. 

Last, I conclude by expressing my gratitude to President Obama 

for the confidence he has placed in me to take on this honorable 

responsibility and to you Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member 

Chambliss and the members of the Committee for the opportunity 

to appear before you today. 

Thank you. 

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

34 in the appendix.] 

Chairman HARKIN. Dr. Leonard, thank you very much for an excellent statement, and right on time. 

I would yield to my great friend and distinguished Chairman of 

the Budget Committee and a senior member of the Agriculture 

Committee for the purposes of introducing Jim Miller. 

STATEMENT OF HON. KENT CONRAD, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE 

STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 

Senator CONRAD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and this really is a 

proud moment to be here to strongly support the nomination of Jim 

Miller to be USDA Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services. 

I think everybody on this Committee knows Jim very well already. He was my lead negotiator during the farm bill negotiation, 

served on the Budget Committee on my staff from 2004 to 2008, 

did an absolutely superb job in every capacity—no more so than 

during the difficult farm bill negotiations. I think every member 

grew to respect his knowledge. He has truly an encyclopedic knowledge of agriculture policy. 

In addition, he knows the numbers. Jim has a remarkable gift 

for not only understanding the substance of policy, but of also 

knowing the numbers. In fact, we often used his projections while 

we were awaiting more formal scoring because we knew Jim’s numbers were right on track. 

In addition to that, there are very few people I have encountered 

in my life that have a greater character or quality than Jim Miller. 

He is just an exceptional person, able to get along with virtually 

everyone, extremely hard- working, and somebody that truly cares 

about farm and ranch families across America. And he does not 

just care about the ones in North Dakota or the ones in Washington State where he has farming operations. He cares about farm 

and ranch families all across America, and precisely the kind of 

person that we need in this posting. I am so pleased that President 

Obama recognized Jim Miller for this position. 

12 

I just want to say to my colleagues, I strongly support Jim Miller 

for this position. I would support Jim Miller for any position. He 

is simply the best. 

I am delighted to be here. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for this 

time. 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you very much, Senator Conrad. 

I will add a couple of things. I had suggested to Secretary 

Vilsack, I said, ‘‘Well, Jim is going to come in this position, but 

anytime you got any problems with your budget, go see Jim.’’ And 

I hope he does when he is working out the numbers and everything. 

I might also add just one other thing that I am very proud of Jim 

Miller about, and that is, all the work that you have done with the 

Farmers Union for all these years. Great farm organization, one 

that I have been very close to for all the years, 35 years, not this 

one, but the Ag Committees in the House and the Senate. And so 

I appreciate all the leadership you have provided to the National 

Farmers Union for so many years. 

So welcome and, again, you have family here, and since this is 

a great day for you and your family, could you introduce your family to us, Jim? 

Mr. MILLER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is a pleasure to be 

back at the agriculture Committee. I would like to introduce my 

family. 

Next week, my wife, Sandy, and I will be celebrating our 35th 

wedding anniversary. 

Chairman HARKIN. Congratulations. 

Mr. MILLER. So I would like to Sandy to stand up. Obviously, she 

has a great deal of patience and understanding. 

[Applause.] 

Mr. MILLER. Also, my oldest son, Matt, and his wife, Alison, are 

here; as well as my youngest son, Adam, and his wife, Amber, who 

came in from Phoenix to participate. 

[Applause.] 

Chairman HARKIN. Oh, please stand up. 

Mr. MILLER. I am certainly happy they were able to be here 

today. 

Chairman HARKIN. Oh, that is wonderful. That is wonderful. 

Well, again, your statement will be made a part of the record in 

its entirety, and please proceed as you desire, Jim. 

STATEMENT OF JAMES W. MILLER, OF VIRGINIA, TO BE 

UNDER SECRETARY FOR FARM AND FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL SERVICES, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Mr. MILLER. Thank you, Chairman Harkin, Ranking Member. 

Chambliss, and members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. It is a real pleasure to be able to 

appear before you today, and in particular, I want to thank my 

friend and mentor Senator Kent Conrad for his kind introduction 

and just to say how much I truly enjoyed working for him as a 

member of his Senate Budget Committee staff for 4 years. It was 

just a wonderful experience, and, Senator, again, thank you very 

much for being here. It means a lot to me. 

13 

Mr. Chairman, it is truly an honor and a privilege to be nominated by President Obama to serve as Under Secretary for Farm 

and Foreign Agricultural Services at the Department of Agriculture 

during this very critical period. I am very mindful of the responsibilities of this position and the importance of its mission areas to 

our farmers, ranchers, and communities, as well as to the American taxpayer and our consumers, both here and abroad. 

The mission areas for the Under Secretary position for which I 

have been nominated include the Farm Service Agency, the Foreign 

Agriculture Service, and the Risk Management Agency. Each of 

these agencies is staffed with professionals who work very hard to 

provide the highest level of service to their customers and to their 

stakeholders. 

If confirmed, it will be a great honor to work shoulder-to-shoulder with these fine public servants to carry out the policies and responsibilities that the Congress and the Obama administration 

have identified for each of these agencies. 

Today the American people are faced with historic economic challenges. Farmers, ranchers, and rural communities are not immune 

from this crisis. Tremendous uncertainty exists throughout production agriculture because of weaker commodity prices, high input 

costs, and increased difficulties when it comes to financing farm operations. And, as is always the case, farmers and ranchers must 

also cope with the weather. 

