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S. HRG. 109–455

NOMINATION HEARING OF RICHARD RAYMOND

TO BE UNDER SECRETARY FOR FOOD SAFETY,

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

HEARING

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, 

NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY

UNITED STATES SENATE

ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

JUNE 22, 2005

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

SAXBY CHAMBLISS, Georgia, Chairman 

RICHARD G. LUGAR, Indiana 

THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi 

MITCH MCCONNELL, Kentucky 

PAT ROBERTS, Kansas 

JAMES M. TALENT, Missouri 

CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming 

RICK SANTORUM, Pennsylvania 

NORM COLEMAN, Minnesota 

MICHEAL D. CRAPO, Idaho 

CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, Iowa 

TOM HARKIN, Iowa 

PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont 

KENT CONRAD, North Dakota 

MAX BAUCUS, Montana 

BLANCHE L. LINCOLN, Arkansas 

DEBBIE A. STABENOW, Michigan 

E. BENJAMIN NELSON, Nebraska 

MARK DAYTON, Minnesota 

KEN SALAZAR, Colorado

MARTHA SCOTT POINDEXTER, Majority Staff Director 

DAVID L. JOHNSON, Majority Chief Counsel 

STEVEN MEEKS, Majority Legislative Director 

ROBERT E. STURM, Chief Clerk 

MARK HALVERSON, Minority Staff Director 

(II) 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

HEARING(S):

Nomination Hearing of Richard Raymond to be Under Secretary for Food 

Safety, Department of Agriculture ..................................................................... 01

Wednesday June 22, 2005

STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY SENATORS 

Chambliss, Hon. Saxby, a U.S. Senator from Georgia, Chairman, Committee 

on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry ............................................................. 01

Hagel, Hon. Chuck, a U.S. Senator from Nebraska ............................................. 02

Nelson, Hon. Ben, a U.S. Senator from Nebraska ................................................ 07

Salazar, Hon. Ken, a U.S. Senator from Colorado ................................................ 09

WITNESSES 

Raymond, Richard, M.D., of Nebraska, to be Under Secretary for Food Safety, 

U.S. Department of Agriculture .......................................................................... 03

APPENDIX 

PREPARED STATEMENTS: 

Harkin, Hon. Tom ............................................................................................ 12

Nelson, Hon. Ben .............................................................................................. 13

Raymond, M.D. Richard ................................................................................... 16

DOCUMENT(S) SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD: 

Raymond, M.D. Richard (Biographical Information) ..................................... 20

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD: 

Harkin, Hon. Tom ............................................................................................ 50

Grassley, Hon. Charles E ................................................................................. 72

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NOMINATIONS 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2005

U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION AND FORESTRY, Washington, DC. 

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

SR–328A, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Saxby Chambliss, 

chairman of the committee, presiding. 

Present or Submitting a Statement: Senators Chambliss, Grassley, Nelson and Salazar. 

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

FROM GEORGIA, CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, 

NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY 

The CHAIRMAN. Good morning. We are pleased to be here today 

to consider the nomination of Dr. Richard Raymond to be the 

Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety. Dr. Raymond currently serves as the Director of the Nebraska Department of 

Health and Human Services Regulation and Licensure. 

As Director of Regulation and Licensure, he oversees regulatory 

programs involving health care and environmental issues that affect public health. He was appointed to the Regulation and Licensure Director position by then-Governor Mike Johanns on October 

26, 2004. 

While I apologize for being late, I have been sitting with the 

former Governor Nebraska in my office for the last few minutes 

discussing some agricultural issues, Dr. Raymond. 

Since January 1999, Dr. Raymond has also been serving as Nebraska’s Chief Medical Officer, overseeing public health programs, 

including disease prevention, health promotion and preparedness 

planning. Dr. Raymond is currently President of the Association of 

State and Territorial Health Officials and has served on the Association’s Preparedness Committee and Food Safety Committee for 

3 years. 

He is a lifelong Nebraska resident who practiced medicine in 

rural Nebraska for 17 years. Dr. Raymond also established and directed a community-based family practice residency for Clarkson 

Medical Center for 10 years. Dr. Raymond is joined today by his 

wife, Jane, and by Marlene Goroff, a family friend. 

