For Immediate Release
January 20, 2009

  

     GRASSLEY:  Today, we will witness the swearing in of our 44th

president, quite a historic occasion.  Not only is it the first

African-American president being sworn in to this office, but we're

also showing the rest of the world how a peaceful transfer of power

works.

     Now, inaugurations, from my point of view, demonstrate the great

power of each American's right and responsibility of citizenship.  I'm

sure you have seen the TV crowds that have already gathered on this

Mall to see the oath administered.  There's a real air of excitement

here in Washington, D.C. as the country turns another page in its

history books.

 

     Later today, I'll also expect former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack to

be confirmed by the Senate to be the next secretary of agriculture.

The Senate often takes up non-controversial  nominations soon after a

new president is sworn in.  Governor Vilsack was what we call "hot

lined" on Friday.  "Hot lined" means that if there's no objections by

senators, his nomination can be considered without delay and without a

roll call vote.

 

     The last secretary from Iowa was Henry Wallace, who held the post

from 1933 to 1940.  It is fitting that we, once again, have a

secretary from one of our leading agricultural states in the country.

Governor Vilsack will do an outstanding job.  I've said many times, I

say it again.  And I urge all of my colleagues to support him today.

 

     He's learned firsthand in the 1980's from his law practice and

being a mayor of a small town that a farm crisis is not just affecting

farmers; it happens to be a rural crisis that impacts all of the

economy.

 

     I'm ready for questions.

 

     Tom Rider?

 

     QUESTION:  Good morning, Senator.

 

     Senator, one thing I'm wondering about is the National Pork

Council has filed a lawsuit against the EPA.  They're saying EPA

violated due process rights of farmers by failing to provide an

adequate system to accept reports on emissions that made compliance

with the law possible.

 

     And I'm curious is there anything Congress can or should do in

this area?

 

     GRASSLEY:  Well, maybe we should do something, but it's very

difficult to do anything with environmental laws because it bring up

every possible amendment to clean air, clean water, things of that

nature.  And I think, with the makeup of the new Congress, if Congress

should do something about it, it would tend to be seen as making the

statute more loose or maybe you can say tightening it up to make it

clear what the EPA could do.

 

     And I don't think the makeup of this Congress is inclined to

doing anything like that.  Not to my liking, because I think that

there's very few people here in the bureaucracy of EPA that understand

or care about agriculture.  And that's why you get a lot of so-called

mistakes like these procedural things you're hearing about now in this

court case.

 

     That's why so many of those things happened in the first place.

 

     GRASSLEY:  Gene, Iowa Farmer Today?

 

     QUESTION:  No questions, Senator.

 

     GRASSLEY:  Let's go on to Bob Quinn, WHO?

 

     QUESTION:  No questions, Senator.

 

     GRASSLEY:  OK.  Chris Clayton, DTN Omaha?

 

     QUESTION:  Excuse me, Senator.  Have you heard any questions or

suggestions about the undersecretary positions at USDA?  Any names

that have -- that you know are going to be brought up?

 

     GRASSLEY:  I've heard no names.  I shouldn't say that.  You know

what?  But I don't recall the name.  I did run across the name

someplace last week.  But I think name are just being thrown out now

at this point.

 

     Now, let me tell you how I'd react if the secretary of

agriculture was from the south or from California, I would say we need

a Midwesterner and you need somebody very definitely from agriculture,

per  se, as an industry.  I mean, with dirt under their fingernails,

as you've often heard me say.

 

     In the case where we have Governor Vilsack, I think you're going

to find the opposite.  You're going find agricultural interests that

are going to say we need somebody from the south or somebody from

California.  But I don't -- I don't have any names that I can recall.

And nor do I think there's been very many mentioned.

 

     Stacia?

 

     OK.  Philip from the Register?

 

     QUESTION:  Yes, Senator.  There was a lot of talking at the

hearing last -- or several -- the -- Governor Vilsack, soon to be

secretary Vilsack talked about the president-elect's goal of ending

childhood hunger by 2015.

 

     What do you think about -- how doable is that?  Is that -- and

how serious do you think they are about doing that?

 

     GRASSLEY:  Well, you help me recall here because I don't know for

sure what I'm going to say is a fact.  But are you sure that behind --

I mean, let me ask you.  Isn't behind the Dole-McGovern proposals an

effort to do that?  And consequently, since Congress has adopted that

as a goal, your question is still let whether Congress adopts it or

whether Secretary Vilsack says he wants to do it.

