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S. HRG. 112–285 

NOMINATION OF BRIAN T. BAENIG, 

OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, 

TO BE AN ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF 

AGRICULTURE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF 

AGRICULTURE 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, 

NUTRITION AND FORESTRY 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

JULY 28, 2011 

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 

DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan, Chairwoman 

PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont 

TOM HARKIN, Iowa 

KENT CONRAD, North Dakota 

MAX BAUCUS, Montana 

E. BENJAMIN NELSON, Nebraska 

SHERROD BROWN, Ohio 

ROBERT P. CASEY, Jr., Pennsylvania 

AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota 

MICHAEL BENNET, Colorado 

KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, New York 

PAT ROBERTS, Kansas 

RICHARD G. LUGAR, Indiana 

THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi 

MITCH MCCONNELL, Kentucky 

SAXBY CHAMBLISS, Georgia 

MIKE JOHANNS, Nebraska 

JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas 

CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, Iowa 

JOHN THUNE, South Dakota 

JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota 

CHRISTOPHER J. ADAMO, Majority Staff Director 

JONATHAN W. COPPESS, Majority Chief Counsel 

JESSICA L. WILLIAMS, Chief Clerk 

MICHAEL J. SEYFERT, Minority Staff Director 

ANNE C. HAZLETT, Minority Chief Counsel 

(II) 

(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Page 

HEARING(S): 

Nomination of Brian T. Baenig, of the District of Columbia, to be an Assistant 

Secretary of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture ............................... 1 

Thursday, July 28, 2011 

STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY SENATORS 

Stabenow, Hon. Debbie, U.S. Senator from the State of Michigan, Chairwoman, Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry ............................ 1 

Roberts, Hon. Pat, U.S. Senator from the State of Kansas .................................. 8 

Leahy, Hon. Patrick J., U.S. Senator from the State of Vermont ....................... 2 

Witness 

Baenig, Brian T., of the District of Columbia, Nominated to be an Assistant 

Secretary of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC . 4 

APPENDIX 

PREPARED STATEMENTS: 

Roberts, Hon. Pat ............................................................................................. 12 

Chambliss, Hon. Saxby .................................................................................... 13 

Leahy, Hon. Patrick J. ..................................................................................... 14 

Baenig, Brian T. ............................................................................................... 16 

DOCUMENT(S) SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD: 

Dairy Farmers of America, written letter of support for the nomination 

of Brian T. Baenig to be an Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture ........................................................................... 20 

Various Organizations, written letter of support for the nomination of 

Brian T. Baenig to be an Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture ........................................................................... 21 

QUESTION AND ANSWER: 

Roberts, Hon. Pat: 

Written questions to Brian T. Baenig ............................................................. 24 

Chambliss, Hon. Saxby: 

Written questions to Brian T. Baenig ............................................................. 25 

Klobuchar, Hon. Amy: 

Written questions to Brian T. Baenig ............................................................. 26 

Thune, Hon. John: 

Written questions to Brian T. Baenig ............................................................. 26 

Baenig, Brian T.: 

Written response to questions from Hon. Pat Roberts .................................. 24 

Written response to questions from Hon. Amy Klobuchar ........................... 26 

Written response to questions from Hon. Saxby Chambliss ......................... 25 

Written response to questions from Hon. John Thune .................................. 26 

(1) 

NOMINATION OF BRIAN T. BAENIG, 

OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, 

TO BE AN ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF 

AGRICULTURE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF 

AGRICULTURE 

Thursday, July 28, 2011 

UNITED STATES SENATE, COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION AND FORESTRY, Washington, DC 

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:32 a.m., in Room G– 

50, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Debbie Stabenow, Chairwoman of the committee, presiding. 

Present or submitting a statement: Senators Stabenow, Leahy, 

Roberts, Lugar, and Thune. 

STATEMENT OF HON. DEBBIE STABENOW, U.S. SENATOR 

FROM THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, CHAIRWOMAN, COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION AND FORESTRY 

Chairwoman STABENOW. Well, good morning. The Committee on 

Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry will now come to order. 

