Nuclear ought to be in the mix. Cspan. Org. On our home page and by searching the video library. President trumps nominee for agriculture secretary, former georgia governor, sonny purdue, testified at his confirmati confirmation hearing. He was questioned about proposed white house budget cuts to farm programs, Crop Insurance, Forest Management, immigrant labor and farm bill reauthorization. Good morning, members of the committee. I call this meeting of the Senate Committee on agriculture, nutrition and forestry to order. This morning we welcome governor sonny perdue, the president s nominee for u. S. Secretary of agriculture. Members of this committee have great appreciation for the farmers, ranchers and consumers and other stakeholders that are directly affected by decisions made by the secretary. The department of agriculture is made up of 29 agencies and offices. It employs nearly 100,000 men and women that work in all 50 states and all around the globe. The department provides leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, Rural Development, nutrition, scientific research, and related issues that impact americans virtually every day. Throughout our nations history, our farmers, ranchers and folks in Rural America have survived, drought, disease, floods and lately, yes, lately prairie fires in kansas and whatever else Mother Nature throws at them. Year after year, they produced the safest, most abundant and affordable food and fiber supply in the world. However, today, growers from across the country are facing tough Economic Times with multiple years of low prices. These same producers need a strong market for their goods. During this critical time, the importance of trade for agriculture our agriculture industry cannot be overstated. And if that was not enough, over the last previous years, farmers and ranchers and Rural Businesses have been burdened by regulations from agency all across the federal government. I have heard time and time again, as well as many members of this committee, about the costly and hard to understand regulations that endanger the ability of our producers to simply stay in business. This committee will continue its efforts to make government a partner in their success, not an adversary. And this committee has a lot of work to do over the next two years, including the reauthorization of the farm bill. We intend to do that work in the bipartisan fashion that has served us so well in the past. In this respect, i want to personally thank the distinguished Ranking Member and former chairperson of this committee, the senator from michigan. Now more than ever, agriculture needs a voice, and advocate at the highest levels of government. And Governor Perdue has been nominated to serve in exactly that role. He is from georgia and has spent his entire life in and around agriculture. The governor has raised on a farm and was a practicing veterinarian before returning to his home county to work in the grain business. He was elected to serve in local and state government, including two terms as governor of georgia. While serving farmers throughout the southeast, he gained firsthand experience with a complexity of transportation and the Global Commodities market. Governor, the senates role of advice and consent is an important responsibility. And today is a key step in that process. We look forward to hearing your testimony and to asking you questions about how you view the role of agriculture secretary, should you be confirmed. In addition to the governor, i would also like to welcome and recognize his wife, mary, his four children and their spouses, and his 14 grandchildren. The governor is also joined by so many of his friends and former staff in georgia, we cant count them. We welcome you all to the committee. And i am especially glad to have our former ag Committee Chairman and senator from georgia, the honorable sacksbly chambliss and georgia congressman, david scott, who serves on the House Agriculture Committee pardon me, the sometimes powerful House Agriculture Committee. With us to provide introductions of our nominee and i see congressman Sanford Bishop here in the audience to support the nominee, as well. Sanford, its good to see you again. But before we hear from senator chambliss and congressman scott, i want to turn things over to senator stab now for any remarks to make. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. Its great to be with you today as were moving forward on this very important position. And welcome, Governor Perdue, and its pretty impressive, seeing youve got some beautiful grandchildren, as well as children and family members. And we know that youre proud of your grandpa, and were happy to have you all here today. And to my friend, senator chambliss, we worked on a lot of farm bills together, and worked well, and thank you for your services, chair, and as somebody advocating for georgia, and all of the interests in agriculture. Its great to see you. And representative scott, welcome, as well. Weve got a lot of Work Together with our colleagues in the house to be able to get the next farm bill done. So we look forward to doing that. Its clear that agriculture and Rural America need to have a seat at the table. We always do. But its clear that we need to make sure thats happening with this administration. Looking back at our history, our president s knew that farmers were the foundation of the country. Thats why president lincoln created the usda and called it the peoples department, because he understood that agriculture is the cornerstone of our economy in that had a special relationship