I am under no illusion about the difficulties our producers are 

facing this year. Furthermore, I recognize that USDA must quickly 

make up ground in implementing the 2008 farm bill to ensure the 

safety net that was promised in the legislation is, in fact, delivered. 

I am keenly aware of the extraordinary effort made by this Committee last year to produce a historic farm bill. If confirmed, I will 

regularly consult with members of the Senate Agriculture Committee and your colleagues in the House to move as quickly as possible to implement the many provisions of the Food, Conservation, 

and Energy Act of 2008 as well as the provisions of the American 

Recovery and Reinvestment Act that fall within the FSA, FAS, and 

RMA mission areas. 

If confirmed, I pledge to work with all my energy to implement 

these programs in a way that is consistent with the intent of Congress and fair and equitable to those who participate in these programs. 

Specifically, I will: 

Conclude the departmental review of the 2008 farm bill regulations promulgated by the previous administration and press to 

issue the regulations pertaining to the 2009 commodity programs 

as well as other important provisions such as the Conservation Reserve Program and the Biomass Crop Assistance Program as soon 

as is practical; 

I will ascertain the status and expedite the process of developing 

the regulations to implement the disaster provisions of the 2008 

farm bill as amended by subsequent legislation; 

Examine the tools available to help alleviate the crisis conditions 

that exist within specific sectors of production agriculture such as 

dairy; 

14 

Review the public comments and initiate the process to promulgate the rules pertaining to the payment limitation provisions for 

the 2010 commodity program year; 

Work to ensure the agriculture export programs supported by the 

Foreign Agriculture Service continue to meet the needs of their 

stakeholders and to expand agriculture sales abroad and help alleviate hunger overseas; 

I will implement the modifications to the Federal crop insurance 

program as prescribed by the 2008 farm bill and initiate preparations for the upcoming round of negotiations of the Standard Reinsurance Agreement between USDA and its private sector insurance 

partners. 

I also pledge to work within the Department and with Congress 

to develop a realistic and workable plan to modernize the information technology at USDA. 

In addition, Mr. Chairman, I want to emphasize my commitment 

to a statement Secretary Vilsack made during his confirmation 

hearing. The Secretary stated he would work hard to resolve outstanding civil rights claims in program and employment practices 

and would not tolerate discrimination in any form at USDA. I, too, 

am committed to turning this page at the Department. Discrimination in any form will not be tolerated in the agencies over which 

I have responsibility. 

Let me conclude by once again expressing my gratitude to President Obama for the faith and confidence he has placed in me to 

take on this important responsibility and to you, Mr. Chairman, 

Senator Chambliss, and members of the Committee, for the opportunity to appear here today. 

Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Miller can be found on page 40 

in the appendix.] 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you very much, Jim. 

Well, we will begin a round of questions here, just 5 minutes 

each. We have some time here before 3 o’clock. 

Dr. Leonard, if I might just start my round of questioning with 

you, at his confirmation hearing Secretary Vilsack promised this 

Committee that he would resolve once and for all, all the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s longstanding problems with discrimination within the agency, and here is what he said, and I quote: ‘‘If 

I am confirmed, the message will be clear. Discrimination in any 

form will not be tolerated in this Department.’’ 

Then he made a commitment to clear the backlog civil rights 

complaints leveled against the agency. In addition, the Government 

Accountability Office, GAO, after conducting a careful investigation 

of USDA’s history of discrimination, recommended that the agency 

immediately ‘‘obtain an expert, independent, and objective legal examination of the basis, quality, and adequacy of USDA’s investigation of and decisions on civil rights complaints along with suggestions for improvement.’’ That is from GAO. 

Do you know whether the agency has followed the GAO’s recommendations and hired such a legal expert? Or do you know if 

they are going to do so shortly? 

Mr. LEONARD. The first conversation that I had with Secretary 

Vilsack was about Pigford and settling Pigford. 

15 

The second conversation that I had with him was regarding the 

back-up, the large number of cases. The GAO report also had three 

data bases. There is no accurate number on how many complaints 

there are. I am confident, especially given—I saw that report to the 

Committee. I also saw articles of interviews that he did with USA 

Today and the National Journal very early on. I am confident that 

he will do whatever is necessary in the stalemate of complaints. I 

am very confident. 

To be frank with you, I had another option. I wanted to come 

here and work with him in settling these cases. 

Chairman HARKIN. I appreciate that. Again, having been on the 

House and Senate committees all these years, when all of this 

started coming to light—oh, gee, this has been over a dozen years 

ago, almost 15 years ago now—and hoping that things would 

change and happen, but it seems to me that whenever it was done 

internally, it never got done. 

And so, again, that is why we asked the GAO to do this study, 

and the GAO has basically said that they should obtain an independent expert, objective analysis of all of this, along with suggestions for what they do. And I would just ask you: Do you agree 

with GAO’s recommendation that the Department’s persistent failure to resolve its history of discrimination against its employees 

and program participants has created a need for the Department 

to immediate obtain an independent and objective legal examination? 

