During a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing prior to the Congressional recess, Sen. John Boozman (R-AR) questioned Scott Hutchins, nominee to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Research, Education, and Economics.
00:02We will now begin with one round of questions.
00:04Each member will have five minutes.
00:07Before I ask my questions, I'd like to add letters of support from various groups,
00:12from Mr. Hoskins and Dr. Hutchins, and for their nomination into the record.
00:19Without objection, so ordered.
00:23Mr. Hoskins, USDA has been challenged by avian flu for quite some time now,
00:29and recent developments of New World Screw Worm moving closer
00:32to our southern border are more than troubling.
00:36You've had some experience in handling foreign animal disease threats
00:39in your prior roles at USDA with the State Departments of Agriculture.
00:44If confirmed, how will you address the current threats facing U.S. agriculture,
00:48and how will you ensure USDA stays ready to meet new challenges?
00:56Thank you for the question, Mr. Chairman,
00:58and thank you for the time you extended to me in your office before today's hearing.
01:04I know you raised this issue and a multiple of other priorities for you and producers in Arkansas.
01:11When it comes to high-path AI or screw worm or whatever's on deck next, African swine fever, FMD,
01:18the disease of the day, and in my estimation, all of those things require an all-hands on deck.
01:26There's a federal component in equity that obviously APHIS and veterinary services plays a huge instrumental role in driving.
01:34There's also the relationships and partners with states, state animal health officials, and impact of producers and industry stakeholders.
01:42So, if I were confirmed, I would do everything in my power to support Secretary Rollins,
01:49implement her five-pronged approach that she rolled out to address high-path AI,
01:54better understand and assess the risks from screw worm from Mexico,
01:58and work to understand what, if anything, veterinary services and the APHIS team needed or wanted in support or permission to better execute their mandate to protect U.S. agriculture.
02:10Very good.
02:12Dr. Hutchins, thank you for meeting with me a couple weeks ago, which I really enjoyed.
02:17I appreciate the discussion we had about the importance of the National Agriculture Law Center,
02:22and if you are confirmed, I look forward to working with you to see the center remain successful and able to continue serving American agriculture.
02:32The partnership between USDA and our nation's agriculture universities is so important.
02:37This distinguishes U.S. agriculture research from the rest of the world.
02:42It's a partnership between the federal government, the states, and local decision makers.
02:48We don't have a system where Washington, D.C. tells universities what to research and states must have skin in the game.
02:56In the end, farmers, ranchers, and consumers ultimately benefit.
03:02And you mentioned in your testimony the tremendous strides that agriculture had made compared to almost anything.
03:09If you are confirmed, what will you do to continue to lead this partnership with our nation's agriculture universities,
03:17which you are, as you mentioned, so much a product of?
03:24Thank you, Senator.
03:25And I, too, very much enjoyed our conversation the other week.
03:29As I've indicated and as hopefully it's clear from my just demeanor, I'm a huge passionate fan of land-grant institutions.
03:40The whole model has been a game changer and it really has enabled the United States to make the difference.
03:45What would I be able to do?
03:47What I hope to be able to do, sir, is to develop a set of national priorities and focus on discovery goals
03:53so that we can channel the tremendous talent of these institutions in partnership as well with the federal agencies
04:00towards solving some of the bigger issues and challenges, some of which would be in partnership, of course,
04:05with Mr. Hoskins' organization, if he's confirmed, in order to address challenges.
04:11But I'm also very positive on the possibility of developing new opportunities, new opportunities for markets,
04:18for our agricultural products, new opportunities for technology advancements, and to put those in place first
04:26so that the United States agricultural system is always leading the world as early adopters of innovation
04:31and staying ahead of the curve for productivity and profitability and relevance.
04:37Very good.
04:39Mr. Hoskins, the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, APHIS, is the gold standard for certifying both plant and animal health safety.
04:49We've seen many countries put up on scientific trade barriers.
04:53APHIS then has called in to help defend the integrity of our ag products.
04:58One focus of this administration's trade agenda is to crack down on these types of unfair barriers,
05:04which are in many ways even worse than the tariff barriers.
05:11How do you view the role of APHIS and the broader effect to ensure our producers can compete on a level playing field?
05:18Thank you for the question, Mr. Chairman.
05:22In my estimation, the APHIS family, both on the PPQ side and the veterinary services side,
05:29when we're talking about sanitary and phytosanitary, non-tariff trade irritants,
05:34the APHIS family plays an essential role in prosecuting the science of those barriers
05:41and hopefully persevering with their colleagues and counterparts around the world to help them understand
05:49where there's risk and where there is not.
05:51And if I were confirmed, I would do everything in my power to give the APHIS subject matter experts
05:57the permission and support they needed to fully prosecute those non-tariff trade issues on a scientific basis
