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S. HRG. 111–247 

HEARING TO CONSIDER THE NOMINATIONS 

OF JONATHAN STEVEN ADELSTEIN, 

KEVIN W. CONCONNON, AND EVAN J. SEGAL 

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 

JULY 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 Jonathan Steven Adelstein, Kevin 

W. Conconnon, and Evan J. Segal to the U.S. Department of Agriculture ..... 1 

Tuesday, July 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 ......... 8 

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

Johnson, Hon. Tim, U.S. Senator from the State of South Dakota ..................... 6 

Pingree, Hon. Chellie, U.S. Representative from the State of Maine ................. 4 

Thune, Hon. John, U.S. Senator from the State of South Dakota ...................... 7 

Panel I 

Adelstein, Jonathan Steven, Nominee to be Administrator, Rural Utilities 

Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture ........................................................... 11 

Concannon, Kevin W., Nominee to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for 

Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services ............................................................ 13 

Segal, Evan J., Nominee to be Chief Financial Officer, U.S. Department 

of Agriculture ........................................................................................................ 15 

APPENDIX 

PREPARED STATEMENTS: 

Grassley, Hon. Charles E. ................................................................................ 26 

Thune, Hon. John ............................................................................................. 27 

Adelstein, Jonathan Steven ............................................................................. 28 

Concannon, Kevin W. ....................................................................................... 32 

Segal, Evan J. ................................................................................................... 34 

DOCUMENT(S) SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD: 

Committee questionnaire and Office of Government Ethics Executive 

Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report filed by Jonathan 

Steven Adelstein ........................................................................................... 38 

Committee questionnaire and Office of Government Ethics Executive 

Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report filed by Kevin 

W. Concannon ............................................................................................... 81 

Committee questionnaire and Office of Government Ethics Executive 

Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report filed by Evan 

J. Segal .......................................................................................................... 100 

Organizational letter of endorsement for Jonathan Steven Adelstein ......... 129 

QUESTION AND ANSWER: 

Casey, Hon. Robert P., Jr.: 

Written questions to Jonathan Steven Adelstein .......................................... 132 

Written questions to Kevin W. Concannon .................................................... 140 

Written questions to Evan J. Segal ................................................................ 143 

Chambliss, Hon. Saxby: 

Written questions to Kevin W. Concannon .................................................... 138 

Page

IV 

Klobuchar, Hon. Amy: 

Written questions to Jonathan Steven Adelstein .......................................... 132 

Written questions to Kevin W. Concannon .................................................... 140 

Written questions to Evan J. Segal ................................................................ 143 

Roberts, Hon. Pat: 

Written questions to Jonathan Steven Adelstein .......................................... 134 

Stabenow, Hon. Debbie: 

Written questions to Kevin W. Concannon .................................................... 138 

Thune, Hon. John: 

Written questions to Jonathan Steven Adelstein .......................................... 135 

Adelstein, Jonathan Steven: 

Written response to questions from Hon. Robert P., Casey, Jr. ................... 132 

Written response to questions from Hon. Amy Klobuchar ........................... 132 

Written response to questions from Hon. Pat Roberts .................................. 134 

Written response to questions from Hon. John Thune .................................. 135 

Concannon, Kevin W.: 

Written response to questions from Hon. Robert P., Casey, Jr. ................... 140 

Written response to questions from Hon. Amy Klobuchar ........................... 140 

Written response to questions from Hon. Saxby Chambliss ......................... 138 

Written response to questions from Hon. Debbie Stabenow ......................... 138 

Segal, Evan J.: 

Written response to questions from Hon. Robert P., Casey, Jr. ................... 143 

Written response to questions from Hon. Amy Klobuchar ........................... 143 

(1) 

HEARING TO CONSIDER THE NOMINATIONS 

OF JONATHAN STEVEN ADELSTEIN, 

KEVIN W. CONCONNON, AND EVAN J. SEGAL 

TO THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Tuesday, July 7, 2009 

U.S. SENATE, 

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION AND FORESTRY, 

Washington, DC 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:07 a.m., in room 

328A, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Tom Harkin, chairman 

of the Committee, presiding. 

Present: Senators Harkin, Stabenow, Casey, Klobuchar, Chambliss, 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 Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and 

Forestry will come to order. We are meeting today on a hearing on 

the nominations of three individuals to take important positions at 

the U.S. Department of Agriculture. We will hear testimony from 

these three nominees chosen by President Obama. 

First will be Jonathan S. Adelstein for administrator of the Rural 

Utility Service; Kevin W. Concannon for under secretary for Food, 

Nutrition and Consumer Services; and Evan J. Segal for chief financial officer. We welcome you to the Committee, congratulate 

you on your nominations and commend you for your willingness to 

serve. 

The administrator of the Rural Utility Services plays a vital role 

in helping farmers, ranchers and all rural citizens and communities across our nation enjoy electricity, telecommunications, including broadband, water, waste water systems. These services are 

vital elements of economic progress and quality of life for our rural 

communities. 

Mr. Adelstein is a former commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission and a former member of Senator Daschle’s 

staff when Senator Daschle was both majority and minority leader, 

and also when he was a member of this Committee. In both positions, he has helped in greatly crafting and then carrying our rural 

broadband initiatives and investments. 

President Obama and Secretary Vilsack are to be commended for 

luring Kevin Concannon out of a short-lived retirement in Maine 

after serving as director of Human Services in Oregon, Maine and 

2 

most recently, Iowa. I can personally attest to his ability and his 

dedication. Most notably during the devastating Iowa floods last 

summer, he ensured that thousands of Iowans received critical food 

assistance when they needed it. 

Mr. Concannon’s peers honored him in 2007 with the life 

achievement award of the American Public Human Services Association. I know Mr. Concannon will serve in this capacity with the 

same skill and dedication that marked his tenure in my state. 

The chief financial officer of USDA is responsible for the financial management and oversight of an enterprise with 100,000 employees, 14,000 offices and field locations, $128 billion in assets and 

about $77 billion in annual spending. This is a very important responsibility, a position we entrust with ensuring that taxpayer dollars are spent carefully to achieve the intended purposes. 

Evan Segal has a strong and successful background in business. 

We look forward to his applying his talents and experience to the 

financial management of the Department of Agriculture. 

Again, welcome to the Committee and I will now turn to our 

ranking member, Senator Chambliss. 

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

THE STATE OF GEORGIA 

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

and I appreciate, obviously, you holding this very important hearing this day, but most importantly, I appreciate the three gentlemen that we are here to review today and to hopefully confirm in 

proper order. I welcome you, as well as your families, to the Committee. 

Mr. Adelstein, as we consider your nomination to serve as the 

administrator of Rural Utilities Service, I recognize that you are 

certainly no stranger to the Senate. Your 15 years as a staffer here 

on the Hill will undoubtedly serve you well upon your confirmation. 

As you mentioned in your written comments, you were heavily 

involved with expanding access to broadband service in rural areas 

during the 2002 Farm Bill. Of course this will be an issue that you 

will instantly inherit at RUS with 2.5 billion authorized in the 

stimulus bill for such purposes. 

Additionally, you are uniquely positioned with the experience you 

will bring to the table from your recently relinquished tenure as a 

commissioner of the FCC. The digital divide is a real concern to 

rural and more sparsely populated areas of our country. Those 

without access to internet service, particularly broadband and high 

speed service, are disadvantaged in many ways. 

You well understand this and you know that the Worldwide Web 

is at your fingertips and when it is, it opens countless avenues to 

E-Commerce, online job applications and routine daily chores like 

paying the bills and checking your bank statement. It even can enable better farming practices. 

