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S. HRG. 111–1029 

NOMINATION OF RAMONA EMILIA ROMERO, 

OF PENNSYLVANIA TO BE 

GENERAL COUNSEL, 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, 

NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

DECEMBER 9, 2010 

Printed for the use of the 

Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

( 

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

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY 

BLANCHE L. LINCOLN, Arkansas, Chairman 

PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont 

TOM HARKIN, Iowa 

KENT CONRAD, North Dakota 

MAX BAUCUS, Montana 

DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan 

E. BENJAMIN NELSON, Nebraska 

SHERROD BROWN, Ohio 

ROBERT CASEY, Jr., Pennsylvania 

AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota 

MICHAEL BENNET, Colorado 

KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, New York 

SAXBY CHAMBLISS, Georgia 

RICHARD G. LUGAR, Indiana 

THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi 

MITCH MCCONNELL, Kentucky 

PAT ROBERTS, Kansas 

MIKE JOHANNS, Nebraska 

CHARLES GRASSLEY, Iowa 

JOHN THUNE, South Dakota 

JOHN CORNYN, Texas 

ROBERT HOLIFIELD, Majority Staff Director 

JESSICA L. WILLIAMS, Chief Clerk 

MARTHA SCOTT POINDEXTER, Minority Staff Director 

ANNE C. HAZLETT, Minority Chief Counsel 

(II) 

(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Page 

HEARING(S): 

Nomination of Ramona Emilia Romero, of Pennsylvania to be General Counsel, U.S. Department of Agriculture ................................................................... 1 

Thursday, December 9, 2010 

STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY SENATORS 

Lincoln, Hon. Blanche L., U.S. Senator from the State of Arkansas, Chairman, Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry ................................ 1 

Chambliss, Hon. Saxby, U.S. Senator from the State of Georgia ........................ 3 

Casey, Hon. Robert, P., Jr., U.S. Senator from the State of Pennsylvania ........ 2 

Witness 

Romero, Ramona Emilia, of Pennsylvania, to be General Counsel of the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture .................................................................................. 5 

APPENDIX 

PREPARED STATEMENTS: 

Casey, Hon. Robert, P., Jr. .............................................................................. 16 

Cochran, Hon. Thad ......................................................................................... 18 

Romero, Ramona Emilia .................................................................................. 21 

DOCUMENT(S) SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD: 

Public 5 day letter, Committee questionnaire and Office of Government 

Ethics Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report 

filed by Ramona Emilia Romero .................................................................. 24 

QUESTION AND ANSWER: 

Lincoln, Hon. Blanche L.: 

Written questions to Ramona Emilia Romero ................................................ 52 

Chambliss, Hon. Saxby: 

Written questions to Ramona Emilia Romero ................................................ 56 

Cochran, Hon. Thad: 

Written questions to Ramona Emilia Romero ................................................ 53 

Harkin, Hon. Tom: 

Written questions to Ramona Emilia Romero ................................................ 60 

Roberts, Hon. Pat: 

Written questions to Ramona Emilia Romero ................................................ 54 

Romero, Ramona Emilia: 

Written response to questions from Hon. Blanche L. Lincoln ...................... 52 

Written response to questions from Hon. Saxby Chambliss ......................... 56 

Written response to questions from Hon. Thad Cochran .............................. 53 

Written response to questions from Hon. Tom Harkin ................................. 62 

Written response to questions from Hon. Pat Roberts .................................. 54 

(1) 

NOMINATION OF RAMONA EMILIA ROMERO, 

OF PENNSYLVANIA TO BE 

GENERAL COUNSEL, 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Thursday, December 9, 2010 

UNITED STATES SENATE, 

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY, 

Washington, DC 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:41 a.m., Room 

SR328A, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Blanche Lincoln, 

Chairman of the Committee, presiding. 

Present or submitting a statement: Senators Lincoln, Casey, 

Chambliss, and Roberts. 

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

FROM THE STATE OF ARKANSAS, CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE 

ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY 

Chairman LINCOLN. Good morning. I would like to call the Committee to order and thanks to everyone for being here today. 

The Committee is meeting to consider the nomination of Ramona 

Emilia Romero to be General Counsel for the United States Department of Agriculture. 

And we want to welcome you, Ms. Romero. 