Mr. LEONARD. Well, without having talked to Secretary Vilsack, 

if confirmed, I am sure that he will do all that is necessary to respond to the GAO report. I am looking forward to working with 

people like Lloyd Wright in order to find these numbers. Those individuals have not been put in play, I think, because if he would 

have worked on this long enough, there would be a good number 

and the GAO report would not be needed. But I believe that, if confirmed, working with individuals, with the stuff of these individuals that are there that I have been able to meet the last week, 

I believe—and possibly working with an outside entity, I think that 

we will not have to revisit this in the next farm bill. And I welcome 

any additional resources that you would like to assist in giving us 

in order to—so that you will not have to revisit. You have been 

doing this a long time, and I can understand anything—another individual coming to you saying, ‘‘Give me time.’’ So I welcome any 

additional resources so that we can put this ugly chapter to bed. 

Chairman HARKIN. I appreciate that. I appreciate that. Well, it 

is just something that we just cannot—we just continue to kick the 

ball down the field. We cannot kick it down anymore. And Secretary Vilsack I know feels very strongly that way also. 

Well, my time is up. I just want to ask you, Jim, about the computer system, about RMA, but I will do that on my second round. 

I will yield now to our distinguished Ranking Member Senator 

Chambliss. 

Senator CHAMBLISS. Thanks, Mr. Chairman. 

Dr. Leonard, as you know, USDA is an extremely large governmental Department with a number of agencies and offices, well 

over 100,000 employees. The Office of Assistant Secretary for Civil 

Rights mission is, and I quote, ‘‘to provide leadership and direction 

16 

for the fair and equitable treatment of all USDA customers and 

employees while ensuring the delivery of quality programs and enforcement of civil rights.’’ 

How does your previous work experience prepare you for the responsibility of carrying out this mission in such a large organization? 

Mr. LEONARD. It is funny because, you know, I was talking to my 

wife earlier today, and it seems as though my entire life has led 

me to this moment. I remember going to a—and listening to your 

earlier comments, I remember I was coaching a track team in New 

Orleans, Louisiana, and no one wanted to coach this track team. 

Ironically, the social secretary’s father was athletic director for the 

district, and he said, ‘‘I will give you three teams. You can choose 

either one. Neither one of them have done much.’’ I chose a team. 

Within 5 years, we had everyone in state every year. 

Rainbow/PUSH is a hard place to work. Reverend Jackson will 

push you. It doesn’t sleep. I did that for 4 years. 

I went to the Black Leadership Forum, and the Black Leadership 

Forum had some debt. Paid off the debt in 2–1/2 years, and it is 

still a functioning organization. No one really wanted to go there. 

The Congressional Black Caucus, we have 43 bosses. It is an interesting place to work. And many people would heed that warning 

as well. 

And I listened to you all earlier. The only thing I could tell you, 

Congressman, is that you have to have a lot of dedication and 

‘‘stickability’’ there, I mentioned in my earlier comments, and that 

is my family’s version of discipline and stick-to-it-tiveness and discipline and diligence and trying your best in everything you do. 

And I have been blessed through the years to have people—I 

looked at the farm bill. You already are doing it. I have to implement what you all have done in 2002 and the adjustments that you 

made in the 2002 farm bill, and then the additional adjustments 

you made in 2008. 

The field is laid. I simply have to come in, preferably get, you 

know—if selected—come in and put the effort and talk to you all 

and speak to you all and get your advice and guidance, because you 

have been doing this much longer than I have. But the passion has 

to be there, the passion to correct change, and the passion Secretary Vilsack showed in stopping what is going on is very attractive. 

So I have, I believe, in addition, I think that I have everything 

that is needed. I have the stuff that is needed to do this because, 

I mean, this is a hard job. I think the team that Secretary Vilsack 

is putting together, listening to Mr. Miller’s statement, is ready to 

help. I think the alternative dispute resolutions, I think the beginning farmers program, I think the technical assistance, I think the 

idea that Mr. Miller comes in and wants to find a set of numbers— 

if he is that good on the numbers, I need him to work on some 

numbers for me. I mean, this sort of team that you are building 

together to win, to go back to my track analogy. 

So it is a lot of moving parts. Yes, it is. And you have to get managers in those moving parts that have the same degree of passion 

‘‘stickability,’’ discipline, and is on the same sheet of music as Secretary Vilsack, the coach. So we will—it is not any one person that 

17 

caused this problem, and it will not be any one that succeeds in 

it. But all of us working together, we will get it done. 

Senator CHAMBLISS. Thank you. You have got a lot of challenges 

out there, but your background does give you a lot of experience 

to rely on to address those challenges. 

Dr. Merrigan, I want to give you an opportunity to talk for a 

minute about your passion that I referred to, as well as your position on production agriculture. And I will not ask it in the form of 

a question. You and I have talked about this before together, but 

I want to give you an opportunity for the record to state your position, not just on sustainable agriculture but on production agriculture. 

Ms. MERRIGAN. Thank you for the opportunity, Senator Chambliss, and I thought back to our meeting, and I realize one of the 

things I want to tell you is I grew up in rural America. There are 

rural parts of Massachusetts where people actually have to drive 

an hour to go to the grocery store. I grew up in a home next to a 

farm—a farm that was lost to development, housing development, 

and to commercial enterprises. I grew up in a community next door 

to a town where farmers lost their water supplies because of 

groundwater contamination from tobacco, cigar-wrap tobacco up 

where we are at, tobacco growing and potato growing. 

