‘Father’ of organic ag law, Pat Leahy, to retire from Senate
One of the last of the "Watergate babies" elected to Congress in 1974, Vermont Sen. Pat Leahy said on Monday he will retire next year after eight terms in the Senate that included stints as chairman of its Appropriations, Agriculture and Judiciary committees. Leahy shepherded passage of the national organic standards law in 1990 and oversaw expansion of SNAP and the school lunch program.
Roberts warns against contrary views from USDA nominee Clovis on crop insurance
At the same hearing where he said President Trump promised not to cut crop insurance funding in 2018, Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts confronted statements by Trump nominee Sam Clovis, questioning whether it was a valid federal function. "If there is some nominee coming before this committee who says crop insurance is unconstitutional, they might as well not show up," said Roberts, arguably the strongest congressional advocate of the risk management tool.
If it’s a bad night for GOP, Dems may have a chance in Central Valley
Two Republican-held House seats in the heavily agricultural Central Valley of California could be ripe for picking by Democrats if voters are riled by GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump's criticism of Hispanics and immigrants, says the Los Angeles Times. Rep. David Valadao, a member of the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees USDA and FDA funding, represents a district that is 71 percent Latino, and Agriculture Committee member Jeff Denham has a district that is 26 percent Latino.