Today, the committee, as first order of business, is going to consider the nomination of Brian Baenig to serve as Assistant Secretary for Congressional Relations at USDA. Welcome. We are so 

pleased that you are here. Congratulations on your nomination, 

Mr. Baenig. We extend a warm welcome to you and your family 

and friends, including, I understand, your mom is here, Linda 

Baenig, and I am sure she is very, very proud of you, and I am 

sure all of your family and friends are, as well. 

I know I speak for all the members of the committee when we 

say that we take our obligation to advise and consent very seriously. We look forward to your remarks and the opportunity to exercise our constitutional duties. 

As Mr. Baenig well knows from his years of service in the Senate, the Department of Agriculture and this committee have an important and special relationship. The position of Assistant Secretary for the Office of Congressional Relations is very important 

because, if confirmed, you will be the key contact of this committee 

as we oversee policy and program implementation that is critical 

for agriculture, for jobs, and for rural America. 

Mr. Baenig’s nomination comes at a very important time, as this 

committee is beginning its farm bill process. The staff at USDA 

will be an indispensable resource for us as we move forward. They 

are the boots on the ground, implementing the programs that we 

2 

have created and will create, so they are able to provide valuable 

feedback on performance. 

The Assistant Secretary of Congressional Relations manages 

these lines of communication, facilitating the timely exchange of information. An open and honest relationship between the Assistant 

Secretary and those of us who are on the Hill is absolutely essential. 

Mr. Baenig has spent the majority of his career here in the Senate, including some time as a staff member of this committee, so 

we welcome you back. He is very familiar with the way this body 

works and the day-to-day challenges we face. I hope and trust that, 

if confirmed, Mr. Baenig will remember his time here fondly and 

be a straightforward and sincere voice at the USDA. 

I would like to submit two letters of support for Mr. Baenig’s 

nomination. The first is from over 20 different agriculture industries and the second is from the Dairy Farmers of America. If there 

are no objections, the letters will be inserted into the record. 

[The letters can be found on pages 20 and 21 in the appendix.] 

Chairwoman STABENOW. And now I would like to turn for a moment to Senator Leahy, who would like to add some words at the 

beginning of our session. Senator Leahy. 

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

THE STATE OF VERMONT 

Senator LEAHY. Thank you, and thank you, Senator Lugar. 

Madam Chairwoman, being here with two excellent Chairs of this 

committee, yourself and Senator Lugar, the three of us have had 

the honor of chairing this committee and we all know the nominee 

well. I do not think the President or Secretary Vilsack could have 

selected a more qualified and practiced professional to help lead 

the Department of Agriculture’s Office of Congressional Relations 

than Brian. 

I know how important it is—I will put my whole statement in 

the record, but how important it is to keep the lines of communication open. He understands this as well as anybody who could ever 

be in that position. He worked most recently as Deputy Staff Director on this committee. He has earned the respect of members from 

both parties and from all regions of the country, but what is very 

important in this area, from all segments of the agriculture community and the nutrition community and the environmental community and many others. 

Brian, it was an honor to have you on my staff. I always wondered about somebody who might have a B.S. in political science 

from St. Michael’s College, but then I was reminded that is exactly 

the degree I got from St. Michael’s College—— 

[Laughter.] 

Senator LEAHY. —so I said, well, it worked before. Let us see if 

it might work again. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator LEAHY. I know your mother, Linda, is here, and, as the 

Chairwoman mentioned, how proud she must be, and I know how 

proud your father would have been had he been able to be here and 

see this. 

3 

You spent on my staff six years, Senior Advisor on agriculture, 

energy, conservation issues. You helped Vermont dairy farmers 

find consensus across the nationwide industry in which consensus 

is like transporting bullfrogs in a wheelbarrow and increase support for funding for conservation and forestry programs, fighting 

invasive species, like the lamprey that invaded Lake Champlain. 