And so being in rural America, American agriculture is a part of 

the fabric of who I am, and that is where I come from. While I did 

not grow up on a farm, it was part of my community. And coming 

to the Deputy job, I would see it as a great opportunity to represent all kinds of agriculture. 

As you have said, organic is a small slice of the pie, 2, maybe 

3 percent of overall production in American agriculture, a very exciting enterprise that has attracted young new farmers, and we certainly need new farmers because the aging population in the farm 

communities is of concern to all of us. But there is also the important disappearing middle, those farmers out there who are not 

making it, and I want to help and find ways to encourage them, 

and some of that is going to be through important conservation 

programs, to give them the assistance they need. EQIP, CRP, 

CSP—those are very, very important programs, and they help 

farmers. And I think that there are ideas that I can provide and 

help in that way. 

You know, 20 percent of producers are providing 80 percent of 

the food. I understand that reality, Senator Chambliss, and when 

I was AMS Administrator, I worked on the organic program, but 

I also worked on milk marketing orders and check-off programs 

and commodity purchases of all sorts. And so I would like my history before the Committee to be not just those articles, which are 

out there and they are provocative—I have always been a 

provocateur; that is part of my personality—but also some of the 

hard that I have done for a range of agricultural interests. 

Senator CHAMBLISS. OK. 

Jim, you have pretty well, I think, answered all the questions 

that I might have for you over the years that I have known you 

and had the opportunity to work with you. And I was very pleased 

to hear you say that right out of the box, you are going to look toward implementation of the farm bill, particularly with the regulaVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:53 Mar 24, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\DOCS\54567.TXT SAG2 PsN: SAG2
18 

tions that were forthcoming in the previous administration that 

have not been totally reviewed to this point and need to be reviewed and need to be put in place. 

The Chairman and I have had conversations with the Department about that very issue, and it is important that we get the 

farm bill implemented. Gosh, we are here already in the second 

year of that 2008 farm bill. That is hard to believe after all we 

went through last year, but you know the issues, and even though 

you come from a part of the world where you do not grow peanuts 

and cotton, as we do in the Southeast, you are very familiar and 

knowledgeable about those crops. And we have got some issues 

there particularly with respect to posted price on peanuts that I 

look forward to dialoguing with you about early, because it is a 

critical issue that is kind of unique to peanut farmers. 

So, again, thanks to all of you for your willingness to serve, and 

we look forward upon confirmation to working with you. 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you very much, Senator Chambliss. 

First of all, Dr. Leonard, before I finish with your series here, 

first of all, you mentioned that you are going to rely on Lloyd 

Wright, you are going to have Lloyd Wright working with you? 

Mr. LEONARD. He has been assisting in the briefings. 

Chairman HARKIN. Well, you could not find a better person, let 

me tell you that. OK? 

Mr. LEONARD. He has been very helpful. 

Chairman HARKIN. This guy is great. I know. He used to work 

for me. I see him sitting back there. You could not find a better 

person that knows that Department and knows how to get things 

done, so I recommend him highly for whatever you are using him 

for—well, I mean, it depends, I guess. But he is a great friend, and 

you are well advised to take his advice and consultation. 

Let me also say this, Dr. Leonard: I have known your boss—well, 

you have two bosses. You have got the Secretary and you have got 

the President, obviously. I am talking about your immediate boss, 

the Secretary. I have known him for—well, let us see—just about 

20 years now. Let me think about that. Yes, just about 20 years— 

before he was in office, when he was a mayor; when he was a State 

senator; of course, then as Governor. So I have just known him all 

these years. 

I can tell you that he gets it. When it comes to civil rights, this 

guy gets it. And you will not find a better boss and somebody to 

have on your side in clearing up this backlog. We have talked 

about it. This is not just something that he knows. I mean, he feels 

this in his guts. This guy gets it. So I just want you to know you’ve 

got someone I admire greatly, and I know how deeply committed 

he is to clearing this thing up once and for all. So you are going 

to have a good partner in that. 

Mr. LEONARD. Thank you. 

Chairman HARKIN. Jim, I said before, you know, one of the 

things we did in the farm bill, we put the money in there for the 

computers. This is kind of a mundane topic. But we put the money 

in there for computers for the RMA, but we were not able to get 

the money for the new computer system for the Farm Service 

Agency. 

19 

Now, I have already heard little problems about this may be 

coming up, so the antiquated system in FSA creates some inefficiencies there for their personnel and program participants. I am 

hopeful that soon we can come up with the money for that. We 

have got to get that done somehow. But, again, would you address 

yourself to the prioritization of the need to ensure that the improvements to the RMA computer system will be compatible with 

the Farm Service Agency system so that this data is transferable? 

Now, that is kind of a mundane question, but I am telling you, 

I am already hearing that there may be some problems there. And 

this could slow things down, and, you know, we want to get these 

things moving as rapidly as possible. So if you could just address 

yourself to that need for those new computers at the FSA. 

Mr. MILLER. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is time that we 

move the Department of Agriculture, and particularly the FSA and 

the RMA, into the 21st century. And I know during the debate over 

the farm bill, there were a lot of discussions about the need for new 

technology in both agencies. And, of course, we were always fighting a battle of the budget at that time, and we know that it is not 

going to get easier as we look down the road. But we are in a situation now that there is always the fear that we could lose our ability 

to actually deliver programs just because of the systems that exist. 

