Friday, January 16, 2009

NFU Statement: Obama Selects Vilsack for USDA

For Immediate Release: December 16, 2008

Contact: Liz Friedlander, 202-314-3191

WASHINGTON (Dec. 16, 2008) – President-elect Barack Obama plans to appoint former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack as agriculture secretary. National Farmers Union President Tom Buis made the following statement.

“I think Gov. Vilsack is a great choice and I look forward to working with him. Being from Iowa, Gov. Vilsack has an understanding of the challenges and opportunities that exist in rural America.

“Rural America is facing many challenges – the farm and rural economy have changed dramatically for the worst over the last few months as a result of the worldwide economic recession, the rules for the 2008 Farm Bill have not been finalized nor implemented, more people are seeking food assistance, and commodity prices have fallen dramatically while farmer input costs remain high.

“While rural America faces many challenges, President-elect Obama has prioritized numerous opportunities, including reducing our nation’s dependence on foreign oil by advancing the development of renewable energy. Not only will this help our nation, it will help revitalize our rural communities. Wind, solar, biofuels, geothermal, cellulosic, will all be produced in rural America.

“President-elect Obama’s rural vision is right on target.”

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 16th, 2008 at 7:14 pm and is filed under Agriculture Programs, Cooperatives, Economic Policy, Energy, Environment, Rural America, Trade. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.