In my home state, the Flint River Soil and Water Conservation 

District partnered with the University of Georgia to deploy a 

broadband pilot network for the main purpose of irrigation, water 

management and water conservation. The system communicates 

precise moisture levels and photos over wireless broadband to proVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:48 Mar 24, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\DOCS\54571.TXT SAG2 PsN: SAG2
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ducers’ laptops or home computers, allowing for optimum crop irrigation without ever overwatering. 

They estimate a 15 percent reduction in water use since employing that project. In the notice of funding availability that the administration released last week for the stimulus broadband initiative programs, they recognized that the recovery act was intended 

for rapid disbursement of funds, but also that the program must 

also be administered judicially to ensure responsible use of public 

funds. 

I agree that it is important not to sacrifice the quality of projects 

simply for the sake of getting them done quickly. Also, I would encourage you to extend broadband access to areas that are unserved 

before deploying to those who already have service options. 

Obviously telecommunications are not the only area that the 

RUS administrator oversees and I trust that you will equally value 

the importance of the water and waste disposal and rural electric 

programs that are crucial to rural communities. Having represented a rural electric co-op for 25 years before I got to Congress, 

I have a very special relationship with that group, as I know you 

do, and we want to make sure that we treat that organization fairly and in a way that allows for rural communities to continue to 

get not only the best form of electric service, but now with respect 

to telecommunications and broadband service. 

I am pleased to welcome Mr. Kevin Concannon as the president’s 

nominee to under secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer 

Services. USDA’s Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services oversees 

15 domestic nutrition programs and the Center for Nutrition Policy 

and Promotion. 

FNCS touches the lives of one in five Americans every year and 

has an annual budget of over $60 billion, larger than many cabinetlevel departments. I am pleased that Mr. Concannon brings to the 

table a distinguished career in administering nutrition, health and 

human services programs in various states. 

Your previous public service makes you ready on day one to take 

the helm of the FNCS mission area and oversee the implementation of nutrition child programs of the Farm Bill, as well as work 

with the Congress during reauthorization of the child nutrition programs. 

I am especially pleased that you have a strong record with the 

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, formerly 

the Food Stamp Program. It is very important to me that you 

maintain and build upon the recent years of success and SNAP’s 

payment, accuracy and participation rates. 

SNAP has some of the most robust quality measures of all Federal programs and public support for SNAP is strong due to overall 

high performance. Congress will look to your leadership to implement innovative approaches to improve payment accuracy and participation rates among eligible people. 

Your strong relationships with state administrators around the 

company will be a major benefit to succeeding in this endeavor. I 

look forward to working with you to ensure that FNCS programs 

are effective tools to not only combat hunger in the country, but 

also to improve the nutritional intake of all Americans. 

4 

Mr. Chairman, I would note also that there seems to be a continuing ring of nominees that come up here that have some connection with Iowa. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator CHAMBLISS. I don’t know why that is, but it is a great 

state. Finally, welcome to Evan Segal, a new face to the Agriculture Committee. Senator Casey’s introduction and his comments 

about you that I have already reviewed speak to your qualifications 

and I look forward to working with you as you assume the position 

of chief financial officer at the department. 

Your extensive management and financial experience will be an 

asset as you tackle the challenges ahead. The Department of Agriculture is one of the largest of the Federal agencies, with a Fiscal 

Year 2009 budget of $124 billion and approximately 7 percent of 

the non-defense Federal workforce. 

You and I talked earlier about the fact that coming from the private sector there can be a huge change in the atmosphere when 

you deal with that kind of bureaucracy, but I know you are going 

to be up to the challenge. 

You will likely find that running the department’s finances will 

not be like those you are accustomed to, but I do have confidence 

that your private sector experience will help you navigate any problem you encounter. I also want to applaud your commitment to 

public service. You are obviously a successful businessman, have a 

strong commitment to philanthropy and we would like to thank you 

for stepping out of those roles for the foreseeable future in service 

to the department, its employees, as well as the American people. 

Mr. Chairman, I am pleased with the quality of these nominees 

and upon completion of this hearing, I am hopeful that we might 

expeditiously move these nominations in order to get USDA fully 

staffed as soon as possible. Thank you. 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you very much, Senator Chambliss, 

and now for introductions of our nominees, I would first call on our 

guest from the House side, Congresswoman Pingree. For purposes 

of introduction, I am respectful of the fact that you came all the 

way over here and you have obligations on the House side also, to 

introduce Kevin Concannon. 

I might just say that yes, we are proud that he was in Iowa, but 

he was also in Maine too, and I think that is why Congresswoman 

Pingree is here. I just want to welcome the Congresswoman. I have 

known her for a long time, previously majority leader in the Maine 

Senate and was the CEO of Common Cause for a number of years 

and now in her first term here in the Congress, strong advocate, 

I might add, for Children’s Nutrition Programs. So I can see the 

great connection between you and Mr. Concannon. 

So welcome to our Committee, Congresswoman, and for purposes 

of introduction, I will recognize you at this time. 

STATEMENT OF HON. CHELLIE PINGREE, U.S. 

REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE STATE OF MAINE 

Ms. PINGREE. Thank you very much, Senator Harkin and Ranking Member Chambliss. It is an honor to be here with your Committee and to all the other members of the Committee, thank you 

5 

very much for allowing me to spend a couple of minutes speaking 

about our great Maine native, Kevin Concannon. 

I will say first, you are right, I am a newly elected member of 

the House, so it is quite a treat to come over here and visit with 

the Senate once in awhile, and I am also pleased to be on the Agriculture Committee. 

I may have mentioned to the chair before, but my family were 

all Scandinavian immigrants who moved to Iowa when they came 

here to this country and farmed there for many years in Story City, 

so we got our start there and I also have a background in agriculture, so while I do not serve on this committee in the House, I 

am pleased to be with you at least for a minute, and also very 

pleased to also just be here while you are confirming or looking at 

the nomination for Mr. Adelstein. 

I got to know him a little bit when I worked at Common Cause 

and he was on the FCC and you have a wonderful lineup of nominees here today and I know he would also do great work for our 

country. 

But I am really here today just to say a few words about Kevin 

Concannon and I truly am honored to introduce him, to be in the 

presence of his family and to talk a little bit about his great work 

in Maine, as well as Iowa and the State of Oregon. 

I first got to know him when I served as the Maine Senate Majority leader, as you mentioned, and we did a whole variety of work 

on child nutrition, on seniors, on TANF, on healthcare, and most 

notably for me, on the area of prescription drugs and availability 

of prescription drugs. Kevin was serving at the time as the commissioner of Health and Human Services for an independent Governor 

in Maine and he had an exemplary record of outreach, but also 

working well with both sides of the aisle, which was very helpful 

to me in my particular position. 

He and I worked together on a bill to make sure we could ensure 

more access for prescription drugs for our senior citizens and I can 

say without a doubt that bill would never have passed without the 

support of Mr. Concannon, his credible work, his ability to work 

with both the Governor on both sides of the aisle and all of the 

legal issues surrounding it. 

It actually got a unanimous vote in the Senate in the State of 

Maine and nearly unanimous in the House. Of course, it is a little 

more rowdy body, as you know, but we passed and to his credit, 

in 2003, when it was heard here at the United States Supreme 

Court, because of his great understanding of the legal work as well, 

it was seen to be approved by the Supreme Court. So he has just 

an incredible record. 

He is very well regarded in our state. He is seen as a compassionate, enthusiastic and energetic public leader. He manages very 

well at the interface between state and Federal laws, which proved 

to be very helpful, certainly when I was working with him, and I 

know it would serve him well in this job. 

