During a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing prior to the Congressional recess, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) questioned Scott Hutchins, of Indiana, nominee to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Research, Education, and Economics.
00:00Let me give a shout out to Mike McCormick, President of the Mississippi Farm Bureau.
00:06We do appreciate working with you and all that you represent in Mississippi, the great job that you all do.
00:14Roger, you ready?
00:16I'm ready.
00:16I'm sorry, Senator Marshall.
00:17All right, thank you, Mr. Chairman, ranking member.
00:19Welcome to both of our nominees and congratulations.
00:23We look forward to supporting your nominations.
00:25I think my first question is for Mr. Hoskins.
00:28Part of your role is marketing and regulatory programs.
00:33So talk a little bit about pesticides and fertilizers and your interaction with EPA and HHS now as well.
00:43And again, I'll just start by sharing.
00:45I'm so proud of what we've done in agriculture.
00:47We're growing more with less.
00:48We're using a fraction of those pesticides and fertilizers that we're used to.
00:52This committee is doing everything we can to have decreased amounts of those ever reach the waters as well.
00:59But what will your role be in interacting with the other departments?
01:06So thank you for the question, Senator, and for the time you extended to me in your office last week.
01:12I know you raised this issue and a number of other priorities on behalf of Kansas agriculture producers.
01:19I would just say when I think about that question, I'm thinking about it through the lens of the APHIS-AMS mandate that Congress has given it.
01:27And I think regardless of whether it's a fertilizer, an input, a crop protection tool, a biotechnology innovation, all of those things are so critical to the producers to produce the most abundant, most affordable, safest food supply in the world.
01:49And as a federal government, my hope would be we would facilitate that innovation and technology and not frustrate it.
01:58So if I were confirmed, I would commit to you to stand behind the science and ensure the agency actions, whether it's registrations or reviews or approval, are consistent with both on a technical level, this most sound science we have in front of us, and consistent with the mandate that Congress has given the agencies to operate under.
02:21Great. Thank you.
02:22Dr. Hutchins, I'll go to you next.
02:24We want to talk about NMATH, the National Bioagro Defense Facility.
02:27Have you had the chance to go there yet?
02:31Thank you, Senator.
02:31I did when it was under construction.
02:35Right.
02:35Okay.
02:36Well, good.
02:36So you're very familiar with what it is and what it means to American agriculture as well.
02:42But it's still not open, and I think it's a year or two, and it's not because of the construction part of it.
02:47The construction was done, as I understand, pretty much on time, on budget.
02:51But do you have any idea, and I know you're not confirmed yet, do you have any idea why it's not been open yet,
02:56and what is your level of commitment to make that happen?
02:59Senator, I do not.
03:01I have literally not had any access to that, or obviously, or any information since, you know, 2021.
03:10So my commitment to you is that if I'm confirmed, I will definitely look into that, understand the details, and problem solve from that point.
03:17Well, it's my understanding that they're dragging the feet because the Plum Island facility is dragging its feet to get shut down.
03:26But the people, American taxpayers, have invested significant money in BAP.
03:30It's the safest place in the world to do this type of research, and that's where it needs to be done.
03:36Would you agree?
03:36That's the premise behind the whole facility when we send a memorandum of agreement, and so that's still my working premise,
03:43that it's absolutely the best and the world-class facility, and that's where that work should be conducted.
03:48Okay.
03:49I think in your previous tenure at USDA, you were involved with the relocation of ERS and NEPA to Kansas City, the greater Kansas City metro area.
04:00And, you know, any idea, has that been a success?
04:03Is it working well?
04:04Well, I mean, to us, I think it's really important to get people closest to the producers as possible.
04:09This is one of, I hope, of many, many future opportunities for people to get out of the swamp here and get them out in the hinterlands,
04:16let's fly over states, and see what's really happening in agriculture.
04:20Senator, I was involved with that, and that's Secretary Perdue's direction.
04:26We did develop that, and prior to my departure, we did actually open the facility there in Kansas City.
04:34You might also recall that that was kind of right in the middle of the COVID scenarios as well.
04:39I do not know at present what the current status is of the building, the context, and the rest of it,
04:45but I was personally on site the day that it opened, and I met individually with every single NEPA and ERS individual that was there,
04:53and every single one of them that was there was delighted to be in the Kansas City region,
04:59and the recruitment at the time was being very, very successful.
05:03So I will commit to you to understand what the current status is
05:07and to make sure that the original promises are fulfilled that Secretary Perdue had an outline.
05:14Well, great.
05:15After you're confirmed, if possible, you, your staff might just follow up with me
05:19and let us know how that's going and whatever we can do to support future endeavors like that as well.