You have helped rural communities get clean water, broadband 

services. You know, these are amazing things when you stop to 

think what you have done and the people you have worked with, 

three different members of this committee, including our late friend 

Paul Wellstone, and your in-depth knowledge is extremely important. 

So, Madam Chairwoman, as I mentioned, I have to go to a markup in another committee I serve on, Judiciary, although I have 

been told they will not start until I get there. But I just want to 

be here to say I am so pleased that you and Senator Lugar, and, 

actually, if Senator Roberts comes here, we are going to have a 

number of Chairs and former Chairs. 

Brian, I told you last night when we met privately in my hideaway office how proud I am of you, and I just want to reiterate it 

publicly. I have always been proud of you and I am glad that you 

are willing to take on this job. 

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

14 in the appendix.] 

Chairwoman STABENOW. Well, thank you very much, Senator 

Leahy. 

I know that Senator Roberts will be joining us shortly and we 

will certainly turn to him when he arrives. 

Senator Lugar, you are welcome to make any comments. If not, 

we will proceed. 

Senator LUGAR. I will withhold. 

Chairwoman STABENOW. Thank you very much, and I want to 

thank both Senator Leahy and Senator Lugar, who are very distinguished former Chairs of this committee. I am very, very fortunate 

to have a committee with so much experience, including a number 

of former Chairs. We are temporarily in this space. I have indicated to both of them, we will feel at home when their portraits are 

up on the wall. 

[Laughter.] 

Chairwoman STABENOW. So we will look forward to making that 

happen. 

But, Mr. Baenig, I have two things that I now need to do. First 

is to administer an oath that we have for all of the nominees, if 

you would like to stand 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, so help you God? 

Mr. BAENIG. Yes. 

Chairwoman STABENOW. Thank you very much. 

And, secondly, do you agree that, if confirmed, you will appear 

before any duly constituted committee of Congress, if asked to appear? 

Mr. BAENIG. Yes. 

Chairwoman STABENOW. Thank you very much. 

4 

And again, welcome, and we would ask you to proceed with your 

testimony. As you know, we are happy to take any written testimony and we would ask that your verbal testimony be kept to five 

minutes. Thank you. 

TESTIMONY OF BRIAN T. BAENIG, OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, NOMINATED TO BE AN ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF 

AGRICULTURE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Mr. BAENIG. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. Chairwoman Stabenow, Ranking Member Roberts, former Chairman Senator Lugar, 

members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear 

before you today as a nominee for Assistant Secretary for Congressional Relations at the Department of Agriculture. 

Chairman Leahy, thank you for that kind introduction. When 

you hired me nearly ten years ago, I could have never imagined sitting on this side of the table. Your leadership, your guidance, your 

friendship have been very important to me in my personal life and 

my professional career, so thank you very much. 

Madam Chairwoman, members of the committee, it is a great 

honor to be nominated by President Obama to serve in this position, and if confirmed, you have my commitment that I will work 

diligently to live up to the high standards and expectations that 

this committee has set and the administration has set. I commit to 

always being responsive to all of your questions and concerns. 

Madam Chairwoman, as you recognized, I have spent my career 

in this institution and I treasure it and I hold dear especially the 

long bipartisan traditions of this committee. As you know, I have 

worked for Senators Wellstone, Leahy, and most recently, Senator 

Lincoln on this committee. I have had the honor to work for a diverse set of Senators who all had the same passion—the same bipartisan passion—for supporting America’s farmers, ranchers, and 

rural communities. I will bring that same commitment to work 

each day if I am confirmed for this position. 

Most recently, I have worked as a staff member of this committee, and I feel strongly that straightforward communication between the Department of Agriculture and the Congress is critical 

to the legislative process and essential to the position for which I 

am being considered today. While your positions on specific issues 

may not always match those of the Secretary or the President, I 

will always be responsive to your requests and respectful of your 

concerns and questions. And while I may not always have the answers you are looking for immediately, I will commit to each and 

every one of you to find the answers and always be fair, honest, 

and straightforward with you and your staff. 