 

 

     QUESTION:  Uh-huh.

 

     GRASSLEY:  It's still -- the question is:  Is it accomplishable?

But I think we have a policy already in place or there's a -- there's

goals like that been set out there by non-profit or non-governmental

organizations to accomplish it.

 

     By 2015, I think that's very, very difficult to accomplish that.

But I don't think long-term, if the world is open to GMOs and opening

not to hamper productive agriculture and, particularly, as we

encourage other areas where there's subsistence agriculture to become

more productive through modern technology or not just modern

technology but better cultivation to begin with and better practices

to begin with, which you could say would be adopting the practices,

let's say, of agriculture in 1930 America. 

 

     If you could do that in a lot of places in the world, I think you

overcome it.  You also have to overcome from governmental policies,

though.  Now, I discussed this with Vilsack after he returned from

Africa in July.  I think he went over with Clinton. 

 

     And he visited four countries.  And I called him before he went

raising this point with him and asked him to report back to me.

Because when I traveled to Africa -- now, it's been a long time ago --

but I traveled there several times.  And I don't know why I should

pick out Africa except that's where you see a lot of malnutrition,

starvation, and lack of rain, et cetera, from time to time. 

 

     But they have so much natural resources, but they have

governmental policies that keep -- that drive -- well, let's put it

this way.  Kind of governmental policies that have limits on income or

to achieve food policy.  Well, it drives the farmers into the cities,

and you have slums and -- in the cities.  And I've seen them in

Nigeria -- not Nigeria -- in Kenya, as an example. 

 

     We need these countries to have government policies that

encourage farmers to produce.  And he said he saw some of them it.  I

didn't get the impression that it's a widespread that it was when I

was over there.  But we -- we've got to have government policies that

encourage people to farm. 

 

     QUESTION:  What about here at home?  What about domestically? 

 

     GRASSLEY:  Well, domestically, we're going continue to produce

more -- each farmer is going to continue to produce more, but...

 

     QUESTION:  But in terms of addressing childhood hunger here at

home.  Is that...

 

     GRASSLEY:  Oh, I thought you were talking about -- he was wanting

to do it nationally (sic).  If he wants to do it domestically, I think

it might be doable. 

 

     QUESTION:  Uh-huh. 

 

     GRASSLEY:  Yes.  Are you talking domestically? 

 

     QUESTION:  Well, I think that's -- that's a lot of what -- that's

certainly what they were talking about last week in terms of...

 

     GRASSLEY:  Oh, well, I'm sorry.  I went a long time to answer...

 

     QUESTION:  That's all right.  That's...

 

     GRASSLEY:  ... something you didn't even ask me. 

 

     Well, you know, it might be a little -- you're talking about six

years away. 

 

     QUESTION:  Uh-huh. 

 

     GRASSLEY:  It might be a little difficult.  But you've seen the

massive number of people that have gone on food stamps.  I mean, we

have -- we'd have greater malnutrition if we didn't have the food

stamp program. 

 

     QUESTION:  Uh-huh. 

 

     GRASSLEY:  So let me just say I don't know, but it's more doable

in the United States because we don't seem to have this -- like they

do in Europe and Europe prodding Africa and GMOs.  We can enhance our

productivity a great deal. 

 

     OK.  That was Philip. 

 

     I think I've gone through the list.  Anybody else want to jump

in? 

 

     OK. 

 

     QUESTION:  I want to ask you this, Senator.  You've been here

longer than I have.  Have you ever seen anything comparable to this in

terms of the number of people that we're experiencing?  A couple --

number of people? 

 

     GRASSLEY:  But my gosh, we shouldn't be surprised because we're

electing -- this is a real historic thing.  Think of 150 years away

from freeing of slaves and 300 years before that, the Africans being

in slavery.  And to see one of their own, an American -- and we're all

Americans -- one of our own, but of a different race being president

of the United States.  That's quite an accomplishment. 

 

     And if I were African-American, I would want to be here for that.

I am here and I'm glad they're here.  And -- and it's a -- it's a

great day for all of America.  But you can understand why it's a great

day for the 15 percent of Americans that are African-American. 

 

     So I guess I haven't seen anything like it, to answer your

question.  But I'm not surprised, and I'm proud that it's happening. 

 

     Anything else, Philip?

 

     QUESTION:  No, thanks. 

 

     GRASSLEY:  Anybody else? 

 

     OK.  Thank you all very much.