Nominee Sonny Perdue has won the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry vote to serve as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. Perdue may now be considered by the full U.S. Senate for confirmation.
“I’m pleased our Committee has made swift strides to move Governor Perdue’s nomination closer to the finish line,” U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, R-Kan., Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry said. “Our farmers and ranchers have been waiting too long for this important position to be filled. We need to get Governor Perdue down to USDA to get to work. Rural America is ready.”
“After a thorough review of his qualifications and priorities, I support the nomination of Governor Perdue to serve as Agriculture Secretary,” said U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry. “Although we have some differences on policy, we share a commitment to support American agriculture and strengthen our small towns and rural communities. I look forward to working with Governor Perdue as we write the 2018 Farm Bill. Farmers and families in Michigan and all across rural America need a champion at USDA.”
The Committee held a hearing on the nominee on March 23.
Governor Perdue has the bipartisan support of the six past Agriculture Secretaries. The Governor also has the support of more than 650 agriculture groups from across the nation.
“Gov. Perdue is supremely qualified to run the USDA. He knows agriculture inside out, from veterinary medicine to row crops to the business of handling and exporting the food Americans grow for the world,” said Zippy Duvall, President, American Farm Bureau Federation in a statement. “He is a real-world farmer who wants to build on farmers’ successful efforts to sustain and conserve the natural resources that surround us. He understands the great good – and serious harm – government can do to farmers and ranchers. We could not be happier or prouder to support Sonny Perdue for confirmation by the full Senate.”
