▶ 0:30:52Boozman today we consider the secretary of architecture and foreign affairs and Mr. westhill to be the assistant for terry to the U.S. department of agriculture and civil rights but thank you for your willingness to serve through the challenges farmers continue to face have been consistently communicated to the committee in the farm bill hearings we have held so far.
▶ 0:31:21It shows why it is so important secretary rollins have her team in place. Because fuel, seed, and fertilizer remain high, as do interest rates with farmers everywhere losing money on every acre they cultivate. All the while, in desperate need of a vetted farm bill safety net and risk management tools. Secretary rollins has done a great job supporting our farmers through these challenges.
▶ 0:31:50Today, we will be important members of her team. Starting with Mr. limburg, the undersecretary for trade and agricultural foreign affairs tasked with expanding access for U.S. agricultural products in foreign markets and promoting U.S. food and agriculture exports. Considering the U.S.
▶ 0:32:08Agriculture trade deficit is predicted to reach a record $49 billion at this year and both tariff and non-tariff trade barriers continue to inhibit U.S. agriculture from a reaching key markets and opening new markets. This tradition -- position is truly critical. Mr.
▶ 0:32:31Lindbergh will be tasked with representing usta trade negotiations including collaborating with usdr, the department of state, and department of the white house. Farmers and ranchers rely on this position to elevate the significance of agricultural trade issues and broader trade discretions and will be especially true given the current uncertain trade and environment.
▶ 0:32:55The undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs plays an important role in administering the usta international food assistance programs. Mr. lindberg will be responsible for commodity procurement among various agencies within the usda expanding markets for U.S. producers.
▶ 0:33:22He will work with the white house to ensure the good work of long-standing programs such as food for peace can continue. I am confident Mr. limburg's lindberg's government experience and prior expertise will serve him well in this role. While Mr. lindberg will have important work to lead so will Mr. westhill.
▶ 0:33:51Producers want to know that usda is a partner to provide the tools they need and Mr. westhill will be responsible for enforcing civil rights law inside the usa inside the usda. This role is not often in the spotlight but truly essential. Mr.
▶ 0:34:11Westhill will ensure all usta employees are treated with respect and their civil rights are protected and they are fearful of retaliation. He will work with the 29 agencies within the U.S.da to ensure that farmers meant to serve farmers, ranchers, and rural communities are carried out in a way consistent with civil rights law and department protocol and address complaints in a timely, thoughtful manner.
▶ 0:34:41Having previously served as deputy assistance secretary for civil rights, he knows the office inside and out and will be able to hit the ground running. I'm confident he has the right man for the job. I am confident most -- both Mr. lindberg and Mr. westhill have the necessary experience and expertise to thrive in these roles. I look forward to hearing their testimonies and answering their questions. Senator klobuchar.
▶ 0:35:09Sen. Klobuchar: Thank you very much Mr. chair. I am happy to be the warm-up act for senator rounds. I want to thank you for holding these important hearings for these important nominations for these U.S.da positions and I want to thank Mr. lindberg and Mr. westhill for being here today. I am pleased to see your families are here today, Mr.
▶ 0:35:37Sen. Klobuchar: Lindberg's wife britney and his children john, mark, and lucy and lucy is dressing to match her grandma as well as Mr. westhill's wife michelle and his children madison and benjamin. Madison might be the most stylish looking child that has ever come before the committee. Thank you. Mr.
▶ 0:36:02Sen. Klobuchar: Lindberg you are as the undy for trade and foreign agro #affairs that receives usda trade policy based on our meeting. You are well-qualified for the well given the work you have done in state and have a real understanding of the importance of trade for american farmers. You were coming to the position at a critical time.
▶ 0:36:25Sen. Klobuchar: If confirmed, you will need to be a strong advocate for farmers and renters and expanding markets in the face of what I consider, not speaking for everyone appear, but chaotic trade policy. Farming is the risk is business there is. As we meet today farmers in my state and across the country are eager to get into the fields to plant this year's crop. I saw this firsthand when the johnson in -- johnson's in verbal county recently.