Considering and approving the President’s nominees is a fundamental constitutional obligation of the Senate. It is a responsibility 

that I certainly take seriously and I know my colleagues do as well. 

And we gladly perform in order to confirm qualified and eager 

nominees so that they can perform the vital functions of their respective agencies. 

Ms. Romero, on behalf of the Committee, we do extend you a welcome to you and to your family and your friends that are all joining 

you here today. Congratulations on your nomination. 

Ms. ROMERO. Thank you, Madam Chair. 

Chairman LINCOLN. You represent your phenomenal academic, 

professional, and personal success. We want to thank you for seeking a nomination which will bring your considerable talent to 

USDA and to public service. 

I would like to recognize Senator Casey, I think, who is going to 

introduce our nominee. 

Senator CASEY. Madam Chair, thank you very much. And I am 

honored to have this opportunity and I was indicating before that 

after I introduced the nominee I will have to go and I hope you do 

not mind. 

2 

Chairman LINCOLN. No. You will be excused. Do not worry. 

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

FROM THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA 

Senator CASEY. I just want to make sure the Chairwoman knows 

where I am headed. 

But I am really honored to do this. I will not read the whole 

statement but I think I know something about how important a 

General Counsel is to any organization including a government 

agency and I do not think we need to review that now. 

But I know how vitally important the support that position is; 

and if you review the record and the qualifications and experience 

of our nominee, I think you will come to the same conclusion. 

This is a remarkable American story. Ms. Romero immigrated to 

the United States from the Dominican Republic when she was 11 

years old, and just that age reminded me of the story of my own 

family’s past. My grandfather—I had never met him; he had died 

before I was born—began working in the coal mines at the age of 

11. 

Just that experience of coming to a new country and all of the 

challenges, I thought his experience was a challenge. But to come 

to a new land and to face all of the challenges that that entails is, 

indeed, a remarkable story. It is a story that only got more exciting 

and more significant since that time. 

She attended Barnard College at Columbia University where she 

served as the president of student government, received an associate alumni fellowship and was awarded the Marian Churchill 

White prize. 

After receiving her degree from Columbia, Ms. Romero went to 

Harvard Law School, served as the associate editor of the International Law Journal, director and attorney of the Prison Legal Assistance Project, and got her law degree in 1988. 

She has had a variety of legal experience since that time. Corporate counsel at Dupont, working on many boards and other organizations. One of the other more significant parts of her resume 

was she has held a number of leadership positions within the Hispanic National Bar Association, including service as the national 

president. 

So whether it is as lawyer, as an advocate, or as someone who 

has worked very hard to where she is today, we are very proud of 

her service. We are very proud of her commitment to public service, 

and I am grateful that we have this opportunity to introduce her 

and to tell her how much we look forward to working with her 

when she is at the Department of Agriculture upon, of course, confirmation. 

With that, Madam Chair, I will ask consent to submit a fuller 

statement to the record. 

Chairman LINCOLN. Without objection. 

[The prepared statement of Senator Casey can be found on page 

16 in the appendix.] 

Senator CASEY. Thank you very much. 

Chairman LINCOLN. Thank you, Senator Casey. 

The USDA’s Office of General Counsel provides legal counsel and 

services to the Secretary of Agriculture. The counsel’s practice is as 

3 

broad as the services performed by the agency within USDA; and 

again having seen so much of what USDA does, it is a broad range. 

Ms. Romero, if confirmed, you will be ultimately responsible for 

the diverse legal function such as litigation and rule-making within 

issue areas ranging from civil rights to natural resources. 

The General Counsel’s job is a daunting one but absolutely essential to the Department’s mission. The General Counsel must ensure that the Department acts within the authority granted to it 

by Congress especially when promulgating rules and regulations to 

administer programs such as the controversial new GIPSA regulation. 

At this time I will call on our Ranking Member, Senator Chambliss, to deliver his opening statement. But before I do, I just want 

to thank him for the friendship and hard work and all of the great 

things we been able to do together and I really very much appreciate the blessing you have provided me in my journey. 

Thank you, Senator. 

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

THE STATE OF GEORGIA 

Senator CHAMBLISS. Well, you are kind. 

