Highlights of USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue Before House Agriculture Committee

New USDA leader defends reorganization plans, comments on a host of policy and trade issues

USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue appeared Wednesday before the House Agriculture Committee to discuss the state of the rural economy. Panel members asked him about several farm and trade policy issues. The following is what Perdue said on key topics:

• Cotton safety net. Perdue comments on repeated questions from members concerned about cotton growers’ financial plight. Perdue said that he could make no commitments beyond saying he would see if he has the legal and budgetary authority to augment 2014 Farm Bill programs designed for the cotton industry. “I don’t want to give false hope,” Perdue said during his first appearance before a congressional committee since his confirmation in April.

Committee Chairman Mike Conaway (R-Texas) lashed out at Senate Agriculture ranking Democrat Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and Pat Leahy (D-Vt.), who worked to get relief for dairy farmers included in the Fiscal 2017 omnibus. Stabenow and Leahy, who represent states where dairy is an important product, sought additional funding because dairy farmers say a 2014 Farm Bill program created for the industry is flawed and needs restructuring. “We had an elegant solution for cotton. It should have been in the omnibus,” Conaway said. “The Senate stabbed our cotton farmers in the back because they couldn’t come up with their own solution for dairy. Sen. Stabenow and Sen. Leahy, shame on them. ” Stabenow and Leahy may not have cotton farmers in their states, but that is no reason to “take them hostage to get something that would never work,” Conaway said, noting that the northern lawmakers’ proposal to help dairy producers would have cost $800 million over 10 years but did not come with an offset.

• Dairy policy issues. Perdue said he will journey to Toronto in June and plans to press the Canadians on their restrictions on US dairy products He also promised to have a milk marketing order finalized for California by the end of the year.
  
• USDA reorganization. Several members noted their concerns regarding the lack of an undersecretary position for USDA’s rural development programs. Rural development programs would be placed under an office that reports directly to him, Perdue said last week. He said the change would elevate rural concerns and allow him to be more involved in issues affecting small towns and rural communities. Committee members asked if the reorganization represented a demotion for rural programs and possible future reductions. Perdue surprised the committee by announcing that there will be an assistant secretary for rural development with the ability to walk into his office to discuss programs. He also said the assistant secretary would require Senate confirmation, but he later appeared to walk back that assessment. He said that access to him was more valuable than having the higher level post of Undersecretary for Rural Development. The undersecretary reported to the deputy secretary, the department’s number-two person, Perdue said.
  
• Trade policy. Perdue touted his move to create a new trade undersecretary, telling lawmakers that the new position would serve as a top promoter of US agriculture goods abroad. Perdue said the new undersecretary would serve as part of a “triumvirate” on trade, providing expertise on agriculture to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer as they work on new trade deals.
  
• Food stamps. Perdue assured Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) that he thinks the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, is an important and effective anti-hunger program, although he did not mention the program in his prepared remarks. McGovern said he has heard rumors that SNAP could be “used as an ATM machine” in the Fiscal 2018 budget process to help pay for other programs. “As far as I’m concerned, we have no proposed changes. You don’t try to fix things that aren’t broken,” Perdue said.
  
• On broadband and inland waterways. Perdue said the White House understands the importance of inland waterways and high-speed internet service to rural areas. Perdue said he was at the White House Tuesday for a meeting on the administration’s infrastructure plan and that waterway needs were “right at the top of their list.” He said that White House advisers also understand that broadband is critical to economic development.
  
• Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Perdue said there should be new flexibility for use of the least productive acreage enrolled in the CRP.
  
• Perdue backs setting up a bank for vaccines like FMD. Perdue said he backs setting up a bank for vaccines for foot and mouth disease (FMD), even as such an effort might be costly. “I look at vaccine banks as insurance,” Perdue, a former veterinarian said. “You can’t have your house burn down and take out insurance after the fact. You have got to have vaccine availability ahead of time, so I look at it as a wise insurance program.