▶ 0:36:56Sen. Klobuchar: They have to make business decisions now to provide certainty. Can they break even with business costs, weather events, and an international market that is now completely uncertain because of the tariffs? They need markets to sell their products. 20% of what american farmers and ranchers produce those outside of our country. There are so many customers now and potential customers. We have had a three out of the last four years be record years for agricultural exports.
▶ 0:37:25Sen. Klobuchar: My state is fourth in the nation for agricultural exports. This reckless tariff policy now is putting farmers livelihoods in jeopardy. We continue, I know we all do, to hear about the negative impact. What bothers me about this is some of the big guys, the big companies. Tim cook into the white house, great, save the phones.
▶ 0:37:51Sen. Klobuchar: But as soybean farmers and a little county in minnesota does not have the phone number to get into that meeting on wall street with the treasury secretary. I'm afraid smaller farmers and ranchers will be roadkill if this is not resolved as soon as possible. At the top three countries targeted for tariffs, mexico, canada, and china are our top three agricultural exporters accounted for over 50 percent of all U.S. ad exports.
▶ 0:38:21Sen. Klobuchar: We are already seeing retaliation and our farmer said they want aid, not trade. I appreciate you Mr. lindberg and your discussions about the need for expert -- export markets because they are so many opportunities that we need to settle this as soon as possible. We are considering your nomination, Mr. westhill, for a critically important position where you will be tasked with ensuring every farmer and every usda employee is treated with respect and fairness they deserve.
▶ 0:38:51Sen. Klobuchar: Historically, the usda has not always done so both for the farmers it serves and the federal workers dedicating their careers to public service. Despite progress made in recent years, we know there is more work to be done. This is particularly important as we see some of the actions from this administration. I appreciated our conversation very much. As you know, I expressed concerns. Some of which, you will hear today. About some of the ongoing issues with civil rights.
▶ 0:39:20Sen. Klobuchar: I look forward to hearing from you today. Welcome you, and your family, to this committee room. Thank you, Mr. chair.
▶ 0:39:26Chair Boozman: Today we are joined by our colleague from south dakota senator rounds to introduce our nominee Mr. loke lindberg. Always great to have you around -- luke lindberg. Always great to have you run the committee, a timeless advocate for the farm community and rule
▶ 0:39:51America Sen. Rounds: -- rural america.
▶ 0:39:56Sen. Rounds: Thank you for
▶ 0:40:04Sen. Rounds: Thank you f -- thank you, distinguished members of the committee. I will introduce Mr. luke lindberg, luke is eminently qualified for the role after dedicating his career to expanding markets for producers. He is joined by his wife brittany and several other family members and the south dakota governor is in attendance to support his nomination.
▶ 0:40:27Sen. Rounds: Luke originally hails from vermont and later earned a masters of business administration, a master of public policy, and bachelor of arts in government and politics from the university of maryland. After meeting his wife, brittany, working in washington, D.C. luke made a wise decision to make south dakota his home. As a proud south dakota luke enjoys participating in all activities that make our state great including hunting and outdoor recreation.
▶ 0:40:57Sen. Rounds: I can attest that he is enjoying shooting an occasional rooster in the fields as well. Luke previously served as the chief of staff and chief strategy officer of the export import U.S.. As a top official he was responsible for overseeing daily agency functions and executing key initiatives including efforts to expand new markets for american liquefied natural gas or lng and securing american supply of critical minerals and rare earths.
▶ 0:41:28Sen. Rounds: In recognition of his leadership luke earned the distinguished service award and shortly after settling into his home, luke realized south dakota was one of the few states without a trade association. He quickly moved to establish south dakota trade. The organization works to expand markets through trade missions and export education. As president and ceo of south dakota trade, luke conducted five trade missions in a two year period.
▶ 0:41:58Sen. Rounds: During this time, he traveled to several nations to promote south dakota agricultural products. The trips helped foster important relationships between our producers and foreign buyers. As american producers contend with trade deficits, it's clear we need leaders that understand complex agricultural markets. Throughout his career, luke has consistently stood up for farmers and ranchers.
▶ 0:42:26Sen. Rounds: He was a strong pick by president trump and will do an outstanding job as undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs. I urge you to support this very highly qualified nominee. Thank you, Mr. chairman and ranking member.