If confirmed, I certainly want to work with you and Senator 

Chambliss and your House colleagues to figure out a way not only 

to bring new technology to RMA, but I completely agree with you, 

we have to find a way to have an integrated system, a system that 

can literally talk back and forth across agencies, because it is extremely important that they be able to share information efficiently, and also a system that can be more readily accessible by 

the stakeholders, by farmers and ranchers. And we know that that 

has a cost associated with it, but we are suffering, I think, a very 

great cost the longer we delay. 

We cannot just keep patching this old system back together and 

expect that it is going to serve the needs of the country in terms 

of the programs that we have to deliver. And as we make these 

programs more and more complex—and whether we like it or not, 

that is exactly what we have done—the need is even greater. 

Chairman HARKIN. One other thing, Jim, you know, we reduced 

the amount of acres in the CRP program down to 32, but that was 

not a limit. That was sort of a target. And now with all this talk 

about cap and trade—and we may actually pass that this year. I 

don’t know. I am not on that Committee. But it is going to have 

an impact on agriculture, and I think, to speak for us, we want to 

make sure that Agriculture gets its rightful place in the ability to 

sequester carbon and to be able to participate in that. 

Obviously, one of the best areas for that is CRP, long- term land 

set-asides. And so I just wonder if you have given that any 

thought, and then we just need to work together to make sure that 

if, in fact, there is such a cap- and-trade system, that we do have 

a strong place for agriculture and for our farmers to be able to partake of the benefits of that. And CRP, it seems to me, is one of the 

best. I just wonder if you have any observations on that. 

Mr. MILLER. Mr. Chairman, I certainly concur with you that the 

opportunities in rural America not only to increase our production 

20 

of a lot of different forms of renewable energy, whether we are 

talking about renewable energy in the form of liquid fuels such as 

the next generation of ethanol through cellulosic production or 

wind energy or solar, are tremendous economic opportunities. 

At the same time, I believe that you are absolutely correct, if we 

are going to do something in terms of taking a serious effort at reducing greenhouse gases, agriculture needs to be a participant in 

that in a way that it can benefit from the new technologies, whether they are for crop farmers or livestock farmers, that may allow 

them to get paid for sequestering carbon, for instance. 

So I certainly look forward to working with you and other members of the Committee in ways that we can ensure that farmers are 

able to benefit from this exciting new industry in a lot of different 

ways. 

Chairman HARKIN. Well, I am glad you added that. I did not put 

that in my question, but I am glad you added that because, obviously, wind energy and liquid fuels, biomass, all the things taking 

place, but also in addition to getting the benefits from carbon sequestration so that there could be a whole new income stream for 

farmers out there. 

Mr. MILLER. I think it presents maybe the best single opportunity that we have seen in production agriculture, possibly since 

the Green Revolution in terms of what we might be able to do in 

the future. 

Chairman HARKIN. All right. Thank you very much. 

Well, Dr. Merrigan, listening to your exchange on organics, it 

may be small, but it is the fastest growing part of agriculture in 

America today—the fastest growing part, even in Iowa. I think we 

must be—I think we are No. 2 now in the Nation. I think, if I am 

not mistaken, in the number of organic farms. And this has just 

burgeoned over the last few years. 

We used to have a saying in Iowa that if a young person wanted 

to get into agriculture, he did hogs, because you could turn pigs, 

you know, rapidly and it was a good cash-flow. Well, because pork 

production has now gotten larger and larger, more confined, to 

many of our younger farmers that is not a viable entryway now to 

agriculture. Organics is. We are finding a lot of young people in 

Iowa now with just a few acres able to grow organics and sell them 

at premium prices and get a good cash-flow. They may be working 

in town and doing other things like that, but at least it gives them 

some cash-flow. 

Well, to that end, this Committee did quite a bit in the last farm 

bill on organics. I was just looking at it. We did the Organic Certification Cost-Share Program. We had $5 million in 2002 bill. We put 

$22 million in the 2008 bill for the cost share. Organic research, 

we authorized it in the 2002 bill. We put $78 million in the 2008 

bill. 

For organic data collection, market data so we would have some 

market data out there for organic farmers to know what was happening, we authorized it in the 2002 bill, but we put $5 million in 

the 2008 bill. 

And in the organic EQIP, we put transition money in there, 

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21 

ronmental Quality Incentives Program, that they could be eligible 

for that. 

So we have, I think, on this Committee and in the House Committee recognized the importance of organic agriculture in this 

country and the need to do all we can to promote it. 

The demand is there. I have been talked to by people who run 

big grocery chains, and they have said to me they have to import 

organics because they cannot get enough here. That does not make 

sense to me. If the demand is there and the public is demanding 

it—and they are—then it seems to me we ought to be doing all we 

can to enhance and support it and to do all we can in the Department to help these organic producers. It is the breadth of everything now. It is vegetables, milk, dairy products, meat. All kinds 

of meat products now are organic, and the public is demanding it. 

So I am hopeful that you will continue to provide strong leadership in this area, strong leadership, because this Committee has 

spoken, and I also feel very strongly about it, that we need to make 

sure we support organic agriculture and organic farmers. And, you 

know, you said you want to be provocative. I wrote that down. That 

is good. Sometimes we need to provoke thinking, and new ways of 

thinking, in so many things that we do. So I am hopeful that you 

will use your position to continue to support what we did in this 

Committee to move ahead aggressively in those areas. 