He did a lot of interesting work, not just in the area of 

healthcare and child nutrition, but also with people with disabilities, the frail elderly, using a lot of creative community options 

and alternatives to make sure everyone had access to care. 

6 

He oversaw Maine’s food stamp and WIC program, did tremendous work around outreach and eligibility to simplify that in making sure that all Maine residents who were eligible had access to 

the programs that they needed. I just think that his diversity of experience will serve him, this Committee, the Department of Agriculture extremely well. 

I cannot think of a better nominee. I cannot think of anyone I 

have enjoyed working with more when he was in our state and 

someone who comes with a greater reputation from the other states 

that he has worked in. Should you choose to confirm his nomination as under secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, 

I think that he will do an extraordinary job in this time of tremendous need and I think he will put his creativity and experience to 

work for this country and we will all be well served. 

So thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak about Mr. 

Concannon and I hope that you choose to confirm him and I think 

he will do very well. So thank you very much. 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you, Congresswoman, very much. You 

can stay if you like, but if your duties on the House side require 

you to leave, we certainly understand that. 

Ms. PINGREE. I will stay a couple minutes, thank you. 

Chairman HARKIN. I would now like to turn to the two South Dakota senators, Senator Thune and Senator Johnson. I guess, how 

would I do this? 

Senator JOHNSON. I am senior. 

Chairman HARKIN. You are senior, OK. 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman HARKIN. I will turn to senior Senator Johnson first 

and then Senator Thune. 

STATEMENT OF HON. TIM JOHNSON, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE 

STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA 

Senator JOHNSON. Chairman Harkin, Senator Chambliss and 

members of the Committee, it has been a long time since I last 

served on this Committee. It is good to see the Georgia peanuts. 

Chairman HARKIN. Right. 

Senator JOHNSON. I am pleased to introduce a fellow South Dakotan, Mr. Jonathan Adelstein, as the Senate Ag Committee considers his nomination for U.S. Department of Ag, administrator for 

Rural Utilities. I can think of no one better qualified for this important position than Jonathan. He brings to this position an impressive background as an advocate for rural America, as well as a 

dedication to working in a thoughtful, bipartisan way. 

His role as the commissioner of the Federal Communications 

Commission and previous experience as a policy advisor to former 

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle demonstrates his talent and 

commitment to public service. I would especially like to mention 

that as a staff member in Senator Daschle’s office, Jonathan was 

heavily involved in enacting legislation in the 2002 Farm Bill 

which influenced the development of the Rural Utilities Service 

Telecommunications Program to include a broadband agenda. 

It is only fitting that Jonathan now be entrusted with administering the very same program he helped craft. Our rural communities maintain diverse interests and needs and I am confident JonVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:48 Mar 24, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\DOCS\54571.TXT SAG2 PsN: SAG2
7 

athan will expertly navigate these diverse stakeholder concerns to 

ensure a vibrant future for our rural communities. 

Our rural America has an excellent voice in Jonathan and I urge 

the members of this Committee and my Senate colleagues to confirm Jonathan Adelstein’s nomination. Thank you. 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you very much, Senator Johnson. Welcome back to your old stomping grounds here. It is nice to see you. 

We now turn to our distinguished member of this Committee, 

Senator Thune. 

STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN THUNE, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE 

STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA 

Senator THUNE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Senator Johnson 

stated it well, but I also want to join him and congratulate Jonathan and welcome him to the Committee and look forward to him 

being confirmed to this important position. 

I want to thank our other noms for their willingness to serve as 

well. These are important jobs, but there are a few people in public 

service today, Mr. Chairman, who have a better understanding of 

rural issues, particularly telecommunications issues, than does 

Jonathan Adelstein. Jonathan, as Senator Johnson noted, has 

served on the Federal Communications Commission for the past 7 

years. 

He was confirmed twice by the U.S. Senate, both in 2002 and 

2004, to that position. 

He has been an outspoken advocate on behalf of consumers and 

carriers in rural America. Whether it is spectrum allocation or universal service or broadband access, rural consumers could always 

count on Jonathan’s leadership within the Federal Communications 

Commission and I think it is very fitting that he be nominated to 

serve as director of the Rural Utilities Service, particularly as the 

RUS begins to deploy $2 billion in rural broadband assistance. His 

experience with rural telecommunications issues is going to come 

in especially handy and I think prove to be an invaluable skill set 

as he comes into the job. 

High speed broadband is key to economic development in rural 

areas. It is absolutely essential that as we distribute these funds, 

that it be done in the most efficient and effective way possible, particularly in unserved and underserved areas, and I am confident 

that Jonathan is the right person for that job. 

Before serving on the FCC, as Senator Johnson noted, Jonathan 

had a very distinguished career here on Capitol Hill, working legislative issues for a 15–year period, dealing with telecom, housing, 

transportation, financial services and prior to that, was a teaching 

fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and 

also at Stanford as a teaching assistant in the Department of History. 

He has MA and BA degrees from Stanford University, so terrific 

academic background. I believe his diverse experience makes him 

uniquely qualified for this position and particularly when you look 

at the important challenges that we have in front of us when it 

comes to rural infrastructure programs in this country, whether 

that is water, electricity, telecommunications, you name it. 

8 

So Mr. Chairman, this Committee has a long history of bipartisanship, as does the Adelstein family. Jonathan is originally from 

Rapid City, South Dakota, where his father, who is with us today, 

Stan, serves as a state legislator, as well as a successful businessman and philanthropist. The Adelstein family has a proud tradition 

of public service and I want to welcome Jonathan, as well as his 

family members, his wife, Karen, and his children, Adam and Lexi, 

to the Committee today as well. They live here in the Washington, 

D.C. area. 

So Mr. Chairman and Senator Chambliss, I congratulate Jonathan on this nomination. As I said before, I cannot think of anyone 

more qualified to perform the important duties that are associated 

with this position and I hope that we will quickly confirm him into 

the job so he can begin going to work. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

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

now for introduction of Evan Segal, I turn to another distinguished 

member of this Committee, Senator Casey, from Pennsylvania. 

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 appreciate the prompt action on scheduling this hearing. I know how 

busy you are as a member of several committees, including the 

Health Education Labor Pensions Committee, as we deal with 

healthcare reform, so we are especially grateful for your work in 

scheduling this hearing and I want to thank our ranking member, 

Senator Chambliss, as well. 

I want to commend the two nominees that are here with us that 

I will not be speaking about, but I want to commend them, Mr. 

Adelstein, Mr. Concannon. Mr. Concannon was nice enough in one 

of our—during the midst of a hearing to meet with us in a hallway, 

which was particularly—we are particularly grateful for that in the 

midst of our schedule. 

But I am here to speak about someone who is my friend and I 

should be very candid about that, he is a friend of mine and so 

some of what I say might reflect that friendship. But I think it will 

be an objective assessment of his record, his character and his ability to lead as the chief financial officer for the United States Department of Agriculture. 

Evan Segal’s reputation as an outstanding business owner and 

his commitment to public service makes him an excellent choice for 

this position, the chief financial officer of such a big Federal Government agency and such an important agency, to places like the 

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, but really across our country. 

Evan is a former owner and president of Dormont Manufacturing 

Company, the nation’s leading manufacturer of flexible stainless 

steel gas appliance connectors. During his time as the CEO of that 

company, and just imagine this, those of us who think we can run 

things, he oversaw the dramatic growth of the country—the company I should say, from sales of 5 million to sales of 60 million, creating 250 jobs in the process. 