We are also pleased that Senator Hagel, who is my good friend, 

is with us today to introduce Dr. Raymond to the committee. 

Senator Hagel, welcome to the Ag Committee and we look forward to your introduction. 

2

[The prepared statement of Senator Tom Harkin can be found in 

the appendix on page 12.] 

STATEMENT OF HON. CHUCK HAGEL, A U.S. SENATOR FROM 

NEBRASKA 

Senator HAGEL. Mr. Chairman, thank you. It is always a privilege to be with you, and especially in these hallowed halls of glory 

and power in the Senate Agriculture Committee room. So I know 

I am not worthy, but nonetheless you have allowed me a reprieve 

and a visa for 1 hour. 

The CHAIRMAN. You will get an extra bag of peanuts for those 

comments. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator HAGEL. Thank you, sir. Georgia peanuts. 

The CHAIRMAN. That is right. 

Senator HAGEL. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased and very proud this 

morning to be here to introduce this committee to a very distinguished Nebraskan. 

The United States food supply, as we all know, is the safest in 

the world. It is critical that the U.S. continue that standard and 

remain on the cutting edge of food safety. Strong leadership and innovative thinking is essential to that goal. I believe the President’s 

nominee to be the next Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food 

Safety fulfills those requirements. 

Mr. Chairman, I am very, very proud to introduce to this committee the individual the President believes is best qualified to provide that leadership, Dr. Richard Raymond. His humble upbringing 

in Loup City, Nebraska, and passion for public service gave him 

the foundation to become one of our Nations’ most knowledgeable 

and hard-working public health professionals. 

Over the last 6 years, Dr. Raymond has served as the Chief Medical Officer for the Nebraska Health and Human Services System, 

as you have noted. His innovation and efforts have been instrumental in crafting Nebraska’s nationally recognized public health 

system. 

Dr. Raymond and I have worked closely together on initiatives 

to enhance and expand public health care in Nebraska and the 

public health workforce in rural America. I am confident that his 

leadership, experience and depth of knowledge will maintain and 

strengthen U.S. food safety standards. President Bush and Secretary Johanns could not have picked a more respected professional 

for this job. 

I might note on a personal level, Mr. Chairman, that Dr. Raymond was telling me, not unlike so many dynamics in America, 

that his father once worked for the USDA in 1942, then enlisted 

in the Army to serve in World War II, and that may have well been 

an early seed, a seedling, a Raymond seedling, for a future distinguished senior public official in the United States Department of 

Agriculture. 

So again, Mr. Chairman, thank you for allowing me the privilege 

to be here this morning to introduce Dr. Raymond, and I am confident that he will serve with great distinction and honor. 

Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Senator, thank you very much for being here. 

3

Dr. Raymond, I will tell you, you couldn’t have a better person 

to bring with you to introduce you to this committee than my good 

friend, Chuck Hagel. 

Senator HAGEL. Thank you. Now, he is on his own. 

The CHAIRMAN. You don’t want to be under oath with him. Is 

that what you are telling us? 

Senator HAGEL. I get nervous under oath. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator HAGEL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. Dr. Raymond, we welcome you. As I am required 

to do, I will ask you to stand and raise your right hand, please. 

Do you swear that the testimony you are about to give before 

this committee shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but 

the truth, so help you God? 

Dr. RAYMOND. I do. 

The CHAIRMAN. Do you agree that, if confirmed, you will appear 

before any duly constituted committee of Congress if asked? 

Dr. RAYMOND. I do. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much and we look forward to 

your comments. 

STATEMENT OF RICHARD RAYMOND, M.D., OF NEBRASKA, TO 

BE UNDER SECRETARY FOR FOOD SAFETY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Dr. RAYMOND. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, Senator Harkin and other distinguished members of the committee 

who will review this testimony, I am grateful for the opportunity 

to appear before you this morning as President Bush’s nominee for 

Under Secretary for Food Safety at the United States Department 

of Agriculture. I want to thank the President and Secretary 

Johanns for their support and trust in nominating me for this important position. I also want to thank Senator Hagel for taking 

time from his busy schedule and for his kind introduction. 