The second thing I would bring up is the Conservation Security 

Program. You testified on that, on the Conservation Security Program. Well, we now call it the Conservation Stewardship Program, 

but it is basically the same. We just made it nationwide instead of 

in watersheds. And so you are very familiar with it. 

Secretary Vilsack said he wants to get the Conservation Stewardship Program into effect as quickly as possible, and I just wonder if you have any views on that and how we are going to fit that 

into the overall structure of our farm program system. 

Ms. MERRIGAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think the CSP is a 

wonderful program. ‘‘Reward the best, motivate the rest’’ I believe 

is the motto. I would want to work with Secretary Vilsack to put 

it right there on the front line as quickly as possible to implement 

the new changes that came forth in the 2008 farm bill. I love the 

basic concept of rewarding farmers for their stewardship. As Senator Chambliss said, farmers do not want to be out there degrading 

land, hurting their own chances of success. And we need to find 

new tools to help them and to reward them for their efforts. 

So one of my goals as Deputy would be to be working with my 

colleagues here at the table and really trying to implement an exciting array of new programs as well as fine- tuning of old programs that are in that historic 2008 farm bill. We need to get 

downtown, and we need to get to work as soon as possible. 

Chairman HARKIN. Well, I hope we can make that happen. 

I see we are joined by another distinguished Chairman of the Agriculture Committee on the House side. Senator Roberts? 

Senator ROBERTS. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and we have 

got quite a few Chairmen, as a matter of fact. 

Chairman HARKIN. We have got them all over the place around 

here. 

22 

Senator ROBERTS. I want to congratulate all of the nominees 

today. Each of you has a great task ahead and a lot of challenges. 

We all know that. If you are going to walk into any rural America 

coffee shop, ask five farmers what is on their mind in regard to the 

future of farm policy, you will probably get quite a variety of responses. And probably your coffee would be cold by the time that 

you get to enjoy it, and especially if they have figured out who you 

were and what you were in charge of. 

As you know, we have had an awful lot of increased input costs 

despite rising commodity prices. Declining prices, now they are 

coming back up, and the weather constantly weigh heavily on the 

minds of our producers. We just had one heck of a snowstorm out 

on the plains, 30 inches of snow in a small town in Kansas, set a 

record. It was good it was wet and stayed a little bit, so hopefully 

that will help out with the wheat crop. 

But our farmers and ranchers have to worry about other factors 

affecting their operations, and they are asking what is going to 

happen. What will the Government do next in regards to farm program policy? What additional regulations will they impose on agriculture? How much of the safety net will they cut away and give 

to other priorities? Let me repeat that. How much of the safety net 

will they cut away and give to other priorities, which I have some 

problems with? 

So these concerns are real, and, unfortunately, we do not have 

clear answers. And on top of these concerns, our producers seem 

to have fewer and fewer advocates willing to engage, it seems to 

me on their behalf in the public fight. And I think that is where 

you all can really help. 

Through your positions, I hope you will join the many of us in 

the Congress and on this Committee in public defense of all of our 

farmers and ranchers—Dr. Merrigan and I had a good discussion 

about this—regardless of size or structure or commodity or geographic location. As we used to say in the House, when I had the 

privilege of serving there and was Chairman and working with the 

great Chairman of the Committee over there, Kika de la Garza, he 

used to say either hang together or hang separately. 

We must not lose sight of the fact, I think, that our farmers and 

ranchers continue to produce the safest, most abundant, and affordable food supply in the world. I do not know how many times 

Chairman Harkin and Chairman Chambliss have said that or I 

have said that, but it needs repeating because we just—we do not 

have the ag press that we used to have, and there are just an awful 

lot of folks that I think have forgotten about the value of production agriculture, and by ‘‘production,’’ I am not defining that by size 

by any means, or crop. 

Dr. Merrigan, I really appreciate your spending some time with 

me in my office. We had a good talk, and I appreciate that. And 

we get wrapped around the axle—unnecessarily, I might add— 

sometimes trying to define who is a small family farmer or who is 

a large family farmer or who is a family farmer. Instead, I think 

we should focus on the policies that benefit all of agriculture. 

My question to you: How will you as Deputy at the Department 

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23 

dressed? And we talked about this. You can shorten up your reply. 

I think I know what you are going to say. I appreciate it. 

Ms. MERRIGAN. Thank you, Senator. I actually have some former 

students in the back of the room, and they would tell you when 

they get to my class and they start talking about family farmers, 

factory farmers, corporate farmers, all of this rhetoric, I say, ‘‘Get 

rid of it all.’’ Get rid of all that terminology. Let us not vilify the 

big guys, make the little guys the heroes of the day. Let us talk 

about how we are going to make American agriculture work, various sizes, various different kinds of production schemes, various 

different kinds of models. And we want it all to work, and that is 

very, very important to me. 

I have had a history of leadership in agriculture, one that I embrace and am proud of, but I also think that I have worked very 

closely with the livestock sector. I have worked with the Cotton 

Council. I have worked with various commodity groups. And I want 

American agriculture to succeed, and that requires a diversity of 

approaches. It requires clear rules, certainty of program operation, 

and good management skills in the Department of Agriculture, and 

I would like the opportunity. 