Madam Chair, this is, depending on what happens over the next 

couple of weeks, this is likely to be the last formal hearing that you 

will hold as Chairman. I want to 

say on behalf of all of the Committee on both sides of the aisle 

how much we appreciate your leadership on the various issues that 

we have had to deal with over the past, gosh, almost two years. 

It has gone by pretty quickly here, and politics being what they 

are obviously you are moving on to a higher calling. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator CHAMBLISS. We are not going to let you leave, though, 

without thanking you not just for your service as Chairman of this 

Committee even though that has certainly been a highlight of your 

career and a highlight of our relationship with you, but your passion for agriculture from one end of the country to the other has 

not gone unnoticed. 

You have been a great champion for every farmer and rancher 

in America, and on behalf of all of those folks, we say thank you 

too for your great leadership and your commitment. 

I think here maybe in a day or two we are likely to see the signing of the nutrition bill that is going to be a real boost to the education system in this country. 

We know what again a passion you have for ensuring that children are educated well; and in order to be educated well, they have 

to be fed in a correct manner. And thanks to your leadership, we 

passed a child nutrition bill out of the Senate that was taken in 

total by the House. That is a pretty remarkable accomplishment, 

and something that, as you look back on your years in the House 

and years in the Senate, I think, will certainly rate right at the top 

of your accomplishments. 

It has been a privilege for me to have had the opportunity to 

work with you, both in our days in the House and now in the Senate. We worked on Ag issues and we worked on tax issues and any 

other number of matters. 

4 

And you have been a champion for Americans, and I am going 

to miss you. 

Chairman LINCOLN. Thank you. 

Senator CHAMBLISS. I also want to say to your staff what a great 

job they have done in working with my staff, working with members on this side of the aisle particularly. It has been an open door. 

Your staff director, Robert Holifield, what a good young man he is. 

Chairman LINCOLN. We think so too. 

Senator CHAMBLISS. What a bright guy he is and what a great 

guy to work with. And whether it is he and Martha Scott throwing 

towels at each other or rocks or whatever they throw at each other 

from time to time, we have just had a great working relationship 

at both the staff and member level under your leadership. 

So for all of that I thank you. 

Chairman LINCOLN. It has been a glorious journey, and I have 

to say with all kinds of joys and blessings along the way. And you 

two men are at the top of that list. So thank you both. 

Senator CHAMBLISS. Now, for the business at hand today, I 

would like to welcome Ms. Romero and her family to the Senate 

Agriculture Committee and to congratulate her on her nomination. 

I want to say up front, based on our conversation yesterday, Ms. 

Romero, I know that or understand that the tough questions that 

we ask you are going to be referred to your daughter, is that right? 

Ms. ROMERO. She is definitely going to answer, Senator. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator CHAMBLISS. That was a voluntary effort on the part of 

your children to provide answers to the really tough questions. 

You will have a very important job overseeing USDA’s Office of 

General Counsel in providing sound legal advice to Secretary 

Vilsack and the many agencies under USDA’s purview. 

As you will likely hear today, there are many issues that members of this Committee care about that involve interpretations of 

law which directly involve the Office of the General Counsel, and 

I hope that you will listen to this Committee’s concerns and suggestions closely, and I know you will. 

And I will look forward to working with you to ensure that programs are implemented as Congress intended and are working for 

America’s farmers and ranchers. I think your background, legal experience and enthusiastic desire to serve in President Obama’s Administration make you an excellent candidate for General Counsel, 

and I am pleased that you have agreed to serve in this position. 

And again I thank Chairman Lincoln for having this hearing and 

we look forward to moving your confirmation through the Senate 

as a whole. 

Ms. ROMERO. Thank you, sir. 

Chairman LINCOLN. Thank you. We would like to swear you in. 

Before I do that, I would love to give you the opportunity to just 

introduce your husband and children as well that are with us 

today. I know they are very proud. 

Ms. ROMERO. My daughter Emilia, who is almost nine. My husband Blaise Santianni. And my daughter Adelina. Adelina, can you 

stand up for a minute, who is seven. And I have a host of family 

and friends. I will not take the Committee’s time. Thank you. 

5 

Chairman LINCOLN. We want to welcome all of your family and 

friends and certainly your husband and two daughters. We are glad 

that they are here. 

If you would please rise and raise your right hand. 