For the record, I am Richard Raymond from the State of Nebraska, and I am very humbled, and at the same time very honored 

to have been nominated to serve our Nation in this capacity. 

As you mentioned, with me today is my wife, Jane, to whom I 

have been married for 35 years, and she is accompanied by her 

best friend from her high school days, Marlene Goroff, who was 

also her bridesmaid at our wedding 35 years ago. 

Our children would like to have been here today, but work obligations did not allow that. We have a son who lives in Kansas City, 

Kansas, and a daughter who lives in Fort Collins, Colorado. 

All of Jane’s and my grandparents were Nebraska farmers and 

all of our parents grew up on Nebraska farms. As Senator Hagel 

mentioned, I think it is very interesting that my father’s first W–

2 form when he came off of the farm was with the then-Farm Security Administration, a branch of USDA at that time. 

I grew up in the small rural town of Loup City, a town of 1,400 

people. In a town of that size, in the summertime you work on 

farms, and you work on farms on the weekends as the only source 

of income. My wife grew up in Wilber, another Nebraska town, a 

community of about 1,400. I went to college in Hastings, Nebraska, 

attended medical school at the University of Nebraska Medical 

4

Center, and then did a rotating internship in Spokane, Washington. 

Because of the appreciation and the value that Jane I have for 

living in small, rural areas and rural communities, we did return 

to Nebraska to practice family medicine and to raise our family in 

the O’Neill, Nebraska, area, a rural community area with a population of about 4,400 people. 

My interest in public service and public health is deeply rooted 

in the community of O’Neill, and also in the small town of Loup 

City and the people I have served as a medical physician for over 

30 years. As a family doctor in a rural community, I was the key 

public health official to my friends, my neighbors and my family. 

Their trust was not only rewarding, but it sparked in me a greater interest in public service and public health. After 17 years of 

rural practice, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to establish 

and then direct a community-based family practice residency program in Omaha, Nebraska. That residency program had a goal of 

training young family physicians in the needs and rewards of practicing in rural communities, and we also prepared them to succeed 

in rural practice, which is quite different than an urban practice. 

My appointment in January 1999 as the Chief Medical Officer for 

the Nebraska Health and Human Services System by then-Governor Johanns presented me with the opportunity to further extend 

the reach of public health. In the past, food safety officials in the 

public health community have focused almost entirely on preventing and responding to unintentional contamination of the food 

supply. 

But especially since September 11, 2001, we have come to realize 

that public health must include defenses against forces that would 

intentionally contaminate food, water and other of our life necessities. Governor Johanns recognized this and asked me to lead Nebraska’s bioterrorism preparedness and response planning. The Nebraska Health and Human Services System has a staff of almost 

6,000 people located in 100 locations throughout Nebraska and a 

budget of slightly under $2.5 billion per year. 

The Nebraska Public Health System under my leadership went 

from only 20 counties with a health department to having newly 

established multi-county public health departments that now serve 

the citizens in all 93 counties of Nebraska to help us meet the new 

reality and the threats that we are faced with. 

If I am confirmed as Under Secretary for Food Safety, I will use 

my past experience as a scientist, medical doctor, educator and 

public health advocate and spokesperson to assure that America’s 

food supply continues to be the safest in the world. 

I applaud the recent progress and improvements that have been 

made to our food safety system. I recognize this success is because 

of the tremendous efforts of thousands of dedicated public health 

professionals within the Food Safety and Inspection Service at 

USDA, but I know we can and we must do better. 

I believe that by working with this team of public health professionals and by cooperating, communicating and collaborating with 

other internal and external stakeholders that we can make additional strides in improving our food supply. 

5

Mr. Chairman, I assure you that if I am confirmed by the committee and then by the U.S. Senate, I will work with you and the 

members of this committee to earn your respect and your support 

as we work together to make our food supply the safest possible. 

Thank you, and I look forward to trying to answer any questions 

you may have. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Dr. Raymond. 

