Pat Roberts
Vilsack, Kansas lawmaker argue over immigration reform
Standing almost shoulder to shoulder, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Rep. Kevin Yoder expressed different views of immigration enforcement during a news conference near Kansas City.
Roberts, Conaway agree over-regulation is the problem
The chairmen of the Senate and House Agriculture committees agree on how to strengthen the agricultural economy and rural America: eliminate "burdensome regulations."
Four lawyers, chief economist join Senate Ag Committee
Chairman Pat Roberts announced the hiring of eight additional staff members for the Senate Agriculture Committee, including Anne Hazlett as chief counsel and Matt Erickson as chief economist.
Obama plan gives food safety to HHS, ends USDA meat role
President Obama has proposed creating a new agency at the Health and Humans Services Department that would consolidate the food-safety activities of FDA and USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service. "The new agency would be charged with pursuing a modern, science-based food safety regulatory regime drawing on best practices of both agencies, with strong enforcement and recall mechanisms, expertise in risk assessment, and enforcement and research efforts across all food types based on...
Crop insurance cut of 17% is proposed in USDA budget
Two crop insurance reforms would cut the cost of the federally subsidized program by about 17 percent under the fiscal 2016 budget proposed for the Agriculture Department. The program is a routine target for cuts, most of which are rejected. This time, the administration proposed a lower premium subsidy for so-called revenue policies based on prices at harvest time, and reforms to prevented-planting coverage. Together, the changes would save $16 billion over 10 years.
“A lot” of rural schools struggle with lunch rules – Roberts
Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts said his lunch of teriyaki bits, brown rice and green beans at a high school in Shawnee, Kan, was an example of food at a model school.
Roberts to see what’s cooking in Kansas school cafeteria
Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts plans to eat lunch at Mill Valley High School in Shawnee, Kan, today to see "what works and what doesn't" in the school food program.
Roberts says regulatory overkill is top Ag Committee issue
Chairman Pat Roberts says the big issue confronting the Senate Agriculture Committee is "regulatory overkill we are experiencing with every agency" and particularly with the EPA. Roberts mentioned regulatory reform twice while listing committee priorities for this session. "We've got a lot of priorities," he said, citing reauthorization of the CFTC, the mandatory livestock price reporting law, and child nutrition programs - "big time." Regulatory reform, he said, "seems to be the big thing" in farm country.
Roberts names biotech and nutrition advisors for Senate Ag
Chairman Pat Roberts announced eight senior staff members for the Senate Agriculture Committee, including Julian Baer as policy advisor for nutrition and James Glueck as policy advisor for biotechnology, risk management and grain inspection.
PepsiCo lobbyist is named staff director for Senate Ag panel
Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts named Joel Leftwich, a lobbyist for PepsiCo, as the committee's staff director and selected one of his Senate aides, Wayne Stoskopf, as a committee staff member, said a committee statement.
For food and agriculture, a lengthy to-do list for Congress
Congress is to open its new, two-year session on Tuesday with a hefty list of food and agriculture policy issues already on the agenda for lawmakers. The "to do" list includes reauthorization of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and federal child nutrition programs such as school lunch and WIC, proposals for federal pre-emption of states in labeling foods made with genetically modified organisms, attempts to block EPA from completing its...
Conaway selected as next House Agriculture chairman
House Republican leaders tapped Texas Rep Mike Conaway to become House Agriculture Committee chairman in January, succeeding Frank Lucas of Oklahoma, who has served the six-year maximum allowed by Republican rules. Conaway is a conservative from central Texas and currently is chairman of the House Ethics Committee. House Republicans are expected to meet today to ratify the choice of Conaway and 16 other men as their committee leaders.
Roberts says “not productive…to open up the farm bill”
Kansas Senator Pat Roberts, who expects to chair the Agriculture Committee beginning in January, told National Journal, "It is not productive at all to open up the farm bill."
Roberts wins, may be first to chair House, Senate ag panels
Kansas Sen Pat Roberts easily won his fourth term in the Senate, beating independent Greg Orman by 9 points. Roberts says he expects to be Agriculture Committee chairman when Republicans take control of the Senate in January. He would be the first person to chair the both the House and Senate Agriculture committees.
A dozen elections with food and agriculture policy impact
A dozen elections today may influence food and agriculture policy nationally, They range from the Kansas race that could determine the next chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee to referendums on soda taxes and GMO labeling.
Ernst leads in Iowa for Senate, Kansas is neck-and-neck race
Republican Joni Ernst led Democrat Bruce Braley by 7 points, 51-44, in the latest Iowa Poll of the Des Moines Register. It was Ernst's largest lead in any poll in a month.
Roberts says little about agriculture in Kansas Senate race
Sen Pat Roberts, potentially Agriculture Committee chairman if Republicans win control of the Senate, rarely mentions his record on agriculture - defender of crop insurance and author of the 1996 Freedom to Farm law - on the campaign trail.
Roberts, Orman “haven’t closed the sale” in Kansas
"The race for the U.S. Senate seat from Kansas is about to get nastier," says the Kansas City Star in a story headlined, "With a week to go, U.S. Senate candidates in Kansas still haven't closed the sale."