During a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing prior to the Congressional recess, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) questioned Scott Hutchins, nominee to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Research, Education, and Economics.
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00:00Senator Moran. Senator Klobuchar, Senator Hovind, thank you very much for leading this committee in the absence of Senator Bozeman.
00:07Thank you both for being here. I'm going to plow similar ground to my colleague from Kansas' plowing of earlier in the hearing.
00:16I want to highlight again this issue of NBAAF, and I have had conversations with Secretary Rollins a couple of times about this topic.
00:25And NBAAF is a $1.25 billion American investment in the safety of our food supply, and it's still not fully operational.
00:36The handoff from the Department of Homeland Security, as you know, occurred now a significant period of time ago.
00:43The former Secretary of Agriculture was there to help cut the ribbon, and yet we're still not fully operational.
00:51And I'm really anxious to get your attention, if you're confirmed, to make certain that the Department of Agriculture, that USDA, takes the necessary steps to get this fully commissioned and operational.
01:06And I would join Senator Hovind, and I can join him in telling you, you're a great nominee, if you'll commit to coming with me, Senator Marshall and others, to see NBAAF and to take a leadership at the Department of Agriculture in this regard.
01:22Dr. Hoskins.
01:23Excuse me, Dr. Hutchins.
01:24Senator, thank you for the question.
01:28Certainly, you have that commitment.
01:30When I was in USJ previously, it was in a formative stage of that.
01:34Construction was moving forward.
01:36The agreements were in place.
01:38I really need to learn and understand where we are right now, but certainly that will be my commitment to you.
01:42At least from this interested observer, it doesn't seem like we're moving fast enough to solve whatever challenges there are.
01:51In the meantime, research that was mentioned in your testimony is not taking place in regard to FMD until that happens.
02:01There are lots of critical challenges we face that need NBAAF fully operational.
02:06And Senator Marshall also asked you about the relocation of NIFA and ERS.
02:12My understanding is that Secretary Vilsack confirmed the decision that was made by the Trump administration, the last Trump administration, the previous Trump administration,
02:24and allowed those jobs to be transferred and the mission to be transferred to Kansas City.
02:30But what didn't take place was actually having employees come to work.
02:35And so, in some ways, the transfer was a paper transfer in which people continued to live and work in Washington, D.C. remotely.
02:44But it appeared to be that the jobs and the opportunities for people to locate in the middle of the country
02:50and perhaps have young farm sons and daughters engaged in agriculture
02:55and strengthen the tie between production agriculture and research was yet not completed.
03:02And again, I'd ask your commitment that, and you said this earlier, but I want to reiterate the importance of making sure
03:09that what was promised, what was believed that was happening, actually happens.
03:13That includes people working from the location of the offices in Kansas City.
03:19Senator, you have my commitment.
03:20I believe there have been executive orders with regard to office attendance and such as that.
03:24And we will ensure that those are followed at the direction of the president.
03:28I fully support the idea that people who work in government, but those who work ought to be at work.
03:35And it's particularly helpful in agriculture and in research where the cooperation, the personal contact is important.
03:42And we've had these conversations with Secretary Rollins and others about FSA and NRCS workers and county offices.
03:49Those are hugely important to the mission of the Department of Agriculture and that local contact and capability is significant.
03:58Let me ask Dr. Hutchins about data reporting.
04:03The cattle industry plays a significant role in our state.
04:07We have nearly 6 million head of cattle.
04:11We've had significant drought conditions, and their financial stresses are impacting ranchers.
04:17And they impact them in a way that helped them, that helped determine the size of their herd.
04:24Many of those constituents of mine rely upon the July cattle report, as well as the county estimates for crops and livestock,
04:32to make mid-year assessments and determine how to proceed for the remainder of the year.
04:37I was disappointed when these reports were discontinued last year, and I appreciate USDA reinstating them this March.
04:46Dr. Hutchins, if confirmed, will you commit to continuing these reports and other NASS that NASS provides that give farmers and ranchers the information they need
04:56to make better financial and management decisions?
04:59Senator, yes, the National Act Statistic Service provides the data and the insights that farmers, administrators, policymakers need to make good decisions.
05:08As a scientist, I'm a big believer in data and data-driven decisions.
05:12And so, yes, that type of information will be pursued.
05:17I won't ask a question because of the 16 seconds that remain on the clock, but I wanted to highlight that Senator Harrow and I...
05:25Senator Harrow and I have introduced legislation, it's called the Ag Research Act, and what we're attempting to do is to provide funding for research institutions to cut down on their maintenance backlogs and to invest in infrastructure at research facilities.
05:49I've seen a number of those research facilities across the country and in Kansas, and investment in infrastructure seems to be the thing that has been overlooked in the mission of providing the research.
06:01We've forgotten how to maintain our buildings and our research and how to have the latest equipment.
06:05I assume for both of you that that would, that concept and that legislation would be something that would be supported, and I'd ask both of you if that's the case.
06:13Senator, the good news about our land-grant system is that it's been established for a long time.
06:23The bad news is some of those buildings and capital need to be refreshed and refurbished and so forth.
06:27And so, certainly, I can admit to you that whatever funding is provided by Congress, that we will make the best use of that to ensure the facilities are improved.
06:36And, Senator, I wouldn't endeavor to try to improve on Dr. Hutchins' response, but I would concur with it.
06:45Thank you both.
06:46Very good.
06:47Thank you, Senator.