You have clearly had a distinguished career in rural medicine, as 

well as in public health administration. Could you share with the 

committee how you believe these and any other experiences have 

specifically prepared you to lead the USDA Food Safety Inspection 

Service? 

Dr. RAYMOND. Mr. Chairman, I have come to believe strongly in 

the principles of public health. Any time we are faced with a problem and need a solution, I think we need to do a thorough assessment, that we need to develop policy to address those issues, and 

then we need to come back and do an assurance to make sure that 

the policy is being met and that we have improved the public’s 

health and safety. 

Having worked in a small State, population-wise, to prepare us 

for any public health emergency, be it intentional or unintentional, 

has required working with multiple individuals from multiple 

walks of life, multiple advocates and multiple associations to combine what could be viewed as a limited personnel population to 

gather the expertise from everybody we possibly could. 

I think in Nebraska we have done a wonderful job of building our 

preparedness efforts by using people internal and external, and listening and responding and doing the assessments. 

The CHAIRMAN. Given your background as a local medical practitioner and in rural public health programs, could you characterize 

for the committee your own personal opinion of the present safety 

of the U.S. food supply? 

Dr. RAYMOND. Mr. Chairman, I believe the food supply safety is 

the best it has ever been right now. That said, I also know, as I 

said in my opening remarks, that we can also do better. And I 

think anytime you can do better, then good is not good enough. 

The CHAIRMAN. I understand that one of your duties as the Chief 

Medical Officer in Nebraska was to help direct the bioterrorism 

preparedness efforts in your State related to public health and food 

safety. In addition, I know that you served on the Food Safety 

Committee for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. 

Would you explain to the committee in a little more detail what 

your responsibilities and activities were in those two areas? 

Dr. RAYMOND. Certainly. Mr. Chairman, I would like to give you 

an example of what we did in Nebraska. I don’t remember the 

exact date, but when we got the guidelines for the cooperative 

agreement from the Centers for Disease Control and Protection 

that said how the $1.1 billion was going to be distributed to the 

States to build preparedness, Nebraska was informed that we 

would get $8.5 million. 

In the guidelines, there was a list of about 30 individuals or associations that needed to be on the advisory committee to help guide 

6

us on how we were going to spend those dollars to better prepare 

Nebraska for bioterrorism possibilities. 

I looked at that list that night. Things like the Red Cross, the 

Office of Rural Health, EMS, hospitals associations—they were all 

on there. But one large constituent that was not on that list was 

agriculture, and the following morning when I got to work, I called 

Merlin Carlson, who at that time was the Director of Ag for Nebraska and told Merlin we have $8.5 million to help prepare Nebraska for biological attack, and I think that includes agro terrorism, Merlin. 

He was in my office in 5 minutes with a cup of coffee and we 

sat down and made a plan to include ag on our committee, and we 

also continued to support ag financially from those grants to run 

what is called the LEDRS Program in Nebraska. 

The CHAIRMAN. Nebraska is a State that has a lot of production 

of agricultural products both for feed use as well as for human consumption. You also are one of the leading livestock producers, as 

well as one of the leading packaging and processing States in the 

country. 

With the leadership that you have provided to the folks in Nebraska, are you confident from the farm to the grocery store there 

are mechanisms in place to detect any potential input of bioterrorism agents in that food supply such that the people of Nebraska 

and other parts of the country that buy those products would be 

safe? 

Dr. RAYMOND. Mr. Chairman, as I said earlier, I know we are 

dramatically better than we were four or 5 years ago. That doesn’t 

mean we are where we need to be. When you look at the rates of 

recalls, the rates of human illness from food pathogens and the 

rates of positive sample testing of the products being produced in 

America and you see those rates going down dramatically over the 

last 4 years due to the work of the Food Safety Inspection Service, 

that in itself says our food is safer because what we do to protect 

our food from accidental contamination also helps protect our food 

supply chain from intentional contamination. 

That said, we will look at all options, if I am confirmed, to find 

the most effective and most efficient way to accomplish the goals 

of the Office of Food Safety, and that certainly involves and includes protection against intentional contamination. 