I am keenly aware of the current budget situation that we all 

face and the tremendous obstacles that it presents to this committee and our country. But I believe we must always remember 

that America’s farmers and ranchers and our agriculture sector are 

responsible in no small way for the health and strength of this 

great nation. Not only does American agriculture produce the highest and most abundant quality of food, feed, fiber, and fuel at affordable prices, but American producers preserve our environment, 

sustain our rural communities, and help drive our national economy. 

5 

Along with Secretary Vilsack, I am committed to working with 

this committee and the House committee to ensure that the next 

farm bill retains a strong and effective safety net for all of American agriculture. If confirmed, I pledge to work closely with each 

of you and your staff to make all the needed resources available 

during this process. I believe that we share the goal of ensuring 

that American agriculture and our rural communities remain productive and competitive, and working together, I am confident we 

can accomplish that goal, as this committee always has, in a bipartisan fashion. 

The Department of Agriculture has an aggressive agenda to 

serve our nation’s farmers, ranchers, and rural communities. Secretary Vilsack and the Department is focused on delivering results 

that create jobs, promote innovation in our rural communities. If 

confirmed, I look forward to helping him with this important work. 

Finally, Madam Chairwoman, if you would grant me a moment, 

I would like to recognize just a few people who are here today, 

Nancy Smetanka, Jayne Visser, and Dirk Visser. Thank you today 

for your support and always. 

To my mother, Linda Baenig, thank you for your love and guidance. 

Madam Chairwoman, Ranking Member Roberts, former Chairman Lugar, and the rest of the members of the committee, thank 

you for the opportunity to appear before you today. I want to express my gratitude to President Obama, to Secretary Vilsack, for 

the confidence in me to take on this important responsibility. If I 

have the honor of being supported by this committee and confirmed 

by the 

United States Senate, I look forward to building a strong working relationship with each and every one of you. 

Again, thank you for the opportunity. I look forward to answering any questions you may have. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Baenig can be found on page 16 

in the appendix.] 

Chairwoman STABENOW. Well, thank you very much. 

Mr. Baenig, as Assistant Secretary for Congressional Relations, 

you and your staff will serve as key conduits between the USDA 

and the Congress, and it will be your job, of course, to maintain 

open communication, transparency, and this is particularly important as we go into writing of the farm bill, which is the critical responsibility of this committee. How do you plan to enhance the 

USDA’s relationship with Congress and what role will you play as 

Assistant Secretary in facilitating the next farm bill? 

Mr. BAENIG. Madam Chairwoman, thank you for that question. 

As you recognized, I have spent some time here and understand 

the importance of this role in providing timely communication, advance notice when appropriate and possible, and always providing 

the technical resources needed during the farm bill drafting process. I remember the long nights and the many weekends that you 

spent over the course of a two-year period in writing the 2008 farm 

bill and I strongly feel the USDA needs to be a partner in that effort to always provide the technical resources and the guidance 

that this committee seeks. 

6 

So, if confirmed for this position, you have my commitment to 

provide what you need and to provide the answers to your questions and effectively communicate the administration’s positions. 

Chairwoman STABENOW. Thank you. When we talk about writing 

the farm bill, this is going to be a challenging time, as we all know, 

and we are very much focused on how we can do things better, how 

we can consolidate, streamline from the standpoint of our farmers, 

how we can stretch dollars farther. That is going to be a very important part of what we are doing, and it is going to be vital that 

the Assistant Secretary is proficient in navigating all the various 

programs within the Department because it is a large, complex, important agency. 

I wonder if you might speak to what experience you have had 

specifically that have familiarized yourself with the various agencies within the USDA. How has the experience of working on past 

farm bills prepared you for engaging in this farm bill process, 

which we all know is going to take everybody working together and 

is going to be very challenging for us? 

Mr. BAENIG. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. You are correct. 