▶ 0:42:48Sen. Klobuchar: I see peeking behind you is the governor of south dakota. Very good. We welcome him as well. Thank you for being here. I know my midwest governors. >> last committee hearing and now you have the governor of south dakota.
▶ 0:43:05Chair Boozman: Great. Devon westhill is nominated to be assistant secretary of agriculture for civil rights. He is currently president and general counsel for the center for opportunity and let the civil rights office -- lead at the civil rights office at the department of agriculture during the first trump administration.
▶ 0:43:33Chair Boozman: He worked at the department of labor as deputy secretary of the public -- of the office of public liaison. Mr. westhill is a navy veteran and graduate of the university of north carolina at chapel hill and the university of florida. With that, let's go ahead and take the oath. Thank you for being here and your willingness to serve.
▶ 0:44:05Chair Boozman: If you will come forward, we will administer the oath and then have the testimonies. Please, stand, and raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm the statement you are about to provide is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you god? Do you agree that it's confirmed you will respond to request to appear and testify before any duly constituted committee of the senate? Thank you. You can be seated.
▶ 0:44:36Chair Boozman: Mr. lindberg europe -- you're up .
▶ 0:44:45Mr. Lindberg: German bozeman, ranking member klobuchar and distinguished members of the committee. I am humbled to come before you today as president trump's nominee for undersecretary of trade on foreign agricultural affairs at the U.S. department of agriculture and I want to thank secretary rollins and a great team at usda including hopefully my future colleague Mr.
▶ 0:45:08Mr. Lindberg: Devon westhill and my wife and my children john and lucy that are with me today pit my wife brittany has served the country as a supportive family member for most of her life and her willingness to engage in the next phase of civic engagement alongside me is inspiring and epitomizes the godly woman she has become. Should you confirming for this position is won't be the first time I have served as an american diplomat.
▶ 0:45:38Mr. Lindberg: In president trump space administration I served as the chief of staff of the export and import bank of the U.S. where I led key initiatives on the great power competition with china, liquefied natural gas exports and securing american supply of critical minerals and rare earth and I led xm involvement in execution of the historic, groundbreaking abraham accords and normalizing relations between countries in the middle east.
▶ 0:46:03Mr. Lindberg: Over the past several years I served as president and ceo of south dakota trade, the top diplomatic posting in my home state. It is second in the nation in per capita agricultural exports. In this position I laid -- lead trade missions to mexico, japan, taiwan, and israel generating millions in sales for south dakota farmers and ranchers and held bilateral meetings with president netanyahu of israel, the vice president of taiwan, and mexico's is then minister of
▶ 0:46:34Mr. Lindberg: Agriculture and rural development victor villalobos. Throughout my career I conducted business on six continents and lead teams of hundreds of staff overseas. My journey -- which has taken me across the road and back again several times over -- started led many of you in a small town far from washington, D.C.. I have a very distinct memory of standing in front of our brick town hall in norwich, vermont waving a campaign sign for my mother who was running for town treasurer and is here with us today.
▶ 0:47:05Mr. Lindberg: That was a special day for me. First, because mom won her election. Second, it was the day I realized that democratic freedom loving nations are only sustainable if people are willing to serve. My college pastor matt nichols is also with us today and prayed over my family before this hearing. He helped me identify a life verse that align with the calling to public service.
▶ 0:47:29Mr. Lindberg: Proverbs 31 verse eight says "speak up for those that can't speak for themselves for the right of all destitute dots" and I can think of no greater calling than to speak up on behalf of rural americans at this time. Many of my friends and neighbors that are here today have asked me what I hope to accomplish should I be confirmed to the role. My answer is simple. President trump said it best when he nominated me. Luke will make sure american farmers and ranchers get the smart trade deals they deserve.
▶ 0:47:59Mr. Lindberg: America's agricultural trade deficit, the worst in american history, is driven by a number of factors. Principally by the lack of an america first trade agenda that prioritizes market access for farmers and ranchers. For too long we let other countries access our market and not negotiated reciprocal access to theirs. Recently the office of the U.S. trade representative solicited public comment on unfair trade practices forced upon our great american producers by other nations.