with the people it served. Americas farmers and ranchers grow the most affordable food supply in the world and we should be proud of that. I always say that Food Security is national security, because having a foodsecure nation makes our country safe. Our food and Agriculture Sector also supports 16 million american jobs. Its usd as job to ensure we can continue to make things and grow things in every state. And that means celebrating the diversity of american agriculture, as well. Michigan is the secondmost diverse agriculture state in the country. And its important that you usda is a voice for michigan farmers, as well as kansas, as well as georgia and all of those across our country. Large and small, conventional and organic. Those who sell overseas, those who sell to their neighbors. We need a voice for all of our farmers. And agriculture secretary will need to look past regional divides and partisan pressures. To support all farmers, all families and Rural Communities. And right now we need an advocate to stand up for them with this administration. Usda not only helps a farmer weather storms, they also safe communities from wildfires in the west, help to make lakes and rivers safe for families to enjoy and ensure children have the healthy food they need to learn and grow to be healthy adults. Rural america is the economic backbone of our country, and its true that too many rural towns are still struggling to recover from the great recession. Over the past eight years, usda has made targeted investments in rural economies and now were beginning to see these communities on the road to recovery. But we need to make sure that these important Investments Continue so we can keep moving forward. Unfortunately, during the two months of the administration, its clear that Rural America has been an afterthought. Even before President Trump took office, he sent a message by waiting until the last minute to name his pick for agriculture secretary. Last weeks Budget Proposal has made it clear that Rural America is not a top priority for this administration. The proposal cuts usda funding by 21 . The thirdlargest cut to any federal agency. In addition to eliminating critical World Development in International Food aid programs, the administration has put a target on hundreds of critical programs that go through the appropriations process. In fact, under the budget, important resources for farmers and families are facing cuts averaging 33 . We need a secretary of agriculture who will advocate for the Important Services usda provides, and rural families and farmers need. We need a strong voice to insist that the president listen to the 500 groups that are saying that agriculture, conservation, Food Assistance and other farm bill programs should not be cut further after agreeing to a 23 billion cut in the last farm bill. We also need someone who will partner closely with congress, especially as we put together the next farm bill and look at other key issues like immigration and trade that have a tremendous impact on farmers and Rural Communities. In the 2014 farm bill, we made bipartisan reforms that save taxpayers billions and protected the integrity of the farm and Family Safety net. The Congressional Budget Office recently estimated that the current farm bill, if we did no changes, would save 80 billion more than initially projected in the next ten years. Largely driven by Crop Insurance costs going down, and reduced spending on Food Assistance. As the economy is improved. In this congress, we will be working hard to move another bipartisan farm bill. Im excited for this challenge, mr. Chairman. With the usda leadership, with all of our stakeholders, i know we can get it done. We have worked before on a comprehensive bill, we will do it again for the communities that we represent and for the entire country. Especially during these times of low prices for ago conduct and uncertainty around the budget, trade and immigration we need the next secretary to be an unapologetic advocate for all of Rural America. We need someone who will be tenacious, much like a georgian bulldog. Governor perdue, we need a champion, and i know you know that. Right now, more than ever. Today i look forward to learning more about your views and qualifications to lead one of the most important departments in our federal government. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I thank the senator from michigan. It is my privilege and pleasure now to recognize the distinguished former member of this committee and chairman of this committee, our colleague, our friend, the honorable Saxby Chambliss. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member stabenow, distinguished members of the committee, i am truly honored to be before you today. And im humbled to be on this side of the die js, but glad to be on this side. For a number of reasons. But im particularly pleased and honored to be here today to introduce my good friend, governor george sonny perdue, President Trumps next nominee to be secretary of agriculture. I spent the best years of my life here, and when people ask me what do i miss of the senate, im quickly to respond, the good friends i made over my 20 years in congress. And members of this committee are right, the top of the list are those best friends on both sides of the aisle. I am truly pleased to be here. When i was sworn in as a new member of the house of representatives in january of 1995, i was given the next to the last seat on that committee, which was made up of more than 50 members. The chairman of that committee was the gentleman from