This is—clearly, the budget environment is going to make this farm 

bill as difficult as any in the past. I do want to just take the opportunity to recognize that agriculture, as a sector, has already made 

some significant contributions to the deficit reduction last year, 

with the significant reduction in the Crop Insurance Program. I 

think that is important to note, and I know you have and other 

members of this committee have, also. 

In terms of navigating the Department, it is a large institution, 

17 agencies, seven mission areas. I have spent the last three 

months getting to know each and every one of those mission area 

heads. During my time here, I had direct communication with the 

agency staff. So I feel like, given my time here, I have a firm grasp 

on where the Department is. 

Again, I think it is going to be essential as we look to the farm 

bill to make sure that this committee has the right people available, and I think that is important. I think it is important to make 

career staff available to this committee who have the technical resources and knowledge to help you in the drafting process. 

Chairwoman STABENOW. Thank you. And then, finally, we are 

talking a lot about accountability because we have to make right 

decisions, and as I said, stretch dollars as far as possible and bring 

accountability. We are going to be asked to do more with less, as 

we all know. Could you speak a little bit about how you, in your 

role, can help us carry out the oversight responsibilities, ensuring 

accountability within USDA, and any challenges that you would 

foresee in that process. 

Mr. BAENIG. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. As you know, Secretary Vilsack has instituted an aggressive examination of the Department, looking at ways to create new efficiencies, and I look forward to the opportunity to support him in that role and communicate that effectively with you. 

He has also—Secretary Vilsack, in terms of accountability, has 

also made aggressive efforts in the area of civil rights, and if confirmed to this position, I look forward to helping him implement 

7 

many of the recommendations the Department has received from 

an independent audit. 

In addition, I think we need to be cognizant of doing more with 

less in these times of budget constraints. I look forward to providing all that information to the committee as the Department 

makes its next steps. 

Chairwoman STABENOW. Thank you very much. 

Senator Lugar. 

Senator LUGAR. Well, thank you very much, Madam Chairman. 

Mr. Baenig, this is just an off-the-top-of-the-head suggestion, but 

I ask it because you are knowledgeable about this committee as 

well as the Department. I have found that I find much more that 

is occurring in the Department of Agriculture through commercial 

newsletters, some that I take because as a corn and soybean farmer, I am interested in the market every day, so this is very informative. At the same time, usually the letters go on to point out what 

is happening in the Department, what Secretary Vilsack really 

thinks about things, or the various other people. 

Now, your job, as you have expressed—and we have all been 

talking about—is to convey information back and forth to the committee from the Department and likewise our views. I have often 

wondered if, in fact, the person in your position composed a newsletter, maybe not each day, but every third or fourth day, which 

really gave a pretty good idea of what is on the mind of the Secretary, what new initiatives he has or things that he believes we 

ought to be informed about. Simply so that this information is 

shared with all the members of the committee and our staffs. That 

would probably be true of our counterparts in the House of Representatives, likewise. 

It would seem to me that we would be on the same page more 

likely, or know our disagreements early on, and then have opportunities for correspondence, or with you as our emissary, to get the 

word back. This looks good or it does not look so good, or, in fact, 

we have delight that the Department is doing a lot of things affirmatively. I am one who admires what Secretary Vilsack has been 

achieving, and he has many chores that he cannot really express 

to us day by day. 

But I just simply take advantage of this hearing to throw out 

that suggestion. If, in fact, such a piece of paper, or maybe two or 

three pages or what have you, would come with some regularity, 

I would be an avid reader and, likewise, would have, I think, a better idea, honestly, of what is going on in the Department than I 

might be receiving through the commercial agricultural newsletters 

that I am reading. Do you have any initial reaction to that idea? 

Mr. BAENIG. Well, Senator Lugar, I think it is an excellent suggestion. I think the more we can do in terms of paper communication and face-to-face meetings with the committee or the committee 

staff, I think it is an excellent suggestion, and if confirmed, I would 

be happy to commit to see if we can get that done on a regular 

basis. I think it is an excellent way to let the committee know what 

the various 17 agencies are doing on a daily basis. I think it would 

be extremely helpful. 