▶ 0:48:27Mr. Lindberg: I took the time to read every single submission that comments on agriculture. In so doing, I was reminded 75% of the seafood, 50% of the fruit and over 35% of the vegetables we consume in america are imported. Our ethanol producers are no longer competitive in brazil because of brazilian import tariffs and our hog farmers can export pork to brazil, india, nigeria, jamaica, namibia, or thailand.
▶ 0:48:54Mr. Lindberg: Mexico has enjoyed a 557% increase in specialty crop imports in the U.S. -- into the U.S. in the last decade and canada rate to the usmca agreement terms against our dairy farmers and wheat farmers. The european union is responsible for over 50% of our overall trade deficit, $23.6 billion. Yet it routinely shuts out our products at the altar of non-scientific claims. There is too much to say about china and it opening remarks.
▶ 0:49:24Mr. Lindberg: A stark, that stuck out to me came from representatives of american corn farmers that said U.S. corn growers can't rely on china as an export market. However, in the midst of all this feedback, one story that lives in my memory is that of a family from georgia that captained a shrimp boat. The husband and wife noticed a 7% -- 70% reduction in shrimp trawlers due to a flood of imports from foreign nations that process shrimp in unsanitary conditions we would never allow in the U.S.
▶ 0:49:53Mr. Lindberg: For the honorary -- honorable henry kissinger once said that america has no permanent enemies or friends, only interests. America's agricultural trade device that does not just impact one region, political constituency, or section of the economy. We are all impacted and must fix it together.
▶ 0:50:12Mr. Lindberg: In addition to helping farmers and ranchers navigate short-term changes aimed at more fair trade deals I stand ready to explore new export markets and hold our existing export markets accountable for deals they made with our family farms. America has not last -- lost our competitive edge, we've merely abdicated our role in feeding the world by allowing others to rig the system against us. I ask for your support for my nomination and ongoing partnership should you confirming for the role.
▶ 0:50:42Chair Boozman: Thank you, Mr. lindberg. Mr. westhill you are recognized.
▶ 0:50:50Mr. Westhill: It is the honor of my life to get the opportunity to testify before you here today. I want to thank president trump for that. It is the second time he has entrusted me with the honor and duty to head the office of the assistant secretary for human rights at usta.
▶ 0:51:12Mr. Westhill: If I am fortunate to be confirmed I would cherish the opportunity to work alongside secretary bollin zandon the numerous wonderful people with whom I served in president's first truck including career officials and meet tremendous new colleagues like luke here. But that would not be possible without the support of my family who has stuck beside me all these years and is with me here today. Allow me to introduce them, please.
▶ 0:51:40Mr. Westhill: My first is my sweet baby girl madalyn sophia who is one of the most fashionable, if not the most fashionable, to ever appear before the committee. I have said since heard day one that she is super smart. She is super funny. She is very advanced for her age and I have been proven right on that many times in her eight years. Next is my son, benjamin.
▶ 0:52:04Mr. Westhill: He is our star athlete, number seven, big ben, a quarterback and linebacker for the jackson beach sharks. The most amazing person in the whole wide world. That -- that is objectively speaking. My wife here with me the beautiful, lovely, michelle westhill. Thank you for being here.
▶ 0:52:29Mr. Westhill: It's an honor for me to be here because I and spent -- I spent my entire career dedicated to public interest via nonprofit leadership in government service. This is the fourth time I volunteered to serve my country. First was as a teenager in the U.S. navy. Second was at the U.S. department of labor. Third was within the very office to which I am nominated to lead again.
▶ 0:52:52Mr. Westhill: My principal aim in all the endeavors was to be a small part of our shared project to form a more perfect union. Specific to the role for which I am interviewing today, that means ensuring civil rights protections, equal opportunity, and equal justice under the law for everyone. That mission is very personable to him -- personal to me. I was born a poor, black child and raised in the south by a single mother.
▶ 0:53:23Mr. Westhill: It was hardscrabble but being born into tough circumstances is not at all unusual, fourth. In fact -- of course. In fact, it is for the vast majority of mankind what we have experienced. For my siblings and me, we had two things that made all the difference in our lives compared to untold numbers of others. We had an extraordinary mother that loved us. She wanted the best for us. She always sat an outstanding example for us. We were americans.