Do you swear that the testimony you are about to present is the 

truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? 

Ms. ROMERO. I do. 

Chairman LINCOLN. Secondly, do you agree that if confirmed, you 

will appear before any duly constituted Committee of Congress if 

asked? 

Ms. ROMERO. I do. 

Chairman LINCOLN. Thank you. Please proceed with your testimony. 

TESTIMONY OF RAMONA EMILIA ROMERO, OF PENNSYLVANIA, 

TO BE GENERAL COUNSEL OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Ms. ROMERO. Good morning. First of all, I would like to thank 

Senator Casey, even though he is not here, for his kind words of 

introduction. 

Greetings, Madam Chair, Ranking Member Chambliss, Senator 

Roberts, and other distinguished members of the Committee. 

I acknowledge the many priorities facing this body and thank 

you for your willingness to hold this hearing. It is an understatement to say that it is an honor and a privilege to appear before you 

as President Obama’s nominee to serve as General Counsel of 

USDA. I am humbled by the trust that the nomination represents 

and thank the President and Secretary Vilsack for giving me this 

opportunity. 

Should I have the privilege of being confirmed, I look forward to 

paying through public service a small portion of the debt that I owe 

our great country for the benefits it has afforded me. 

Much is required of those to whom much is given and I have 

been given much. First, I have been blessed with a wonderful family and many loving friends. As you know, my husband and my two 

daughters are here with me. I want to thank them publicly for 

their constant support and their encouragement, and for their willingness to sacrifice so that I can pursue my dream of public service. 

Also with me here are several other family members and many 

friends. 

Constructing a life, Senator, and a career is a team effort and I 

have many members of my team, some of whom are here. I am 

very grateful for that. 

While she is not able to join us here today, I want to acknowledge and thank my mother, Glada Romero. In the late 1960s she 

left me in the Dominican Republic and moved to New York City in 

search of a better life for us. I joined her four years later. My mother’s decision altered the course of my life. By making available to 

me the many opportunities our Nation offers even the most humble 

of its citizens. 

I am forever grateful for her courage. Thanks to her, a very humble factory worker in the New York garment district, by the time 

I reached Barnard and Harvard, I had internalized the value of 

hard work, honesty, courage, perseverance, and service. The lesVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:30 Jul 28, 2011 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\DOCS\66277.TXT MICHA
6 

sons that I learned from my mother are ones that I try to live by 

every day and which Blaise and I pray that Adelina and Emilia 

will learn and internalize as well. 

By now, you might be wondering why a Dominican American 

raised in New York City wants to serve as General Counsel of the 

Department of Agriculture. The answer is simple. I love to serve 

others. I love the law, and I love finding solutions to challenging 

legal problems. 

If confirmed, serving as USDA General Counsel will allow me to 

do what I love. It will also enabled me to contribute to the American people the skills and experience that I have acquired over two 

decades as a practicing lawyer responsible for a broad variety of 

complex litigation and commercial transactions, first at a large law 

firm here in 

Washington, DC, and later at DuPont’s well respected legal department. 

Serving American farmers, ranchers, and rural communities appeals to me. Not only because they are essential contributors to our 

Nation’s economy and well- being but also among the most challenged members of society. 

As Secretary Vilsack noted during a recent television appearance, 90 percent of our Nation’s farmers are barely making ends 

meet. I want to assure you that, if confirmed, I will approach my 

duties with an appreciation for the challenges facing our country’s 

farmers and ranchers, rural communities, and agri-business. 

As a lawyer who loves what she does, I cannot think of a more 

exciting place to work than USDA precisely because of the diversity 

of its mission and the legal challenges that it creates. 

Finally, should you honor me by recommending me and should 

the Senate confirmed me, I will do everything within my power to 

execute the duties of General Counsel with the highest, the highest 

level of integrity and skill so as to earn your continuing support 

and trust. 

I am committed to working with the leadership at USDA in collaboration with Congress to further the best interest of all Americans who, to varying degrees, are affected by every decision the 

USDA makes. 

Thank you, Madam Chair. I look forward to addressing your 

questions. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Romero can be found on page 21 

in the appendix.] 

Chairman LINCOLN. Thank you, Ms. Romero. 