The CHAIRMAN. If you are confirmed as Under Secretary for Food 

Safety, what are some of the key challenges or opportunities related to U.S. food safety that you look forward to addressing in that 

new role? 

Dr. RAYMOND. One of the things that we do need to do—and I 

look at them as both challenges and opportunities—one thing that 

I do feel that I have learned from the briefings and the reading 

that I have done is that we can improve our communications. I 

think we can improve our communications within the system, within the agency, within the Department and within other Federal 

agencies that have responsibility to assure food safety. I think we 

can also improve our communications with our constituents, with 

the public and with industry. 

I am certain that can be done. I know it has to be done. One of 

the responses to any type of infectious disease, intentional or uninVerDate 0ct 09 2002 16:03 Jul 27, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\DOCS\22717.TXT TOSHD PsN: LAVERN
7

tentional, is rapid communications with the public and with the 

producers, and I know we can do better there. 

The other challenge, but also opportunity, I see is to improve our 

laboratory network system. We must have a robust laboratory system to promptly find sources of contamination and identity them 

so we can identity and treat them, and the labs must be able to 

communicate with each other. If we have a contaminant in California and one in Florida that has the same DNA footprint, that 

might be intentional as opposed to accidental. We must be able to 

do that better than the capacity that we currently have. 

The CHAIRMAN. The reason I was late getting here was I was visiting with the Secretary about an issue of critical importance not 

just to the livestock industry, but to all Americans who enjoy beef 

and other livestock products. That is this issue of BSE that has 

raised its ugly head over the last couple of years in this country 

as well as with some of our trading partners. 

Your perspective may not necesarily involve the trade implications of BSE. However, that is one of the issues the Secretary and 

I were talking about this morning, but also critically important is 

the food safety side of the issue of BSE. 

Would you comment and give us your thoughts on what potential 

there is for harm being done to the domestic food chain because of 

the possibility or even the probability of BSE being found in the 

United States? 

Dr. RAYMOND. Mr. Chairman, I know that opening the borders 

to trade is one of the Secretary’s very top priorities, and therefore 

it will be done of my top priorities. While I won’t be involved in 

the actual trade discussions, my job, I think, is to assure the Secretary with the best science possible that the public’s health is protected by the current measures that we have instituted in this 

country to protect against us BSE. I do think they are working. 

I do think, if confirmed, the Secretary will look to me to be a 

partner. I do feel, and I think he feels, that the best marketing tool 

for our producers is to guarantee the public a safe product. 

[The prepared statement of Dr. Richard Raymond can be found 

in the appendix on page 16.] 

The CHAIRMAN. It looks like I am being surrounded by Nebraskans this morning. We have been joined by one of your finest, and 

that is my good friend, Senator Ben Nelson. 

Senator Nelson. 

STATEMENT OF HON. BEN NELSON, A U.S. SENATOR FROM 

NEBRASKA 

Senator NELSON. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am sorry to 

be late, as well. I had an unavoidable conflict that I had previously 

scheduled, but I would like to say thank you for holding this hearing and giving the opportunity to me now to make some comments 

about Dr. Raymond. 

One only needs to review Dr. Pierson’s statement last month in 

the Federal Workforce and Agency Subcommittee to understand 

the complexity of the food safety regulatory system. I might add 

also my thanks for Dr. Pierson’s service to USDA in his role as Acting Under Secretary. 

8

As Dr. Raymond appears on the scene, I think he inherits the 

world’s safest food supply and knows that as time goes by, that is 

what we need to continue to be able to have and protect and project 

for the rest of the world at a time when we end up with trade implications with countries unilaterally taking exception to our food 

safety, as in the case of the country Japan in working their way 

through what appears to me to be nothing more than a non-tariff 

trade barrier on our beef today. 

I have got a longer statement, very positive, about Dr. Raymond, 

with all the experience he has had in practicing in rural areas, that 

I would like to put in for the record. 

The CHAIRMAN. Without objection. 

[The prepared statement of Senator Ben Nelson can be found in 

the appendix on page 13.] 

Senator NELSON. My question today is as you are looking at 

FSIS—and it is a food safety, food security issue today—do you 

have the necessary tools to be able to do what is required to assure 

the world and the Nation that we will continue to have the world’s 

safest food supply? 