▶ 0:53:54Mr. Westhill: Like my heroes frederick to listen and booker t. Washington that went before me have observed, I learned in america the mere connection with race, color, ethnicity, or one's starting point in life won't permanently carry an individual forward unless he has individual worth, nor, finally hold an individual back as he progresses intrinsic individual merit.
▶ 0:54:18Mr. Westhill: So long as we do not allow our grievances to overshadow our opportunities, the sky's the limit in this country and I am living proof of that. As the true history of america, that is the crux of the american dream and we must keep it that way. I have been a voice for this perspective for a long time and I hope to continue to be.
▶ 0:54:38Mr. Westhill: If confirmed I want to pick up where I left off on focusing oscar on its core duties, communicating from the top to the bottom that civil rights will be vigorously enforced at usda, being laser focused on improving core compliant processing work and ensuring the development and deployment of affective, proactive prevention measures. We are very successful in the first term and in this regard.
▶ 0:55:00Mr. Westhill: For example we improved the timeliness of eeo complaint investigations from 61% to 100% within three months of my arrival and grew a model program pursued it -- pursuant to eoc requirement from 60 1% to 85% within six months of my arrival and prior to my departure week implement a new department civil rights, antiharassment, and reasonable accommodation policies.
▶ 0:55:27Mr. Westhill: Should the senate confirming as assistant secretary for civil rights at usda you might be surprised to learn that it will be the only -- is that it will be only the first time since the obama administration a senate confirmed leader will have headed that office. That is of course no way to maintain a statutory -- statutorily mandated federal government office or fair to the 100,000 employees and millions of customers that want to do business with the usda on equal footing. I mention this merely to put up -- point out the gravity of the moment for civil rights at usda.
▶ 0:55:58Mr. Westhill: If that long span of the vacancy and senate confirmed leadership is broken by my confirmation, I commit to carrying out the responsibilities of the assistant secretary for civil rights at usda with the utmost integrity. Again, I am beyond honor to get the opportunity to testify before you today and I look forward to your questions.
▶ 0:56:16Chair Boozman: Thank you both for your testimony. We will begin now. A round of questions. Each member will have five minutes before I ask my questions I want to add letters of support from various farm groups. For Mr. lindberg and Mr. westhill's nomination record, without objection, so ordered. Mr. lindberg, this year the U.S.
▶ 0:56:42Chair Boozman: Agricultural trade deficit, as you mentioned, is projected to reach a record 49 billion dollars. If confirmed, how will you work to ensure that the broader tariff negotiations being driven by usda prioritize greater market access for U.S. agricultural exports? Mr. lindberg thank you Mr. chairman. I appreciate the time we have spent together discussing these various issues.
▶ 0:57:07Chair Boozman: If you ask many of my colleagues at south dakota trade or people I have worked with in the past you will often hear them say I believe exporting is a team sport and we have to work together to accomplish the exact task you are discussing today. For me, getting back to surplus would be my number one priority in this capacity.
▶ 0:57:27Chair Boozman: On day one, I would walk into my office and draw the number -49 billion on the whiteboard and begin to invite farm groups in from all across the farm economy to begin to figure out where are the countries, where are the markets, where are the products, and the dollar values that get us back to surplus? Then, I want to be an advocate in the interagency process to ensure that the folks at ustr, commerce, and treasury all know and understand what the priority markets are, what the priority products are for our community members.
▶ 0:57:57Chair Boozman: Then we go out and start to win the day on the offense.
▶ 0:58:03Chair Boozman: In follow-up to that, if confirmed, you will oversee the trade programs and market access program to foreign market development program that is vital to our producers. Can you describe your experiences with map and as indeed -- and fmd
▶ 0:58:34Mr. Lindberg: In my role as president and ceo of south dakota trade we led a number of trade missions overseas in partnership with the midwest food export program that uses maps and -- map and fmd to support trade partners overseas.
▶ 0:59:01Mr. Lindberg: We have worked with them to set up meetings and guide our agendas and get governor roden and other folks in the room with the right counterparts for bilateral discussions to advance agricultural community needs in those markets. I look forward to working with the staff in those programs to execute on their mission.