Senator ROBERTS. I appreciate your answer. Your response was 

exactly the way we wrote it. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator ROBERTS. Mr. Miller, let me express my appreciation 

from all of us for all your hard work during the 2008 farm bill and 

previous farm bills. You have been a tireless supporter of ag policy 

for a number of years, and this administration I think is very well 

served to have you as part of the team. 

The Standard Reinsurance Agreement is scheduled to be renegotiated this year in reference to crop insurance. The crop insurance 

program—I remember Bob Kerrey and I working to try to improve 

that with the help of both gentlemen here. And, unfortunately, in 

my view, the crop insurance program has been used as a bank in 

too many instances to fund other programs. They are valuable programs, do not misunderstand me, but they should not be funded at 

the expense, again, of safety net programs for our farmers. 

What do you think the goals of the renegotiation should be? 

What will be your priorities as it moves forward? 

Mr. MILLER. Well, Senator, first of all, I am well aware of all the 

work you and former Senator Kerrey and the Chairman and Senator Chambliss put into ensuring that we have a viable Federal 

crop insurance program out there as a significant part of the safety 

net for farmers and ranchers. And I certainly support the program. 

I understand how important it is to our producers, and that importance has only grown, which I think is a testament to the work 

that you all did with the Agriculture Risk Management Protection 

Act. 

So certainly as we get into the renegotiation of the SRA—and I 

am not in the position where I want to lay out what I think a negotiating strategy ought to be prior to going into those negotiations— 

I think the end result has got to be a new agreement with the companies, with our partners that are providing that crop insurance 

out there that ensures that the American farmers and ranchers 

who want to participate in it still have a very good product. I think 

24 

we can improve on that product in a number of ways, and I certainly want to explore that not only with the companies, with the 

RMA professionals that we have at the Department, but certainly 

with you and your colleagues on how we can do that, and at the 

same time how can we improve the efficiency of the delivery and 

the accounting for those programs. 

The Chairman brought up the issue of technology, and certainly 

there is an area where, with the correct technology, if we can get 

that implemented, the savings for both the companies and the Government could be significant. We are spending, I believe, way too 

much time trying to push paper and trying to make systems that 

cannot talk to each other communicate, and it is not working. 

So I hope we can pursue that, and I think that is an area where 

both our private sector partners and RMA should be able to find 

some common ground. But we all know that we face a fiscal dilemma in this country, and, you know, we are going to have to address that head on. And, quite frankly, you know, I do not think 

farmers and ranchers ultimately are going to be immune from that. 

I think everyone is going to share in some of that pain. 

But I want to ensure that we have the best possible crop insurance program out there for our producers, and when I say ‘‘our producers,’’ I mean producers of all scales in all parts of the country. 

Senator ROBERTS. Well, thank you for that answer, and I would 

only observe that, first, working on crop insurance- -and I think 

that is when, Tom, you and I were over on the House side. And 

I was working for Keith Sebelius then, but at any rate, a lot of talk 

at that particular time as to whether there should even be a Federal crop insurance program. That was a giant step for us, and certainly I think a very good one. 

The reality is that if you do not have a good crop insurance program and make it attractive and make it a true safety net, you are 

going to get into an emergency bill every year. It used to be that 

they were every even- numbered year. I think you know why that 

would be, but depending on whatever weather catastrophe that we 

would have. But, my gosh, if you get into these emergency bills, 

these disaster bills, they are a disaster to try to pass to begin with, 

costly, and they are a disaster to implement. I think most members 

who have worked on past disaster bills in a very honest effort to 

be of help to our producers in the various sections of the country, 

what would happen is that they would issue a press release when 

they passed it, and then in the implementation, they sort of went 

home for 6 months or did not really talk about it or very difficult 

to do that. And it is very time-consuming and very costly, and that 

is why a good crop insurance program I think is absolutely essential. 

Thank you for your statement, Dr. Leonard. I am not trying to 

overlook you. I think we will just approve you and go on down the 

road. 

I thank all the witnesses for being here, and thank you for holding this confirmation hearing, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you very much, Senator Roberts, and 

can I just say amen to what you just said about crop insurance. Pat 

and I may not always agree on everything in agriculture, but this 

is one thing we do agree on, in lockstep, on crop insurance. I think 

25 

we all pretty much basically agree on crop insurance here. We do 

have to make sure it works and works well. 

Well, we are just about ready to start our votes on the Senate 

floor. I would ask if any of you have any other statements or any 

other things you would like to say before we call this to a close. 

Going once, going twice, going three times. 

[No response.] 

Chairman HARKIN. Well, again, thank you for your willingness to 

serve in this administration. 

The Committee has received letters of support for each of the 

nominees. I ask unanimous consent those letters be made a part 

of the record. 

[The letters can be found on pages 136 through 185 in the appendix.] 

Chairman HARKIN. We have already told offices that any written 

questions need to be submitted by 6 p.m. today, and the USDA intends to return those answers by early tomorrow. And in consultation with the Ranking Member, we will see how we can expedite 

this process so that we can get the three of you confirmed as soon 

as possible. 

To all of you—oh, I am sorry. We do have another member of the 

Committee who just arrived. In the nick of time, John. I was getting ready to bang the gavel. 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman HARKIN. The distinguished Senator from South Dakota, Senator Thune. 