I think the three of us here can guarantee you challenging legal 

questions from USDA as well as what we do here. We can also 

guarantee you diversity in terms of the multiple, multiple farmers, 

ranchers, and hard-working farm families across this country from 

the South to the Midwest, to the East and West Coasts, all of 

which do things in a different way, and we look forward to asking 

questions and certainly getting a perspective from you. 

I will just start with one and I know my colleagues may follow 

up on some of this. But producers and industry groups alike have 

really expressed reservations to this Committee regarding proposed 

GIPSA regulations pertaining to undue preference on beef prices. 

7 

During the debate in the 2008 farm bill, the Senate voted down 

the Senate Amendment 3666, which was Senator Tester’s amendment which would have restricted packers from utilizing commonly 

employed pricing mechanisms. 

In the opinion of many of our constituents, the proposed rules 

were very similar to what the Tester amendment was attempting 

to do, prohibit producers from being rewarded for high quality cattle which they produce. 

In your opinion, do you believe the proposed GIPSA regulations 

go beyond the authority of GIPSA’s enabling legislation and fail to 

consider the Senate floor vote on Senate Amendment 3666 and 

how, as General Counsel, will you work to guarantee that the rules 

and the regulations promulgated by USDA truly do comply with 

what our congressional intent has been? 

Ms. ROMERO. Senator, I am familiar with the issue, and I am familiar with the concerns that have been raised about the rule. As 

I am sure you appreciate, given the fact that I am not at USDA, 

I am not a USDA employee, and I am not familiar with all of the 

details relating to the rule, prejudging it is not something, it is 

probably presumptuous and not sufficiently cautious. 

I can assure you about this. I understand that the rule has been 

published. I have read it. I understand that the rule is been submitted to public comment and that many comments have come in 

that are now being considered and that the Secretary and the Department are very interested based on a statement that I read he 

made yesterday on ensuring that the rule that is finally published 

is actually consistent, takes those comments into account and is 

consistent with the interests of all stakeholders. 

If I have the privilege of being confirmed, I will work to ensure 

that is, in fact, the case. Obviously, as the Department’s chief lawyer my responsibilities, if I am confirmed, would be to ensure that 

the Department enacts rules that are consistent with the mandates 

of Congress, and I look forward to working hard to do that. 

Chairman LINCOLN. Great. I think that one of the things that we 

all, as Senators representing the constituents that we have and the 

reason that we talk sometimes forever and ever and ever is because 

we want to make very clear what our intent is, and I think that 

is an important part of what we try to put into both the record as 

well as the encouragement of our constituencies to get in their comments during those rule-making comment periods and other things 

like that. 

So congressional intent, in my opinion, is something we tried 

very hard to make very clear, and I hope it is a tool that can be 

used particularly by the counsel as they review what they would 

like to get in promulgating those rules. So thank you. 

Ms. ROMERO. Thank you. 

Chairman LINCOLN. Senator Chambliss. 

Senator CHAMBLISS. Thanks very much, Madam Chairman. 

A couple of areas that I want to note, Ms. Romero. First, I recognize the H2A guest worker program is administered by the Department of Labor and the USDA’s only official involvement is with the 

National Agricultural Statistics Service’s wage survey that the 

Labor Department uses to set the adverse effect wage rate. 

8 

However, USDA administers a number of marketing and inspection programs that are negatively impacted when farmers are not 

able to harvest their crops on a timely basis. The agricultural sector continues to have a lot of problems with the guest worker program especially with regard to the timing. 

There seems to be no good way to predict when the Department 

of Labor will act on any particular H2A application other than it 

will most likely be late. Because the need for agricultural workers, 

especially in the fresh fruit and vegetable markets, is so critically 

tied to the timing of harvest, a program that does not operate in 

a timely manner is essentially no program at all. 

I would strongly encourage you to use your position as General 

Counsel at USDA to seek an administrative agreement or a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Labor with respect to the timing of the H2A application approval process. 

This would really help our farmers and producers who need the 

labor during harvest which in turn helps the USDA’s marketing 

and inspection programs operate efficiently. 

And this is one of those situations that there apparently is no 

communication between USDA and in this case the Department of 

Labor, and my statement to you is that I would just like a commitment from you to ensure that you are going to reach out and try 

to make a real effort to work with the Department of Labor on this 

specific issue as well as other agencies on matters that you may 

not have direct jurisdiction over but certainly have a huge impact 

on farmers and ranchers. 