He is currently an executive in residence at the Carnegie Mellon 

University Tepper School of Business and he serves as a mentor for 

9 

startup companies. In addition to his business qualifications, Evan 

has a long history of service to his community, for groups like the 

Community Day School, the Evan and Tracy Segal Family Foundation, the United Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh’s Management 

Committee, and the Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of 

Business that I mentioned before. I have no doubt he can do this 

job and I have no doubt he can do this job well. 

But I have to say in a personal way that our commonwealth is 

very proud of you, Evan, today. It is rare that a state can send 

someone to Washington at such a high level in such a significant 

agency at a very important time in our nation’s history, when we 

are dealing with a world and national economic crisis, we are dealing with the ravages brought about by that and hunger and people 

not having enough to eat and all of the ramifications for the Department of Agriculture, as well as a tough time for our farmers 

and their families. 

We are grateful that you would be willing to serve, so our commonwealth is proud of you and you should know that as you start. 

I know that Tracy is proud of you. She was before today as well, 

and that Tess and Ariel are proud as well. But I know Evan Segal 

to be tough, smart and honest and we can ask for no more from 

our public officials, whether they be elected or appointed. 

Finally, let me say that one of the things that has guided a lot 

of people who serve in public office is a set of principles. One of 

them—one of those principles is etched into the building in our 

state capital, the finance building where I used to work. It says 

very simply, all public service is a trust given in faith and accepted 

in honor. 

I have no doubt that Evan Segal, as an important member of the 

team at the Department of Agriculture, lead by Secretary Vilsack, 

who has roots in Pennsylvania, but Iowa gets to claim him as well, 

but I know that as part of that team that Evan will live by that, 

that motto that public service is a trust, that it is given to those 

of us who have a chance to serve with a sense of expectation that 

we are going to discharge the responsibilities we have with honor. 

Evan, I know you are prepared for this job. We look forward to 

your speedy confirmation. I cannot stay for the hearing today because like Senator Harkin, we have to eventually get back to our 

Health Committee meeting, markup actually. But I am grateful 

that you are willing to serve. We are proud of you and God speed. 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you all and now that you have all 

been formally and duly introduced, I have two housekeeping 

things. First, I must administer an oath and I would ask you, all 

three, to rise and raise your right hand. 

Do you swear or affirm that the testimony you are about to provide is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so 

help you God? 

Mr. ADELSTEIN. I do. 

Mr. CONCANNON. I do. 

Mr. SEGAL. I do. 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you very much and you may be seated. Do each of you agree that if confirmed, you will appear—this 

is an important question—do you agree that if confirmed, you will 

10 

appear before any duly constituted committee of Congress if asked 

to appear? Mr. Adelstein? 

Mr. ADELSTEIN. I do. 

Chairman HARKIN. Mr. Concannon? 

Mr. CONCANNON. I do. 

Chairman HARKIN. Mr. Segal? 

Mr. SEGAL. I do. 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you all very much. And now, we will 

turn to opening statements in alphabetical order, Mr. Adelstein 

and then Mr. Concannon and Mr. Segal. If you could keep your 

statements within five to 7 minutes or so. 

We also like to ask our nominees to introduce their family members. I know Mr. Thune mentioned that you had some family members here and others, so Mr. Adelstein, I will recognize you, your 

statement. All of your statements will be made a part of the record 

in their entirety. I will just ask you to summarize them, but before 

you do that, Mr. Adelstein, how about introducing your family who 

is with you? 

Mr. ADELSTEIN. Well thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would love to. 

My wife, Karen is here, who has put up with the life of a public 

servant for a long time and supported me through everything. My 

son, Adam, is here, who is skipping camp for this. His sister, Lexi, 

did not skip camp. She is in camp, but she would love to be here 

as well. 

My father is here from South Dakota. Senator Chambliss mentioned there is an Iowa connection everywhere. He was born in 

Sioux City, so I guess that is mine. 

Chairman HARKIN. Well he did not move too far. 

Mr. ADELSTEIN. All the way to Rapid. But he is also a state senator, as Senator Thune mentioned, and chairman of the Health 

Committee in the South Dakota State Senate, so very interested in 

what you are up to over in the Health Committee. 

Chairman HARKIN. When we are through here, do you want to 

come next door? We are having our Health Committee markup 

there, as Senator Casey said. 

Mr. ADELSTEIN. My niece Shirley and her fiance, Josh, are here 

as well. Love to have them. My brother, Col. Dan Adelstein, is 

here, who also is a public servant, serving in the House of Representatives as a staff member for Geoff Davis of Kentucky. His 

wife, Judy, is also a public servant—we have a lot of this in the 

family—who is a person that works at the FDA. So we are—my 

brother-in-law is here, Ike Brenner, and his wife, Jennifer Brenner. 

We thank you for coming and that is a good crew of family 

from—— 

Chairman HARKIN. Very good. Thank you very much for being 

here. 

[Applause.] 

Chairman HARKIN. Great family. Please proceed, Mr. Adelstein. 

STATEMENT OF JONATHAN STEVEN ADELSTEIN, NOMINEE TO 

BE ADMINISTRATOR, RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Mr. ADELSTEIN. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much, and Senator Chambliss, members of the Committee, thank you so much for 

11 

holding this hearing. It is a great opportunity to appear before you 

as the nominee to be administrator of the Rural Utilities Service. 

I am deeply grateful to President Obama for nominating me, Secretary Vilsack for supporting that nomination. Mr. Chairman, it is 

largely due to your leadership and that of many members of this 

Committee, that the RUS now has a unique opportunity to help restore economic prosperity for the president’s stimulus package. 

To meet the high expectations that you have rightfully set for the 

RUS, I will draw upon what I learned as a four generation South 

Dakotan. My great grandmother homesteaded in the Badlands and 

thrived there along with so many of her neighbors that were scattered around because they pulled for each other. 

Her son, my grandfather, began a long family history of improving rural infrastructure. He started a construction company back in 

1925 that my father, who I just introduced, took over and made 

that thrive before moving on into retirement to his own career in 

public service. His idea of retirement is being here in the winter 

time. 

The motto of our family company remains with me even now, 

builders of better bridges and highways. Mr. Chairman, if confirmed, I will carry that motto with me to the RUS. Now of course, 

in the 21st Century economy, it means more than just roads. 

Through technology, people can connect in ways that my great 

grandmother could not have possibly imagined. 

Small communities once faced economic extinction without access 

to the highway system that my family helped to build out there. 

Today they depend upon access to the main arteries of the communication system, the power of our electrical infrastructure and plentiful sources of clean water. 

RUS has a critical role to bring these benefits to rural Americans. RUS strives to support utilities that are as good as any in 

the nation. As commissioner of the FCC over the last 6 years, as 

Senator Thune and Senator Johnson mentioned, I have worked on 

a bipartisan basis to help meet the communications issues facing 

rural America. It is clear to me from what I have learned that we 

need to upgrade our infrastructure in every corner of this country. 

We need to make new technologies more widely available and affordable to everyone no matter where they live, what challenges 

they face, whether they have disabilities. We are going to make 

sure that everybody has access to the miracle of broadband. I have 

aggressively promoted broadband deployment and adoption on the 

FCC, but even though we made real strides, I have been frustrated 

that we have not done more. We are not keeping pace with our 

global competitors. We need to restore our place as the undisputed 

world leader of communications technology and rural America is 

the most important place to start. 

The role of the RUS is to ensure that all the rural pipes, electric, 

telecommunications, and water are affordable to all and second to 

none. This is not only critical for the future of rural America, but 

to our country’s overall economic growth. 

In the 15 years I served on the staff of Senate Majority Leader 

Tom Daschle, I saw firsthand the commitment that Congress has 

made to rural Americans. If confirmed, I will use that experience, 

12 

and of course, your guidance, to maximize the effectiveness of RUS 

as Congress envisioned. 