Senator THUNE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and if you are ready 

to wrap up, I can certainly submit some of my questions for the 

record. But I do thank you for holding the hearing, and I thank our 

nominees for their willingness to serve. 

I just want to, I guess, say that with respect to the issues that 

I am interested in and concerned about, as we all know, we wrote 

a farm bill last year, and there are certain provisions in that farm 

bill that we want to get up and going. In particular, I would reference the disaster assistance program which is still being, I 

think—we have not seen regulations on. And the other thing I 

would mention, too, Mr. Chairman, and that was a program that 

we worked some together on, the BCAP program, the Biomass Crop 

Assistance Program, which I am told now is going to require an 

EIS, which I think is going to delay this a long time. But I hope 

that the Department will move quickly on both those programs. 

They are both important to at least the people that I represent in 

South Dakota, the disaster assistance program as well as the 

BCAP program and the next generation of biofuels, which I think 

everybody wants to get to. Everybody wants to move to the next 

generation of biofuels, and it is going to be really important that 

we get these programs up and going and get the rules issued on 

those. 

There are a couple observations I would make, Mr. Chairman, 

and I might pose a question or two along those lines to Mr. Miller. 

But I would submit those for the record if that is—— 

Chairman HARKIN. If the Senator wanted to ask a couple of questions, that is what we are here for, and they have not called the 

votes yet, but they are getting ready to pretty soon. So I would be 

26 

more than willing to let the Senator go ahead and ask some questions. 

Senator THUNE. OK. Well, I would just, if I could, then, ask Mr. 

Miller, who will be the Under Secretary of Ag for Farm and Foreign Ag Services, the BCAP program that I mentioned, I am hoping 

that we can perhaps figure out a way to expedite this EIS process. 

But I would just simply, I guess, ask if there are some ways that 

we could do the environmental assessment that might make that 

process move along a little more quickly. I think it could be a long 

time, and there could be a lot of delays if the full-blown EIS is— 

and it can be done, but is there a way we could do an environmental assessment and begin to implement the program while the 

EIS is being complete. I guess that is my question. 

Mr. MILLER. Thank you, Senator. Let me just say, first of all, I 

think the work that you and Senator Klobuchar and many other 

members of the Committee did on the Biomass Crop Assistance 

Program truly is important as we try to resolve what really 

amounts to a chicken-and-egg problem in terms of getting to this 

next generation of biofuels. And that program is going to be, I believe, extremely important as we try to grow that industry and 

grow it successfully. 

Specifically concerning the issue that you have raised, if confirmed, and as I pointed out in my statement for the record, I am 

going to work as hard as I can to get the various programs, including the BCAP program, implemented as expeditiously as possible. 

And certainly when I get to the Department, I think we need to 

explore whatever options might be available to us to expedite that. 

I realize the BCAP program, in this farm bill at least, has a limited 

life. It would expire in 2012. We are already somewhat delayed in 

moving ahead, and it is my goal to advance those regulations and 

get as many of these programs off the ground in as short a time 

span as possible, including the BCAP program. It is going to be extremely important to us as we move ahead. 

Senator THUNE. And could you comment, as long as we are on 

the subject, on the disaster assistance program and where we are 

with that? 

Mr. MILLER. Well, again, if confirmed, certainly one of my goals 

is to move ahead as quickly as possible with implementing the disaster assistance program. Now, within that program specifically, 

final calculations cannot be made until we get to the end of the 

marketing year for various crops. But certainly I hope to be able 

to ascertain what the status of the regulatory process is, if confirmed, once I get to the Department, and advance that process as 

much as possible. 

I realize that we have already experienced disasters that should 

be assisted under that program that occurred in 2008. We are now 

rapidly approaching the spring planting season for the 2009 crop. 

In fact, it has begun in some of the Southern States. We need to 

at least get the rules designed and the program out there so farmers—in particular, their creditors—can look at it and be able to 

predict with greater certainty what the outcomes might be when 

we do get to the point where we can finally begin issuing payments. 

27 

So I am very interested in expediting that. I know there was a 

lot of work in the farm bill in creating this disaster program, and 

certainly it would be my goal to implement it consistent with the 

intent of Congress. 

Senator THUNE. It was one of the more difficult parts, I think, 

of the farm bill, as you know, and I just hope that we can get the 

permanent program in place and regulations issued. We already 

are having, with the winter blizzards in my State, a lot of dead cattle. A lot of ranchers are having an awfully hard time getting out 

to check on their cattle. And so this is a persistent problem in our 

part of the world, and the permanent disaster program was designed to anticipate some of these things rather than reacting to 

them. And I think it is important that we get the program up and 

going, so I hope that you will work as hard as you can once you 

get there to get after that. 

Thank you all. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you, Senator Thune. I think that will 

conclude our proceedings. 

As I said, I have discussed with Senator Chambliss how to expedite this. Hopefully we can get it done as soon as possible so you 

can all get in your offices and get to work right away. Again, I congratulate you all and all your families who are here today. It is a 

great honor, but it is also a great responsibility, and we look forward to working with you as co-equal branches of the Government 

to strengthen our agricultural system in America in all of its aspects—in all of its aspects. 

With that, the Senate Committee will stand adjourned. [Whereupon, at 3:28 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.] 

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