Ms. ROMERO. Sir, if I have the privilege of being confirmed, you 

have my absolute commitment that I would reach out not only to 

other administrative agencies that impact the fate of farmers and 

ranchers and the agricultural industry but also to you and to the 

members of the Committee. 

Senator CHAMBLISS. Thank you. 

The Chairman has already mentioned the issue of GIPSA. You 

and I talked briefly about that yesterday. I just want to make sure 

it is pretty high on your radar screen because this is an issue that 

we dealt with in the farm bill. 

We thought we came out with a fairly good resolution and now 

here we are back in not necessarily a crisis mode maybe yet but 

it is a real concerning issue to farmers across America right now. 

And I would just urge you to engage early on in a review of the 

current status of GIPSA and the enforcement mechanisms that are 

in place as well as some changes that have been made and are 

being proposed because they are not being favorably received. 

And if that is not the case, if things continue the way they are 

going, then farmers are going to get more and more unhappy with 

this. 

So my comment to you there is just to engage in this early, review the process, and engage this Committee as well 

as the House Committee on Agriculture with respect to potential 

solutions for GIPSA. 

There is one specific issue relative to GIPSA, though, that I do 

want to call to your attention and asked for your review. Several 

critics of the proposed rules have focused on the GIPSA administrator. 

9 

As you may or may not know, the current administrator is a trial 

lawyer. Before running GIPSA, he litigated cases involving the 

Packers and Stockyards Act. 

Since the current proposal would lower the burden of proof that 

a trial lawyer would have to meet to be successful, a number of 

stakeholders believe this represents a troubling conflict of interest. 

Recently the Americans for Tax Reform organization wrote Secretary Vilsack calling for Administrator Butler’s resignation, and 

the Committee for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington wrote 

asking that Butler at least recuse himself from this rule-making 

process. 

The Acting General Counsel responded to both that USDA does 

not see anything wrong with the current situation. Being a lawyer 

myself, you are well aware of our strong ethics within our bar associations; and if there is even a hint of a conflict of interest, someone in a judicial position whether it is from a State court bench or 

administrative bench ought to recuse himself. 

And I would simply ask again that you review the matter that 

has already been reviewed by the current acting counsel that you 

will be replacing just to ensure, and you report 

back to this Committee on the issue of whether or not there is 

reason for this administrator to come under scrutiny and maybe 

recuse himself on certain cases that do raise the potential for a 

conflict of interest. 

Ms. ROMERO. Thank you, Senator, for bringing the issue to my 

attention. If I have the privilege of being confirmed, I will conduct 

such a review. 

Senator CHAMBLISS. Thank you very much. 

Thanks, Madam Chairman. 

Chairman LINCOLN. Senator Roberts. 

Senator ROBERTS. Senator Lincoln, we are going to miss you and 

I hope you come back often. 

Chairman LINCOLN. Will you put a little chair in the corner? 

Senator ROBERTS. No. It will be a big chair. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator ROBERTS. Whatever size chair you want and within the 

Ag Committee. I will give you my proxy about half the time. Maybe 

we could name the child nutrition bill the Lincoln child nutrition 

bill. We might want to think about that, Senator Chambliss, on the 

floor. 

But anyway I would just observe that in the Senate today the 

threads of comedy and respect are worn pretty thin, and I know 

that is because of the tough issues we face and the differences of 

opinion. 

The exception to that rule is Blanche Lincoln in that she always 

was willing to reach across the aisle, never compromising her principles but trying to get something done. I think that is what the 

American people want. 

And the Agriculture Committee is different from other Committees. We have always been that way. We either hang together or 

we hang separately. 

In any case I want to thank you for all the contributions you 

have made, not only the legislation and not only the work that you 

have done but I cannot at anytime in any meeting, whether it be 

10 

Finance or Agriculture or some other meeting, any meeting that 

you have not entered the room without a smile on your face and 

brightened the atmosphere. 

I am a 50s kid. Eisenhower had that great ability with his grin. 

You have an Eisenhower grin and a wonderful smile, and the 

thought of pure partisanship just never quite entered your head. 