In fact, as Senator Johnson pointed out, one of my proudest 

achievements in the Senate was advising Senator Daschle during 

the 2002 Farm Bill Conference. Mr. Chairman, you and Senator 

Daschle really took the lead on creating provisions to expand the 

scope of RUS to include support for broadband. 

Rich Bender and Shawnee Wiggins and I kind of camped out at 

the conference here to make sure that that program worked. Along 

with you and your staff, Mr. Chairman, we helped move the RUS 

into the 21st Century, beyond just voiceovers to the broadband 

world. The administrator at the time was Chris McLean, who is 

here now, and he gave us some good guidance along the way as 

well. 

It would be a special honor if confirmed to implement the program to make sure that it works well. We need to help young people who want to stay in the small towns, farms and communities 

where they grow up to find economic opportunities if they want to 

stay there. Modern utilities are essential to address their needs on 

so many levels, just to name a few, in terms of health, education, 

public safety, employment and the general quality of life. 

These systems are the backbone of our economic development efforts. If confirmed, a special party that I would be eager to address 

is American’s need for renewable energy. There is also a pressing 

need for safer drinking water, better waste water systems for many 

of our rural communities, which are essential to the health of our 

citizens. 

All of this can be done in a way that promotes diversity, respects 

civil rights and all of our program and employment practices. Mr. 

Chairman, if confirmed, I will work to continue the proud family 

tradition we have of building better bridges and highways. Thank 

you for the opportunity to testify. 

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

28 in the appendix.] 

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

now we will turn to Mr. Concannon, and Mr. Concannon, if you 

would introduce your family members who are here with you. 

Mr. CONCANNON. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I would 

like to introduce my wife, Eileen, is over here on the right-hand 

side, and my second oldest son, Michael, in the middle here with 

the yellow tie, and then our son Steven, and then our youngest son, 

John, and our granddaughter Catherine Concannon. 

Two of these folks are from Maine, from southern Maine, and my 

son Steven lives just outside of Boston. So thank you very much. 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you for being here. 

[Applause.] 

Chairman HARKIN. Especially Catherine. 

STATEMENT OF KEVIN W. CONCANNON, NOMINEE TO BE 

UNDER SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE FOR FOOD, NUTRITION AND CONSUMER SERVICES 

Mr. CONCANNON. Chairman Harkin, Ranking Member Chambliss, members of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 

13 

Forestry, I am Kevin Concannon, appear before you as the nominee 

for under secretary of Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services. 

I want to thank Congresswoman Chellie Pingree of Maine’s 1st 

Congressional District for that very generous and kind introduction. She and I work very well together and I look forward to working with her and members of this Committee if confirmed. 

I am most grateful to President Obama and to Secretary Vilsack 

for placing their confidence in me, especially at this time in this 

challenging economy and when our country is so mindful of the 

millions of our fellow Americans facing the struggles of food insecurity, poor nutrition, obesity and the resulting health problems and 

costs associated with these circumstances. 

I am passionately committed to the obligation we share to those 

less fortunate among us and should the Senate vote to confirm my 

nomination, I will work diligently to provide the leadership and 

sound stewardship over these portfolios of food, nutrition programs 

and consumer services. 

In my roles as a state health and human services director in 

Iowa, Maine and Oregon, among parallel program responsibilities, 

I have overseen and championed USDA programs, including the 

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly the Food 

Stamp Program, WIC, Women, Infants and Children, the Emergency Food Assistance Program, and have advocated for the School 

Lunch, School Breakfast and Summer Feeding Programs. 

Last year in Iowa, with widespread devastation caused by tornadoes and unprecedented flooding, emergency disaster food assistance and SNAP benefits were among the first and vital elements 

in assisting thousands of Iowans adversely affected by these natural disasters. 

I had similar experience with these programs a decade ago in 

Maine during a major winter ice storm and its extended aftermath, 

so I know firsthand these are essential safety net programs. Providing ready access to nutritious, affordable food through these 

USDA programs is an expressed goal of President Obama, Secretary Vilsack, many members of this Committee and throughout 

Congress. 

Iowa has been a leader in promoting local farmers markets as a 

venue for affordable produce through SNAP and wireless technology. If confirmed, I will continue to promote through USDA programs such as SNAP and WIC, expanded access to farmers markets, both for the benefit of our program enrollees and growers, but 

I will also continue to advance the understanding and perspective 

I espouse as a state official. These programs are purposely and 

strategically in the Department of Agriculture because at their 

core, they reflect the output of American farming. 

Programs such as SNAP benefit at least three major groups of 

Americans, the 34 million current recipients of the program, nearly 

half of whom are American children, food suppliers, food stores, retail outlets, and the farmers who ultimately grow the food. 

I feel especially fortunate and honored to be here today as a first 

generation American. My parents, now deceased, were Irish immigrants, naturalized citizens who conveyed to their children among 

other human values, a sense of our good fortune as Americans, our 

obligation to others, and our respect for government. 

14 

While there is no shortage of challenges and obligations within 

the FNCS at USDA, should the Senate choose to confirm me, I will 

also work to find common cause with other sectors within USDA, 

with sister Federal agencies such as the Centers for Medicare and 

Medicaid, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Administration for Children and Families in the Health and Human 

Services Department, and the U.S. Department of Education, who 

share responsibilities in areas of focus that impact American consumers and particularly low-income children and adults. 

From my state level experience, I know that some of our most 

effective initiatives are those that help people, were those that cut 

across organizational boundaries and limitations. Importantly, I 

have enjoyed the many opportunities and outcomes of working with 

Governors and state and Federal elected representatives. If confirmed, I pledge to work with members and staff of this Committee 

and other parts of Congress and meeting our obligation to the 

American people through the programs and services of the Food, 

Nutrition and Consumer Services. 

Finally, I wish to express my love and appreciation to my wife, 

children, their families and my brothers and sisters for their support and encouragement over the years, my years in public service. 

They have made sacrifices and their particular enthusiasm for this 

opportunity for me to serve in a national leadership role is really 

one of the energizing factors for me. 

Finally, I thank you for your consideration and look forward to 

responding to your questions. 

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

32 in the appendix.] 

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

now, Mr. Segal, we will turn to you and I see you have family 

members here too. 

Mr. SEGAL. I do. 

Chairman HARKIN. Please introduce them to us. 

Mr. SEGAL. Absolutely. Well, we are represented from both sides 

of the state. I have my wife, Tracy, and our daughters, Tess and 

Ariel, and my parents, Jerry and Monica Segal, all from Pittsburgh, and then from—in addition, my brother, Eric, and my niece 

and nephew, Jory and Julia Segal. 

Then from Philadelphia, I have my sister-in-law and brotherand-law, Deborah and Peter Houston, their son, Geoffrey Mills, and 

their grandson, Sean Mills, and in addition, my cousin, my nephew, 

Brian and Graham, also from Philadelphia. So I am glad they are 

all here and we are excited. 

Chairman HARKIN. Great family. 

Mr. SEGAL. Thank you. 

[Applause.] 

STATEMENT OF EVAN J. SEGAL, NOMINEE TO BE CHIEF 

FINANCIAL OFFICER, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Mr. SEGAL. Mr. Chairman, Senator Chambliss, and the distinguished members of the Committee, I am honored to be here today 

as the president’s nominee for the chief financial officer of the 

United States Department of Agriculture. 

15 

I also want to thank Senator Casey, not only for his kind words, 

but for his leadership, his intelligence and his integrity in representing the State of Pennsylvania. My journey leading me to today’s meeting really began 30 years ago, when I worked several 

summers in my father’s factory sweeping the floors, picking up 

shop towels, assembling products and running production machines. 