Senator LUGAR. Likewise, to the extent that you have this information before any of the rest of us—this is a very dynamic period 

8 

in American agriculture in terms of land values, quite apart from 

crop prices. And there is a change in many States of the income 

status of farmers which is very encouraging. It really has not been 

seen during many of the years in which we have been deliberating 

in this committee. Just to have those facts, and likewise, how this 

is affecting the people to whom we are exporting around the globe, 

how our crop prices are affecting both their demand as well as 

some of the constraints. 

We have a feeling, in other words that even as we talk about our 

farm bill, we are in the midst, if not of a world food crisis, something approaching that, in which the supplies of food throughout 

this earth and the number of people who are enhancing their diets 

plus maybe the increasing number of people, is putting strains on 

this, and that not just Arab Spring, with young people out in the 

square, but back in the Hustings where small children, elderly people, and what have you are in severe need. This is likely to persist 

for some time. 

So some better knowledge on the part of our committee, our staff, 

day by day—we can pick up some of this in the regular press, and 

I do not fault that coverage worldwide. But there may be some perspectives from the Department standpoint of how the Secretary or 

others view what our responsibility ought to be so that our farm 

bill debate is not purely a parochial affair, but one that really encompasses the world in which we live and the interaction of our exports or lack of that with other countries. 

Thank you very much, Madam Chairman. 

Chairwoman STABENOW. Well, thank you very much, Senator 

Lugar. 

I am going to turn this over to my friend and Ranking Member, 

Senator Roberts, for any both opening comments you would like to 

make as well as questions. We say good morning. 

HON. PAT ROBERTS, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF 

KANSAS 

Senator ROBERTS. Good morning, Madam Chairwoman, and 

thank you for holding this hearing. I think I am going to submit 

my opening comments for the record in the interest of time. 

If you could talk to the D.C. patrolman who evidently gave somebody a ticket in the tunnel on the way to the Capitol, it would be 

very helpful. I know you have a lot of influence there. 

[Laughter.] 

Chairwoman STABENOW. I wonder if the Assistant Secretary 

would have any control over this. It might help his confirmation. 

Senator ROBERTS. It was not by the USDA building at all—— 

[Laughter.] 

Senator ROBERTS. —but at any rate, I do not understand that. 

That is beside the point. At any rate, I think I will just make my 

statement part of the record and we can proceed. 

[The prepared statement of Senator Roberts can be found on 

page 12 in the appendix.] 

Chairwoman STABENOW. And we have gone through our questions. 

Senator ROBERTS. Oh, I see. Well, I think that as I go over the 

questions here that staff has outlined for me, they are very repetVerDate Nov 24 2008 11:31 Mar 30, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\DOCS\71634.TXT MICHA
9 

itive of the questions that we had. We had a very good visit yesterday, and I think more especially with the experience that he has 

had with two members, one of which I am extremely fond of, and 

we talked about that, and then we talked about what would happen when we get into a tough situation and how we would work 

that out, more especially his relationship with other agencies, EPA, 

et cetera, et cetera. So I think I am going to simply have these submitted for the record. 

At the same time, he answered all the questions to my satisfaction, so thank you for coming in this morning. 

Mr. BAENIG. Thank you, Ranking Member. 

Chairwoman STABENOW. All right. Well, let me say again, congratulations on being nominated. In my judgment, you have proved 

to be a thoughtful, competent candidate for this position and I look 

forward to supporting you for this position. I think the Assistant 

Secretary for Congressional Relations for the USDA is a position 

very, very important to our committee, very important to our success as we move forward in working with the Department in tackling and writing a farm bill that works for everyone. 

We know we have a difficult challenge coming up, but we know 

with your help, we will be able to get this done. And so let me 

again thank you for being here. 

Mr. BAENIG. Thank you very much. 

Chairwoman STABENOW. Thank you. And I would ask our first 

panel for our specialty crop portion of the meeting to come forward. 

Senator ROBERTS. Madam Chairman, if I could—— 

Chairwoman STABENOW. Yes. 