So thank you just for being you, and I am going to look forward 

to your picture right up there or maybe we can move Herman down 

there. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator ROBERTS. With all due respect to Senator Talmadge. 

Ms. Romero, thank you so much for coming and thank you for 

giving us the privilege of meeting your fine family, your lovely family. Your two daughters now know where Kansas is. They were 

looking at the almanac. It sits right in the middle. We like to think 

we are in the heartland. 

Of course, I know Senator Chambliss thinks that is the case for 

Georgia, and obviously the Chairman for Arkansas, which is really 

‘‘Ar’’ Kansas by the way but we will not get into that. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator ROBERTS. You have an only-in-America story. It is quite 

impressive. It makes you stop and think a minute. It is one of 

those battery charges that we hear about every once in a while. So 

thank you for sharing that with us. 

You are going to be confirmed. Thank you for your statement 

that you are going to be a champion for the farmers and ranchers. 

And I will say that we face very serious times in this country and 

we have all heard about the debt commission and all of the recommendations on entitlement programs and then people say, well, 

where else to cut and the first thing is agriculture. 

Most of these people can spell agriculture but they have never 

been on a farm and they just do not understand the value of some 

of the programs that we do have and we will do our part. We have 

always done our part but we are not going to do more than our fair 

share and I hope you share that view and thank you for stating 

you will be a champion for the farmer and rancher. 

I share the comments made by our distinguished Ranking Member and our Chairman on GIPSA. We write legislation here and 

work very hard to produce a farm bill or any other bill, and then 

all of a sudden it goes to some federal agency, and it has happened 

in many administrations, and whatever pops out of the woodwork 

in the Federal Register does not resemble the intent that we think 

would be the case. And that is a continued sort of arm-wrestling 

contest. 

But on GIPSA we really have strong feelings about that and I 

am glad that the Ranking Member, Senator Chambliss, brought up 

the situation with Mr. Butler. He ought to recuse himself, and I 

feel very strongly about that. With your background, I think you 

can take a hard look at that. 

I have one question. Many here in this Committee, members on 

both sides of the aisle, have requested what I call the alphabet 

soup of federal agencies work together and actually talk to one another. 

11 

What role will you and the Department of Agriculture play in 

fighting, and I put in ‘‘fighting’’, on behalf of all of agriculture 

against the laundry list of regulations and ideas that could put 

farmers and ranchers out of business? 

We do not have a baseline. We do not have money. And in talking to other members on the Committee, we are scratching our 

heads thinking how on earth do you write a farm bill with no 

money. 

That happened once before some years ago and I had that challenge in the other body. It is tough. But one of the things we can 

do is relieve farmers from over regulation and regulatory costs that 

do not meet sound science standards. 

They may meet standards in terms of ideology or where people 

want to go or this or that or the other, you know, people’s personal 

opinion. But they do not make sense in farm country. So if we 

could do regulatory reform, it would be a wonderful thing. 

For example, changing the scope of the Clean Water Act. Right 

now we have a navigable water situation where farm ponds are 

considered navigable water. No self-respecting duck would ever 

even land there. 

We have rural fugitive dust. I emphasize ‘‘fugitive’’. That is going 

to be a TV series, rural fugitive dust. It was in the ’70s and now 

it is back again. 

OSHA standards, spray drift, animal antibiotics, just to name a 

few. 

Will you please help us and be a strong advocate for sound 

science on these regulations, on the costs, on the benefit? That has 

to match up, and I think that would do more for the farmer and 

rancher today than perhaps more billions of dollars in the farm 

program. 

So I will leave it at that. And if you would like to make a comment, why, I would appreciate it. 

Ms. ROMERO. Thank you, sir, for brining the issue to my attention. Senator Chambliss also raised that issue specifically in the 

context of the intersection between EPA and the USDA. 

Obviously not having been confronted and not having sufficient 

access to USDA officials and not really being privy to all the details 

relating to these issues, I cannot take a firm position on some of 

these questions but I will talk with anybody. 

Senator ROBERTS. You have your phone numbers and you know 

the first names. You might want to meet weekly and say, you 

know, this does not make any sense. 

Ms. ROMERO. I am a great believer in corroborating. I am also 

a great believer in understanding and ensuring the people talk 

with one another and understand the issues and the perspectives 

of every side of the room. 

