Choice of Vilsack risks agribusiness as usual? We'll see.
VILSACK'S RECORD AFTER 100 DAYS
source: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090501/BUSINESS01/905010384
You can't miss Iowa at the USDA
FURNISHINGS: Vilsack is putting an Iowa stamp on his new office suite. His desk is a replica of the Iowa governor's desk that he bought from a lawyer friend and had restored. Hanging behind the desk is a large photograph of two of Iowa's most famous figures in agriculture: Henry A. Wallace, the last Iowan to serve as agriculture secretary, and George Washington Carver, the black inventor and Iowa State University alumnus. Yet to be hung on another wall is a gift to Vilsack from former President Bill Clinton: an etching of a visit by President Grover Cleveland to Sioux City in the 1800s. The USDA first became a Cabinet-level department under Cleveland.
KEY POSTS: Iowans or people with strong Iowa connections are taking a number of key slots at USDA. They include Vilsack's chief of staff, John Norris, and the deputy secretary's chief of staff, Doug O'Brien. Mike Michener, a State Department veteran from New London, is running the Foreign Agricultural Service. Kevin Concannon, who was Vilsack's human services chief in Iowa, is being nominated as undersecretary to oversee food stamps, school lunches and other nutrition programs.
VILSACK'S RECORD AFTER 100 DAYS
BUDGET: Vilsack vigorously defended White House proposals to slash some farm subsidy programs that were quickly rejected by Congress. The cuts would have helped pay for increased spending on school lunches and other nutrition programs. Farmers said Vilsack unfairly pitted them against hungry kids.
MEAT LABELING: Vilsack pushed meatpackers to adhere to more stringent rules for labeling beef and pork with the country of origin. The Bush administration allowed multicountry wording on some products that made the labels useless to consumers, critics said.
CHILD NUTRITION: President Barack Obama promised to end childhood hunger by 2015 and to curb the obesity epidemic among kids. The real action on the hunger and obesity problems will come when Congress updates USDA-run nutrition programs.
CIVIL RIGHTS: Vilsack pledged to improve the USDA’s civil-rights record. He’s investigating past complaints but limited the review to the Bush administration. The Obama administration still faces the bigger issue of compensating black farmers for past discrimination. The farm bill didn’t provide enough money to settle all claims at the full amounts.
BIOTECHNOLOGY: Vilsack used a recent summit of farm ministers in Italy to push for greater international acceptance of genetically engineered seeds. He says the USDA is going to be more aggressive in promoting the products than it has in the past.
FLU OUTBREAK: Vilsack has been working to protect the pork industry from the fallout from the flu epidemic. He argued for calling the virus by the scientific designation for its strain, H1N1, rather than swine flu, and made a point of saying he was eating pork.
CONSERVATION: Vilsack named Dave White, a former adviser to the Senate Agriculture Committee, to run the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. Vilsack still has important decisions to make on implementing changes made by the 2008 farm bill.
CLIMATE CHANGE: Vilsack has been telling farm groups that growers will benefit from legislation to cap greenhouse gas emissions. The real test will come when bills are ready for votes and agribusiness support is needed.
BIOFUELS: Vilsack is pushing for more consumption of the corn-based fuel additive, but Congress gave the authority for regulating biofuel usage to the Environmental Protection Agency.
SUBSIDY REFORM: Vilsack worked out a deal with the Treasury Department to verify the income eligibility of subsidy recipients. He is reviewing other rules that determine how active a recipient has to be in a farm operation.
You can't miss Iowa at the USDA
FURNISHINGS: Vilsack is putting an Iowa stamp on his new office suite. His desk is a replica of the Iowa governor's desk that he bought from a lawyer friend and had restored. Hanging behind the desk is a large photograph of two of Iowa's most famous figures in agriculture: Henry A. Wallace, the last Iowan to serve as agriculture secretary, and George Washington Carver, the black inventor and Iowa State University alumnus. Yet to be hung on another wall is a gift to Vilsack from former President Bill Clinton: an etching of a visit by President Grover Cleveland to Sioux City in the 1800s. The USDA first became a Cabinet-level department under Cleveland.
KEY POSTS: Iowans or people with strong Iowa connections are taking a number of key slots at USDA. They include Vilsack's chief of staff, John Norris, and the deputy secretary's chief of staff, Doug O'Brien. Mike Michener, a State Department veteran from New London, is running the Foreign Agricultural Service. Kevin Concannon, who was Vilsack's human services chief in Iowa, is being nominated as undersecretary to oversee food stamps, school lunches and other nutrition programs.
VILSACK'S RECORD AFTER 100 DAYS
BUDGET: Vilsack vigorously defended White House proposals to slash some farm subsidy programs that were quickly rejected by Congress. The cuts would have helped pay for increased spending on school lunches and other nutrition programs. Farmers said Vilsack unfairly pitted them against hungry kids.
MEAT LABELING: Vilsack pushed meatpackers to adhere to more stringent rules for labeling beef and pork with the country of origin. The Bush administration allowed multicountry wording on some products that made the labels useless to consumers, critics said.
CHILD NUTRITION: President Barack Obama promised to end childhood hunger by 2015 and to curb the obesity epidemic among kids. The real action on the hunger and obesity problems will come when Congress updates USDA-run nutrition programs.
CIVIL RIGHTS: Vilsack pledged to improve the USDA’s civil-rights record. He’s investigating past complaints but limited the review to the Bush administration. The Obama administration still faces the bigger issue of compensating black farmers for past discrimination. The farm bill didn’t provide enough money to settle all claims at the full amounts.
BIOTECHNOLOGY: Vilsack used a recent summit of farm ministers in Italy to push for greater international acceptance of genetically engineered seeds. He says the USDA is going to be more aggressive in promoting the products than it has in the past.
FLU OUTBREAK: Vilsack has been working to protect the pork industry from the fallout from the flu epidemic. He argued for calling the virus by the scientific designation for its strain, H1N1, rather than swine flu, and made a point of saying he was eating pork.
CONSERVATION: Vilsack named Dave White, a former adviser to the Senate Agriculture Committee, to run the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. Vilsack still has important decisions to make on implementing changes made by the 2008 farm bill.
CLIMATE CHANGE: Vilsack has been telling farm groups that growers will benefit from legislation to cap greenhouse gas emissions. The real test will come when bills are ready for votes and agribusiness support is needed.
BIOFUELS: Vilsack is pushing for more consumption of the corn-based fuel additive, but Congress gave the authority for regulating biofuel usage to the Environmental Protection Agency.
SUBSIDY REFORM: Vilsack worked out a deal with the Treasury Department to verify the income eligibility of subsidy recipients. He is reviewing other rules that determine how active a recipient has to be in a farm operation.
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