Senator ROBERTS. If I could be recognized just for a moment, I 

would like to take a few moments at this particular time to wander, if you will, or get into another pasture from regular order to 

recognize a long-term staffer that we have had here—— 

Chairwoman STABENOW. Yes, please. 

Senator ROBERTS. —and public servant that will be retiring as 

of Friday. 

August 5 will be Dave Johnson’s last day, unfortunately—fortunately for him, perhaps, but unfortunately for us—as a Republican 

staffer on the Senate 

Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. It will also 

be the end of a 23-year career in public service, most of that right 

here on this committee. 

Dave has served me as Ranking Member since March. He came 

on board and helped us get going and running, organized. He previously served as both the Chief Republican Counsel and Deputy 

Staff Director of this committee. His service includes working for 

Chairman Lugar from 1987 to 1991, again from 1994 to 2003. He 

then served Chairman Cochran from 2003 to 2005, and then finally 

Chairman Chambliss from 2005 to 2007. That is a lot of chairmen. 

From 2007 to 2008, he served then-Secretary of Agriculture Mike 

Johanns as Deputy Chief of Staff at the Department. He then 

moved to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, where he 

served until we convinced him to come back and help us get up and 

running this past spring. 

Madam Chairwoman, Dave’s record speaks for itself, but I am 

not sure some understand just how valuable his service has been 

10 

to this committee and agriculture and nutrition policy. Anybody 

that knows Dave can tell you his first love has been nutrition policy. He has worked on numerous child nutrition bills and the nutrition title in no less than four farm bills. I also know that if you 

sit down and visit with him, he would probably tell you that one 

of his proudest moments was the work he did on the 1996 Welfare 

Reform Act, for which a lot of people take credit, but Dave should, 

as well. 

He has been a straight shooter. He gives you the answers you 

need to hear. But one of his greatest strengths is reminding you 

of the things you have not considered and need to think about, the 

law of unintended effects. He has been a tremendous mentor to 

young staff on both sides of the aisle. He was often the first stop 

many of them made when looking for advice on how to learn the 

ropes of the committee. 

Finally, Dave’s attention to detail and proofing proposed legislation is absolutely legendary. If you are scrubbing a bill and making 

sure it is done right, he is the set of eyes that you want on it. He 

is the scrubber. As a member of my staff, I was once told by a 

former member of the Senate Parliamentarian’s Office that a farm 

bill David helped write and scrub was among the best written bills 

we have ever seen come through the Senate. 

Madam Chairwoman, that pretty well sums it up in regards to 

Dave’s service to this committee. Dave, as a former bucket-toter 

myself—staffer—thank you for your years of service to our country, 

the Senate, the members of this committee, and our constituents. 

You have been a true public servant. We all wish you only the best 

as you head home to Indiana. Job well done. 

Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. 

Chairwoman STABENOW. Well, thank you very much, Senator 

Roberts, and we congratulate Dave and we thank him, and I think 

he deserves a round of applause. 

[Applause.] 

Senator ROBERTS. Thanks. 

Chairwoman STABENOW. Well, thank you so much for those comments. You know, it is important to remember, even in the context 

of challenging, rough and tumble times that we are in right now, 

that we have wonderful staff that serve us in the Department and 

both sides of the aisle who have come for the right reasons, who 

care deeply about our country, who care deeply about agriculture 

and nutrition, families, getting this right, people who work with us 

every day that I think we do not say thank you enough to, who are 

the reason that we are able to move forward and get things done, 

because we have smart people with us that care, and that is one 

of the reasons I am very confident we will be able to proceed with 

the farm bill, and as we have in the Agriculture Committee over 

and over again showed that folks can work together and get things 

done. I know that that is what we are committed to doing, so thank 

you very much, Senator Roberts. 

[Whereupon, at 10:07 a.m., the committee proceeded to other 

business.] 

(11) 

A P P E N D I X 

JULY 28, 2011 

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(19) 

DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD 

JULY 28, 2011 

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(23) 

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 

JULY 28, 2011 

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