kansas, mr. Roberts. Now, mr. Chairman, you probably are the only person in the history of our country to chair both committees. And im going to steal your phrase, because ive heard you say it so often that sometimes powerful ag committee. But youre to be crated. Sonny grew up on a farm in houston county, georgia, graduated at the university of georgia and after touring the air force, returned to howston county to be actively engaged in row crop farming, as well as in the operation of very successful Grain Elevator business. When i was elected to congress, sonny was a constituent of mine and was by that time in his life a member of the Georgia State senate. Howston county is the home of Robbins Air Force base. So sonny and i shared the interest of defense, as well as agriculture, in our respective positions. And we began a dialogue that has lasted to this day. In 2002, sonny decided to run for governor of georgia, and i decided to run for the United States senate. And needless to say, we spent many hours campaigning over the next year prior to that election. And when you eat a lot of Fried Chicken and a lot of barbecue and ride a bus with somebody for a long period of time, you get to know them. And i got to know sonny well. That november, sonny was elected as the first republican governor in our state in 130 years. Sonny has been a leader in everything hes been involved in doing. As a farmer, he was a leader in the field of agri business in our state. As a member of the state senate, he was elected by his peers to be the president pro tem of the senate. And as governor, he was the chairman of the republican governors association. When he was elected governor, sonny did what good leaders do. And that is to surround himself with good people. He went out and found a very experienced ceo and a very experienced cfo. He also improved the states leadership by implementing a meritocracy, in that he went out and found the very best and most qualified people to run every one of our state agencies, irrespective of the political affiliation of those individuals. He committed to make georgia the bestmanaged state in the nation, and he received Significant National recognition for his accomplishments. When he was elected, the state couldnt produce an audit, so he created the first state Accounting Office to focus on the time limits and usefulness of financial information. Technology and purchasing systems at the state level were antiquated. Under sonnys leadership, those systems were updated and the state purchasing system has received many awards for its efficiency and accountability. A new state data center was established, and much of the appropriate technology was outsourced in order to stay current and technologically stateoftheart. Now we all know that technology at usda today is way behind the curve. Its inefficient, and it is not farmerfriendly. This will be a challenge to sonny, but i am very confident that he will be up to that challenge. One of sonnys most significant initiatives was the Customer Service focus to treat citizens of our state as customers. And to create services for them that were faster, friendlier and easier. That initiative significantly reduced the time and improved the Customer Experience in everything from getting a drivers license to getting a tax refund. It also produced a cultural change as state employees bought into this initiative. Such an effort at usda would be a vast improvement in the relationship with washington and its largest customers at usda, farmers and ranchers. This kind of executive experience and leadership, combined with sonnys knowledge of usda programs, make him ideally suited to be the next secretary of agriculture. And mr. Chairman, i would urge this committee to approve his nomination and bring his confirmation to a vote on the floor of the senate as soon as possible. And i thank you very much. Thank you, senator chambliss, for an excellent an excellent statement on behalf of the governor. It is also my personal pleasure and privilege to introduce a member of the House Agriculture Committee, very valuable member, congressman david scott. David, were delighted to have you here in the upper body. We wont go any farther with that. Please proceed, sir. Chairman roberts, thank you for that. But i do want to make one slight correction. When you said that house agriculture was sometimes influential and powerful, may we add an addendum to that, so it will go out that the House Agriculture Committee has always been and will always be powerful and influential. I i appreciate that correction. It just was only one chairman that had the tenure of when it was sometimes powerful. Touche, my friend. I will certainly take that in consideration. General roberts, i am greatly honored and very thankful to have this opportunity to come and stand with my dear friend, my longtime friend, sonny perdue. I want to just take a few minutes to share with you some things about sonny that you need to know. My good friend, senator Saxby Chambliss, went into great detail to share with you his immense qualifications. His education. The fact that he went to university of georgias veterinarian school. But i am here to explain to you why sonny perdue is indeed the right person at the right time to do the absolute best job. The talents that i have shared and have witnessed with him, and coming up through Georgia State senate. You see, committee members, i was chairman of the Senate Rules Committee in georgia for ten years. First africanamerican to get that position. My good friend sonny perdue was the president pro tem of the senate. Now, im not saying that to shake a