So that I can promise you this, if I have the privilege of being 

confirmed, I will be an advocate or at a minimum ensure that the 

other agencies that also regulate farmers understand the position 

of the USDA. 

Senator ROBERTS. Thank you, ma’am. 

Ms. ROMERO. You are welcome, sir. 

Chairman LINCOLN. Thank you, Senator Roberts. 

12 

Just one last comment I would like to make in terms of biotech 

approvals, Ms. Romero. The Obama Administration has repeatedly 

stated its commitment to applying sound science to regulatory decisions. The Administration is also committed to achieving and maintaining global food security. 

You mentioned the idea of the livelihood of farmers and ranchers 

across the country. I have consistently said that farmers and 

ranchers across this country need make no apologies in terms of 

this Committee because we want to work there on their behalf. 

So taking into consideration the livelihood of farmers and ranchers, and also the hunger that exists worldwide, it is unfortunate it 

now takes USDA over three years to deregulate and authorize agricultural biotechnology projects. Setting aside the pending lawsuits 

against USDA challenging the Department’s compliance with 

NEPA, I do remain concerned that the biotech regulatory process 

is too slow. 

So I just simply want to put that before you. I am concerned that 

undue delays unnecessarily impede bringing new products to market to help American farmers stay competitive in the global marketplace. 

As we know coming out of this economic crisis we are in, we 

want to make sure of our farmers and ranchers are competitive 

globally. I am told that many of these delays may be avoided by 

streamlining regulatory clearance process at OGC. So I hope that 

you will take a look at that. 

I do not know what your views are about ways that we can 

streamline the regulatory process there to get the safe agricultural 

biotech products to market faster, but I hope that you will take a 

look at that. I am sure that as you do, you would look at ways that 

you can figure out we can streamline what goes on there at OGC 

and hopefully minimize a three-year process that it has been taking us to increase our competitive nature for our farmers and 

ranchers. 

Ms. ROMERO. Thank you for bringing the issue to my attention, 

ma’am. 

Chairman LINCOLN. You bet. We thank you. 

Senator ROBERTS. Madam Chairman, I have five other questions. 

I am not going to bring them up now but I would like to submit 

that for the record. 

Chairman LINCOLN. Absolutely. I did want to make sure that everyone knows that the record will be left open for three days in 

order to be able to ensure that all members of the Committee can 

submit their questions in writing to get a written response from 

you, Ms. Romero, and I appreciate that and want to congratulate 

you on your nomination again. 

So any questions for the record, members will have three days 

to be able to do that and submit those to the clerk as soon as possible, we hope, as people will be anxious to wrap things up, and 

we appreciate that. 

Again thank your family for being here. I know certainly as a 

mother and as a daughter and a wife and all of those things, it is 

critically important to have your team together. So we are proud 

that they are here with us today as well. 

13 

I want to say a very special thanks to these two gentlemen that 

are here. I have served with them for a long time in both the 

House and the Senate. They have been dear friends and great 

members of this Committee. 

I am very proud to be leaving it in your hands and I am grateful 

to both of you all for your friendship. It has been an honor and a 

privilege for me to serve the great people of Arkansas and the certainly in this Committee. 

I think both of these gentlemen know how much I love agriculture, and they know my passion for this Committee. So it has 

been a joy to be here and to serve on this Committee for many 

years and to be able to have a great opportunity to talk with both 

of you all. 

I would like to take just a point of personal privilege and say a 

tremendous thanks to the staff here at the Committee and the staff 

of all the members who have always been wonderful to work with. 

Our time here as Chairman of the Committee has been a great 

one working with not only the Ranking Member but all of the staffs 

have been just tremendous. They have been wonderful to work 

with. 

You will find as you work with them, as well as the members, 

that this is a great Committee to do business with. Everybody 

works hard. We play hard. We work hard at getting along and really getting things done for what is really at heart, and that is the 

American people. 

So we are grateful and I am very grateful to everybody from the 

Committee. So thank you all for participating particularly in my 

last hearing here to have these two fine gentlemen with me. I could 

not have asked for two better, and I am grateful for that. 

With that, the Senate Agriculture Committee stands adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 11:18 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.] 

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A P P E N D I X 

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DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD 

DECEMBER 9, 2010 

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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 

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