It was a great opportunity to learn the business from the bottom 

up and develop relationships with those people whose hard work 

and sweat are the backbone of our country. I had the fortunate opportunity to attend Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, 

where I earned both a BS and an MBA from the Tepper School of 

Business and I had the opportunity to learn many skills, tools and 

concepts that have prepared me for my business career. 

One of the strongest lessons was the opportunity to work in 

teams with highly talented people in a high pressure environment. 

Upon graduation, I joined Scott Paper Company as a financial and 

strategic planning analyst. At Scott, I was able to actively participate in the management of a large organization with many complex 

operations. I learned the importance of disciplined systems, structures, processes, lessons that would serve me well throughout my 

career. 

After several years at Scott, I decided to return to Pittsburgh to 

join my father at Dormont Manufacturing Company. Dormont manufactured flexible, stainless steel gas appliance connectors, the 

metal hose that is used to hook up gas appliances to the gas supply 

line. Over the next 20 years, we significantly expanded the business and created many new jobs. 

We were highly focused on integrating world class management 

processes into our business and scaling them to help achieve our 

goals. Along with an incredible group of talented people, we began 

to utilize quality management tools, including lean manufacturing 

and Six Sigma. We focused on developing and training our people 

to manufacture and deliver the highest quality gas connectors in 

the world at a competitive price and with an unmatched level of 

customer service. 

The ability to effectively execute and implement our goals enabled us to create a highly successful business. In addition, I had 

the opportunity to work with a wide range of customers, suppliers 

and end users from all around the United States and around the 

world. For all of our customers, regardless of size, which range 

from some of the largest corporations to small family businesses, 

we were committed to their success. 

Over the past 3 years, I have been fortunate enough to be able 

to give back through my active involvement in several philanthropic organizations. These different experiences have helped 

make—have given me many invaluable lessons that upon confirmation I think will help me succeed in my role as the chief financial 

officer at the Department of Agriculture. 

First there was the phrase that my father taught me. People do 

not care how much you know until they know how much you care. 

In this case, caring means a deep respect for the people that you 

work with, the conscious need to listen to their ideas, thoughts and 

opinions and the desire to help them succeed, whether it is in the 

16 

workplace, the global arena or on the athletic field, success starts 

with people who are willing to work together toward a common 

goal. 

Second, successful organizations highly focused on the implementation of its strategies and goals, recognizing that it needs to work 

smart and to utilize the skills, tools and knowledge to meet and exceed those objectives. This starts with active listening, learning 

from past successes and failures and building on the cumulative 

wisdom of the organization. 

The next step includes the development and alignment of the organization’s mission with its strategies, goals and objectives. Next 

is perhaps the most challenging part, which is successful execution. 

This includes the development and regular monitoring of well defined goals and metrics. Finally, it includes working collaboratively 

with all stakeholders to implement the changes to help achieve the 

agreed upon goals. 

Third, through our commitment at Dormont, world class quality 

and zero defects, I learned the importance of utilizing the skills 

and talents of our people, combined with well-defined processes, to 

increase quality, improve efficiency, eliminate waste and lower 

costs. 

It is possible to improve customer service and lower costs 

through collaborative teamwork and effective implementation of 

proven systems and processes. I understand that the Department 

of Agriculture is a highly complex organization that supports a 

wide range of missions in various areas of responsibility. It is also 

a department that has many highly talented, experienced professionals who work every day to fulfill the mission of the Department 

of Agriculture. 

The Office of the Chief Financial Officer encompasses a wide 

range of responsibilities, including financial systems, financial policy and planning, financial operations and the National Finance 

Center. These activities include active involvement in strategic 

planning, ongoing accounting operations, audit and internal control 

functions, financial reporting, and cost-effective systems and services to other Federal organizations. Fortunately, the Office of the 

Chief Financial Officer already has a tremendous staff that does an 

excellent job everyday in fulfilling these important responsibilities. 

I look forward to this wonderful opportunity to serve our country 

in working with this talented team of professionals. I understand 

the critical importance of carefully managing the financial systems 

of the department and upon confirmation, I will work effectively, 

collaboratively and with great diligence to support the goals of the 

Obama Administration for the Department of Agriculture. 

In addition, I want to state my commitment to civil rights at the 

department. I will work hard to ensure the department’s employment practices will not tolerate any form of discrimination. I will 

build upon my experience and knowledge and lessons learned as a 

successful business owner, corporate executive, entrepreneur and 

educator to provide the leadership and financial management skills 

to support the department and its stakeholders. 

Finally, I want to thank my wife and my family for providing unconditional love and understanding in all my endeavors. Their support has enabled me to realize the many successes in my career 

17 

and allowed me to be here today. I also want to thank the members 

of the Committee for this opportunity to appear before you today. 

Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Segal can be found on page 34 

in the appendix.] 

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

all for very great statements, and again, I congratulate each of you 

on your nominations and we will do what we can to expedite this. 

I just have about one question for each of you. Mr. Segal, since 

2000, the Risk Management Agency has successfully utilized data 

mining of information on the operation of the Federal Crop Insurance Program to detect potential fraud and abuse and achieve considerable program savings. I believe that this technique has also 

been used with some success in recent years in detecting fraud in 

the SNAP, in the Food Stamp Program. 

Will you commit to looking into how this tool might be used for 

other USDA programs which make significant payouts to large 

numbers of individuals? And in particular, I would ask that you 

call in a former colleague of ours on the House side—well I served 

with him in the House before I came to the Senate; well you did 

too—Charlie Stenholm, a former ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee, who has briefed my staff on this and brought 

to our attention the savings that were obtained by this data mining 

of information? 

I don’t know if you have looked at that or not. If you haven’t, I 

would just ask that you please take a look at that. 

Mr. SEGAL. Absolutely, Senator, and upon confirmation, I would 

be glad to look at not only that, but all tools that really look at how 

we can run the department more efficiently and more effectively. 

Chairman HARKIN. As I mentioned in my statement, how many 

offices you have and how many people, you are spread all over the 

country, I mean, the world. For a chief financial officer to have that 

many different locations and different people in every aspect of agriculture, that is a big job, so in any ways that we can find and 

how we can achieve savings and streamline things and bring things 

up to modern standards. 

Of course, one of the big problems you have, you probably already know this already, is your outdated computer system. Senator Chambliss I know has wrestled with this. I have, a lot of us 

have wrestled with how we are going to leapfrog that and get that 

up to present standards. 

So I would be looking forward to any suggestions that you have 

to us on how we do that. If you have any statements on that, I 

would be glad to listen to it right now, just on how we get that outdated computer system up to present standards. 

Mr. SEGAL. I think it really goes back to the basic problem-solving methodology, whether it is the computer systems or whatever. 

Obviously, coming from Carnegie Mellon, having some good background with computer systems—but I think it is fundamentally— 

and I think you and the Committee members have dealt with this 

for a number of years, it is initially—and this comes from some of 

the Six Sigma methodology, but really defining the problem and 

then understanding what the goals or objective are in terms of 

what we are trying to do, what are the specific opportunities that 

18 

we can to move ahead, and then put in place those fixes both short 

term and long term. 

I think that once you have a problem-solving methodology that 

is effective, and that is really essentially what a Six Sigma methodology is, it is a problem-solving methodology that can be applied to 

whether it is the IT infrastructure or the crop insurance fraud or 

data mining, whatever it might be, it is using a methodology that 

is proven, that is successful in making it work. 

I really look forward upon confirmation working with you and 

the members of the Committee and would be glad to meet with you 

and your staff to address any specific concerns that you or Senator 

Chambliss or other members of the Committee might have. 

