Adam Schiff Presses Agriculture Nom On Serving Diverse Farmers Amid USDA Record Of ‘Pervasive Discrimination’

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During Tuesday’s Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee hearing, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) questioned Devon Westhill, nominee to be Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Civil Rights, about ensuring access for all farmers to United States Department of Agriculture programs.

Transcript

00:00Senator Schiff. Thank you Mr. Chairman. Mr. Lindbergh, as you know I come from

00:07California and we are very much in the specialty crop business. Really proud of

00:12the whole agricultural industry in California to be the number one

00:16agriculture producing state. So I remind my colleagues. We traditionally by virtue

00:23of having such a heavy concentration of specialty crops haven't participated as

00:28much in the work of the USDA in the sense of being a recipient of support from

00:34the department. But there are a number of programs that are hugely important to us.

00:37The market access program, the technical assistance for specialty crop program, the

00:42regional agricultural promotional program, and the assisting specialty crop exports.

00:46I'd like to get your thoughts on those programs. Whether you see their value,

00:51whether we can count on you to be a champion for those efforts. Senator thank

00:56you for the question. And my wife's uncle is actually a fruit farmer in the great

00:59state of California. Longtime specialty crop producer there. I've spoken with him

01:04many times about the importance of these exact programs with respect to helping

01:08create those markets for our specialty crops overseas. And I absolutely commit to

01:12working with our export promotion programs to make sure our fruit farmers and

01:16other specialty crop producers have those chances to export their products. I would

01:21say also that a lot of the research that's done by USDA helps the specialty crop

01:27farms in dealing with different pests, diseases, etc. They really threaten the

01:33livelihood of what they produce. And the layoff of some of these important

01:38personnel is of grave concern. So we would also ask you to push back against the

01:45firing of these important scientists and researchers who are doing work that can

01:51save us, literally save us billions in agricultural output. Mr. Westhill, I

01:56wanted to ask you about the USDA's history and the present. And in terms of

02:04the history, obviously the department has a incredible history, a very important

02:11institution in our society going back to the days of Lincoln. But yet it also has a

02:16record of some pervasive discrimination. What is your commitment to making sure

02:23that the USDA serves a diverse group of farmers? In California, we not only have

02:28an extraordinarily diverse set of crops, we have an extraordinarily diverse set of

02:33farmers. And I want to make sure that farm programs are accessible to all the

02:41farmers. And not only is there no discrimination, but there are affirmative

02:45efforts made to make sure that farmers are aware of these programs and that

02:51they, that there is the outreach so that all can participate. And I'd like to get your

02:56thoughts on combating the historic discrimination within the department and

03:00also making sure that we're reaching a diverse group of farmers in the country.

03:04Senator, thank you for the question. I really appreciate it. I appreciate your interest in civil

03:09rights at USDA and its history. There's a long history of discrimination at USDA. I've read the book

03:17on it. I've talked to your colleagues about those issues. I didn't see those issues when I served in

03:24the role as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the first term. But to the extent that they exist at all today,

03:30that there are barriers to accessing USDA program for participating as a rancher or farmer, no matter

03:39what you're producing with USDA programs, we want to make sure that those barriers are knocked down.

03:45I'm committed to that. I'm committed to making sure that everyone can do business with USDA on equal

03:50footing, no matter their race or any other protected characteristic under civil rights law.

03:57Thank you. And Mr. Lindbergh, I don't know whether this is going to become necessary. I guess it

04:04depends on how long the tariff fight goes on. Farmers in California, like I think around the country,

04:10would much rather farm and trade and sell than be reliant on government support. But if there is

04:17a fund established to help farmers that are injured by retaliatory or other tariffs, in the past,

04:24specialty crop farmers have really not participated very much, and those in California even less,

04:29what can you do to make sure that there are resources available to help make those farmers whole,

04:37even as there has traditionally been much more attention on the commodity growers?

04:42Senator, I believe that there are going to be a number of new trade deals signed in the not too

04:46distant future, that those programs will not be necessary. But should they become necessary,

04:52I will absolutely commit to making sure that the specialty crop producers in our country are

04:56represented and have the chance to apply, just like any other farm commodity groups.

05:00And that may require some adjustment of how those programs operate, since

05:06the trees have a much longer life, a much higher investment, and many of the farmers don't have the

05:14same long history of farming the same crops. So there are some artificial bearers, I think, to

05:19participation and would like to work with you to overcome them. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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