Dr. RAYMOND. Senator Nelson, thank you for that question. I do. 

From the information that I have been able to gain in the last couple of weeks since the nomination was announced, I do feel the 

tools are there. I also feel we can make more efficient use of those 

tools and do a better job and expand some of what we do by taking 

a look at how the agency goes about its business, if I get that opportunity. 

Senator NELSON. In that regard—and maybe you don’t know, but 

I hope that if you don’t, you will be able to find out—what kind 

of coordination is there between food safety today and food security, which could also raise a question about the ultimate food safety of American products? 

Dr. RAYMOND. Senator, I think food safety and food protection go 

hand in hand. I really do feel you can’t have one without the other. 

I think whether it is an intentional or unintentional contamination 

of our food supply, in Nebraska when we received those very important bioterrorism preparedness dollars, what we did was we 

spent every single dollar to improve our public health preparedness 

for Mother Nature, for tornadoes, for West Nile Virus, but also for 

intentional acts of contamination such as small pox and other 

events. They really do go hand in hand. 

Senator NELSON. Is there a system in place or a mechanism to 

keep that coordination, if you know? 

Dr. RAYMOND. Senator, I do know that the agency has hired additional personnel, with their sole responsibility being protection of 

the food supply from intentional contamination, and that they have 

actually established a separate office to make sure that everything 

is being done that can be done to protect that. 

Senator NELSON. I think there is a test that is being run on one 

critter that was, I guess, tested initially positive for BSE. Do we 

know the age of that animal? 

Dr. RAYMOND. Senator, all I know is having read that that animal was born before the food bans were put into place. 

Senator NELSON. So we are still, as far as we are aware, OK with 

animals 30 months or under being free of BSE. Is that fair? 

9

Dr. RAYMOND. Senator, I think it is fair for me to respond that 

I am comfortable with that ruling from what I have read and 

learned and studied, yes. 

Senator NELSON. OK. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 

Thank you, and I look forward to working with you, Dr. Raymond. 

I am sorry that you are leaving Nebraska, but we are glad you are 

here. 

Dr. RAYMOND. It was a very difficult decision to make because 

of my love for Nebraska, Senator, as I am sure it was when you 

came to work here. 

Senator NELSON. It has been. Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. We have been joined by Senator Grassley and 

Senator Salazar. Do either of you have any questions or comments 

for this witness? 

Senator Salazar. 

STATEMENT OF HON. KEN SALAZAR, A U.S. SENATOR FROM 

COLORADO 

Senator SALAZAR. Just a short comment. 

Dr. Raymond, I very much enjoyed our meeting yesterday. I recognize that when we come from the kinds of backgrounds that we 

come from, the rural areas, and have an opportunity to serve our 

country, it is a privilege. It also puts a warm place in our hearts 

to make sure that we are doing everything we can for agriculture 

and for rural communities. I very much look forward to working 

with you on the issues that will confront the Department on food 

safety. 

As we spoke yesterday, one of those issues that I want us to 

work together on is the whole issue of the Canadian border and 

making sure that the road map to opening up that border is a road 

map that is articulated and one that I can fully support. So I look 

forward to working with you upon your confirmation, as well as 

with other members of the USDA on that effort. 

Thank you very much. 

The CHAIRMAN. Dr. Raymond, thank you very much for being 

here this morning. It is our intention to move this nomination 

through the confirmation process as quickly as possible. In that regard, the record will be open for 5 days to give any other member 

of the committee the opportunity to submit questions to you. And 

if that should happen, we would ask that you please respond to 

those very promptly so that we can continue this nomination 

through the process. 

Thank you very much, Dr. Raymond, for your willingness to 

serve and we will look forward to staying in touch. 

Dr. RAYMOND. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

[The biographical information of Dr. Raymond can be found in 

the appendix on page 20.] 

[Whereupon, at 10:35 a.m., the committee was adjourned.] 

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A P P E N D I X

JUNE 22, 2005

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DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD

JUNE 22, 2005

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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

JUNE 22, 2005

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