Chairman HARKIN. OK, thank you very much. I look forward to 

that. Mr. Concannon, Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, I 

think this Committee and our counterpart in the House side, we 

have been very good at promoting the production of food in this 

country, no doubt about that. Look at the success we have had 

since World War II. 

But now we have another problem and that is nutrition. We 

know the growing rates of obesity in this country. We know the 

problems of hypertension and diabetes, all the things that are affected by early nutrition programs. And so this year, as you know, 

we are supposed to reauthorize the Child Nutrition Bill, School 

Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. I hope we can get that done 

before the end of the year. 

I am kind of just curious about your previous experiences in 

those areas touching on child nutrition and any thoughts you might 

have on where we should be headed. Now as you know, one of the 

things that we are contemplating, it is going to be, at least in our 

chairman’s mark on the bill and I think on the House side too, and 

that is, giving the secretary of Agriculture the authority to regulate 

all of the food in school. 

Right now the secretary just has the authority to regulate the 

food in the lunchroom, so you go outside the lunchroom down the 

hall and there are the vending machines and all the junk food. So 

we are contemplating—I shouldn’t use the word—we are going to 

start the process of having the secretary have jurisdiction over all 

the food in the school so that the nutritious foods that we put in 

the School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs are not undermined by the vending machines and a la carte lines and that type 

of thing in our schools. 

I just invite you, any thoughts you might have on that, things 

that you might look forward to doing in the nutrition area. You 

mentioned that farmers—farmers markets. You did a great job in 

Iowa on that and I commend you for that. And where we did the 

wireless technology where people could go with their coupons—not 

coupons, but—— 

Mr. CONCANNON. EBT cards. 

Chairman HARKIN. EBT cards. EBT cards. And have it immediately swiped in the farmers markets, I think that worked. 

Mr. CONCANNON. Yes. 

Chairman HARKIN. I think it worked well. Any thoughts about 

expanding that? 

19 

Mr. CONCANNON. Yes indeed, Senator. I am very interested in 

seeing what we can do, both—I know the secretary has mentioned 

that, and the president, in his concern about the very issues you 

cite, obesity and promoting sounder nutrition for Americans. Clearly the fact that the USDA, the programs, even in the Food Nutrition Service, amount to nearly $80 billion annually in expenditures. 

The good news is the impact that it is having in terms of providing 

access to food for people. 

But we recognize, just as you have cited, the growing concern in 

the country, the phenomenon of obesity- and diabetes-related 

health issues. I am very mindful before I start, and should I be confirmed, of the opportunities to work with other Federal agencies, 

the CDC, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. 

I reflect back on state experience in dealing with smoking, as an 

example, and some of the most effective anti- smoking efforts we 

took were not those isolated in the public health sections of state 

agencies, but those that cut across to Medicaid to the Child Welfare 

Agencies, to the TANF programs. 

So I am very anxious to look at what the history has been so far 

of our mutual efforts, mutual aid efforts with other enforcers on the 

Federal side and partners in the state and local agencies to try to 

deal with this. I know it is—in part it is a cultural thing. We have 

evolved to this over the past 30 or 40 years and it is going to take 

efforts on a number of fronts. 

To your question about schools, I know at the state level we often 

encounter the issues of schools frequently raising funds through 

their soda machines and other avenues in the school for extracurricular activities. We got considerable pushback to our efforts to 

try to again have a more coherent policy of nutritious food. So I am 

very anxious and would be happy to work with the Committee on 

that. 

Chairman HARKIN. Thank you very much, Mr. Concannon. We 

look forward to working with you on that also. There are some 

bumps in the road, but I think they can be overcome; I really do. 

Mr. Adelstein, again let me thank you for all your work in the 

2002 Farm Bill. You mentioned that in your statement, in getting 

the broadband provisions in there. It did not quite work out exactly 

like we thought they were going to work out and there were some 

problems there, but as you know, we just put, what was it, 2 billion, 2 billion, right, in the stimulus? Two billion in the stimulus 

for—— 

Mr. ADELSTEIN. 2.5. 

Chairman HARKIN. I stand corrected, 2.5 billion in there for 

broadband. So now we want to do it again, but we want to do it 

right and we want to get that money out there. 

I do not think we are ever going to see that kind of money again 

ever for getting broadband technology out to our smaller communities and it is so important. We talk a lot—you know, this Committee is viewed upon a lot of times just as we are farmer oriented, 

but we have to be looking at the infrastructure also. 

So many of our small communities that our farmers rely on are 

drying up, and when they do not have businesses that they can 

deal with or even schools to go to, where kids are going an hour 

in the morning, an hour at night just on a bus to school, they leave 

20 

when it is dark, they come home when the sun is setting in the 

wintertime—a lot of times even our churches are closing up. They 

have to go an hour away just to get to a church on Sunday. 

So the infrastructure is kind of crumbling. I am reminded of a 

small business in a small town in Iowa that was growing. It was 

an insurance business and had they had broadband, they would 

have been—they had a new product they were—had they had 

broadband, they would have been able to expand their business in 

that town. They didn’t, so they moved to Des Moines. 

Well good news is it is still in Iowa. Bad news is it is not out 

in that small town where they could have added 25 people to the 

work rolls because they didn’t have broadband. 

So that is just all preface, just saying that we really have to work 

hard to get this money out in the way that it is intended, to get 

to the small communities. And a lot of times a lot of these small 

communities, when they put in their applications, they may not 

have skilled grant writers that the bigger communities have and 

they may make mistakes on their applications and a lot of times 

they get shunted aside. 

I hope you will commit yourself to making sure that your staff 

works with these really small communities to help them. If they 

make mistakes, get back and work with them and get it worked 

out so they have an adequate chance of getting this funding also. 

So that is just my way of first thanking you for your past work 

on it, but sort of throwing the challenge to you now. You know the 

background. You know what needs to be done, but making sure 

that we get that broadband out there to these small communities 

that really need it. 

Mr. ADELSTEIN. Well thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for 

giving us the opportunity to do that. This is an unprecedented level 

of resources and that means an unprecedented level of responsibility to get it right. 

At the same time we need to get it right, we have to get it out 

fast in order to stimulate the economy. We saw the job numbers 

this week and we cannot afford to wait. And yet, we cannot afford 

to waste a dime of taxpayer money, so it is going to be an incredible challenge for the RUS. 

Customer service is key. I think we need to be as responsive as 

we can to these small communities. You should not have to hire a 

grant writer or hire a consultant to be able to get money for a 

small rural town, to somebody who is gathering together. We will 

work with state governments. We will work with non-profits. We 

will work with anybody and try to find the best projects that are— 

you know, really get broadband where they need to be. 

Senator Chambliss laid out a great example of that pilot project 

in Georgia. There are so many examples. You can go on and on 

about it. I have seen them in my years on the FCC, of how 

broadband can transform opportunities in rural areas, economic opportunities, cultural opportunities, educational, healthcare, the list 

goes on and on. And if we do not get this right, you said, we may 

never get this amount of resources again. We may not get any more 

resources from Congress if we cannot prove to you that we were 

able to use that money wisely. 

21 

I commit to you to do everything in my power to make sure we 

use it wisely, effectively and get broadband out to every part of the 

country that needs it, that we can afford to with the amount of resources you provided. 

Chairman HARKIN. I appreciate that very much. Congratulations 

again to all of you. Thank you very much and I will turn to Senator 

Chambliss. 

Senator CHAMBLISS. Thanks, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Adelstein, continuing with that line of the 2.5 billion in the stimulus package for 

broadband, the I.G. issued a report back in March of this year in 

which he stated that the overwhelming majority of communities, in 

fact 77 percent, receiving service through a broadband program already have access to technology without the RUS program and 

when I talked in my opening comments about the fact that we really do need to get this money in unserved areas, that is an example 

of why. 

I know you are aware of that, but it really is important that we 

spend the money No. 1, and that has been one of our issues; we 

have not been spending all of the money that is there. But now we 

have some new opportunities. But we do need to make sure that 

folks in rural Iowa, as well as rural Georgia and rural Texas, are 

getting access to broadband. 

I urge you to address this early and to really figure out innovative and creative ways that we can make sure it gets to those people that you talk about that do not have the resources to come in 

with a huge grant writing capability. 

I want to talk for just a second about nuclear energy. I realize 

that once confirmed you are going to report to Secretary Vilsack, 

but I recently saw where the Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu said that nuclear energy, and I quote, ‘‘has to be a part 

of the mix.’’ And he described it as a clean base load energy resource. 

Georgia, my electric co-ops, as well as the municipal systems and 

Georgia Power, have teamed up to build two new nuclear plants 

adjacent to Plant Vogtle, which they already own. It is a nuclear 

power-producing facility. Since nuclear power is a non-carbon emitting source of power, it would seem to me that this project would 

be a perfect candidate for RUS base load financing and since you 

will directly oversee the rural electric programs, can I get a commitment from you to ensure that you will work to reestablish base 

load financing for nuclear power at RUS? 

Mr. ADELSTEIN. Senator Chambliss, there are, as you know, impediments to financing base load generation currently with OMB 

and also there was an attempt in the Farm Bill to open up the possibility of having fees assessed that could help to finance those. But 

I will commit to you that I would be willing to raise this issue with 

the Administration to see what can be done. 

Senator CHAMBLISS. I do think that long term this issue of carbon emissions is going to be with us and there is just no question 

but that nuclear power is one of the solutions to that problem. So 

I hope you will give it due emphasis and we will look forward to 

working with you on that. 

One other quick issue. When the stimulus funding for the B&I 

Loan Guarantee Program was authorized, it has kind of been sitVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:48 Mar 24, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\DOCS\54571.TXT SAG2 PsN: SAG2
22 

ting there. Do you have any idea in your discussions leading up to 

this confirmation hearing as to when there is going to be an announcement on the disbursement of those funds? 

Mr. ADELSTEIN. This is the water funds? 

Senator CHAMBLISS. They would be included in there? Yeah, the 

Business & Industry Loan Guarantee Program, that I do not think 

would include the water funds. 

Mr. ADELSTEIN. Right, the Business & Industry Loan, I am not 

familiar with that. Under Secretary Tonsager, who was recently 

confirmed, has been working on that. RUS does not have authority 

over that program, so I am not familiar with the disposition of the 

stimulus funds. I would be happy to look into that and get back 

to you forthwith on what the status and timing is on disbursing 

those funds. 

Senator CHAMBLISS. Again, in this current state of financial uncertainties, that particular program is critical to folks not just in 

Georgia, but in all parts of rural America, so any emphasis you can 

give to that I would appreciate it. 

Mr. Concannon, your mission area is leading development of the 

2010 dietary guidelines in conjunction with U.S. Department of 

Health and Human Services. The dietary guidelines are updated 

every 5 years at considerable expense and time of Federal employees. The purpose behind the frequent update is to ensure that Federal nutrition policy is based on the most accurate science instead 

of diet fads or other factors. 

The dietary guidelines are a key component to all Federal nutrition assistance and education programs and they focus on an overall diet and nutritional intake instead of characterizing foods as either good or bad. I mention this because there are various efforts 

to steer the Federal Government to implement nutrition guidance 

from outside sources, whether they are attempts to limit what 

foods can be purchased with SNAP benefits or foods sold in schools. 

While there is strong bipartisan support to improve the diet and 

exercise habits of all Americans, and especially those that participate in USDA assistance programs, I believe that an incentivebased approach is more effective than a punitive approach of penalties and strict Federal mandates and I would appreciate your 

thoughts on this subject and your assurance that you will honor 

the dietary guidelines for Americans as the official Federal nutritional policy. 

Mr. CONCANNON. Senator, I am new to some of the aspects of the 

questions obviously that you have raised, but I am of the understanding that in the farm bill that was passed several years ago, 

there were incentives, pilot program incentives to encourage people 

to in the, I believe it was in the WIC program, to make better use 

of more nutritious foods, fruits and vegetables, and it is my understanding that later this year, between some elements within the 

USDA and some of these pilot programs, will be reviewed for the 

effectiveness of some of those incentives. 

The point you raised, Senator, broadly in your statement, that 

there are broad concerns about nutrition in the country, as it has 

been previously noted—and I think we need to both honor those dietary guidelines, but also work with other parts of the public and 

23 

private sector to encourage both moderation and better nutritional 

habits for Americans. 

Senator CHAMBLISS. We do spend a lot of time and a lot of money 

on the preparation of those dietary guidelines and studies show 

that few people actually follow them. In fact, I think only about 3 

percent of adults, according to the most recent study, really pay 

much attention to those recommendations. 

So I hope that you will give strong consideration to educational 

programs about communicating to all Americans what is contained 

in those dietary guidelines and make sure that we are able to get 

the best bang for that buck that we are spending with respect to 

the publication of those guidelines. 

Mr. CONCANNON. Yes, sir. 

Senator CHAMBLISS. Mr. Segal, I think the chairman has covered 

the basic points that I wanted to cover with you, with one small 

exception and that is, let me just say first, this issue of updating 

the Enterprise Financial Systems at USDA has been an ongoing 

project. 

One of our complications has frankly been the lack of funding to 

adequately do the job. It is not going to be cheap. I hope that what 

you may do initially is to look at developing a plan. Trying to do 

all of this at one time may be impossible, may be impractical. I am 

not sure we could put a brand new computer in every FSA employee’s hands within a 12–month period, so it may take us a couple 

of years. 

But if you can develop a reasonable plan, let me just assure you 

that there will be bipartisan support on the Hill to see about the 

implementation of that plan. One aspect of that plan needs to be 

consideration of how we keep information relative to producers private. That is always a difficult issue to deal with, whether you are 

in the private sector or whether you are dealing with government 

programs. 

So as you look at developing a system that will provide better 

service to our producers around the country, I hope you will think 

again of some innovative and creative ways and use your background to help us come up with a program that ensures the privacy 

on the part of those producers and that will in and of itself allow 

us to provide greater assistance and make sure that the people who 

are entitled to payments under the programs are the ones that are 

actually getting those payments as opposed to frankly some of the 

abuses that have taken place in the system. 

So again, to all three of you, I would just say congratulations, 

No. 1, on your nomination. You are all eminently qualified to carry 

out the challenges that have been presented to you and we look forward to a swift confirmation and look forward to working individually with each one of you in your respective areas. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman HARKIN. I would like again ask for any—for the senators who could not be here this morning due to other commitments who would like to ask for any written questions to the nominees, to be submitted to the clerk of this committee by 6 p.m. this 

afternoon, by 6 p.m. today. So the staffs who are here, if there are 

any written questions, have them in by 6 today. 

24 

We would like to get the nominees hopefully up sometime this 

week if we can and on the floor of the Senate. So I would—again, 

do any of you have anything else you would like to bring up to the 

Committee at all for the record or anything like that? Going once, 

going twice. 

Again, congratulations to each one of you. We will try to expedite 

this process. Look forward to working with you. Thank you all very 

much. 

The Committee will stand adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 11:19 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.] 

(25) 

A P P E N D I X 

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