▶ 0:59:21Chair Boozman: Mr. westhill based on your insights gleaned from previous experience in your role at usda how can you ensure all usda employees are treated with respect and their civil rights are protected and if violations occur individuals art fearful of retaliation?
▶ 0:59:41Mr. Westhill: I would refer back to my opening statement. We have to ensure that the usda core complaint processing work is going well. Unfortunately, when I arrived at the office, during the last term, we inherited quite a backlog of eeo complaints. We rectified that, as I mentioned.
▶ 1:00:10Mr. Westhill: But I want to make sure if I encounter that sort of backlog again, it is the -- dispensed with very quickly, within three months or faster. We have a history of being successful with that and we want to do that again. I think the proof is in the pudding.
▶ 1:00:28Mr. Westhill: Individuals at usta will understand their civil rights will be enforced, that the leadership is -- committed to that end at the end of the day we want to ensure folks understand their rights and responsibilities as well. So the proactive prevention techniques I mentioned, training, and so forth, ensuring those are in place as well prude
▶ 1:00:51Sen. Klobuchar: I will -- as well.
▶ 1:00:56Sen. Klobuchar: At its founding, president lincoln referred to usda as the people's department. As a seconds -- assistant secretary for civil rights if confirmed you would be ensuring usda and its agencies comply with all of the civil rights laws. If confirmed what is your plan to ensure compliance for civil rights laws especially with respect to farm programs?
▶ 1:01:20Sen. Klobuchar: Will you work to build a relationship with farmers who have been involved with civil rights issues and have long distrusted the department?
▶ 1:01:27Mr. Westhill: Senator thank you for the question. I will start with the latter part of the question. I am committed to building relationships with all customers and employees at usda. And you want to do business with usda should be able to on equal footing and you have my commitment there. When it comes to enforcing civil rights and ensuring folks understand rights and responsibilities, I don't think it is rocket science. It's a pretty clear playbook.
▶ 1:01:55Mr. Westhill: One, communicate from the top to the bottom that civil rights will be vigorously enforced. That it is a priority. Second, ensure folks understand the rights and responsibilities. It is important to have a robust, proactive prevention technique plan. Finally, to hold folks accountable. To really show you are enforcing those civil rights.
▶ 1:02:20Mr. Westhill: When opportunities come to investigate deeply any issues that come to light, that you are doing those things and everybody at usda, employees and customers understand you are taking those things seriously. >> the 2018 farm bill requires the usda law to conduct civil rights impact analysis with respect to usda employment, programs, and activities.
▶ 1:02:42Mr. Westhill: If confirmed will you commit to analyzing adverse or disproportionate impact with respect to proposed program changes or reorganizations at usda? Including conducting a civil rights impact analysis?
▶ 1:02:55Mr. Westhill At: --Mr. westhill: it's critical to make sure any programs at usda are investigated for civil rights issues and I'm committed to ensuring we do that as -- at usda as I did in my role first term.
▶ 1:03:12Sen. Klobuchar: Mr. lindberg what opportunities do you see for market expansion in other countries for american agricultural products?
▶ 1:03:20Mr. Lindberg: Thank you for the question. I believe there are a number of markets american agricultural producers should be taking advantage of which are currently not at full capacity. India would be my top priority for market that we should be doing better in. 1.4 billion consumers in india.
▶ 1:03:44Mr. Lindberg: I was excited to hear this morning that secretary doesn't -- secretary bessent is making progress on a trade deal with india. What concerns me the most is the trade deficit with the european union. The basket of goods we produce and the basket of goods they produce is too eerily similar and at the trade deficit is too wide and that we should have more market access for our producers in the european union, two examples.
▶ 1:04:12Sen. Klobuchar: Thank you. Hopefully, we can do a trade agreement with other countries. You all know I was a fan of the usmca. There is still work to be done on dairy and other improvements. To me, that is the way we should be going instead of where we are. I was also pleased with the change on frozen turkey during the last administration. I understand that is still in place but I recently led a team of colleagues in pressing the U.S.
▶ 1:04:39Sen. Klobuchar: Trade representative on the impacts the president's flip-flop agenda -- presidents tariff agenda will have on farmers seeking clarity and I would like to ask that be entered into the record. This is a minnesota euphemism. There are many strong personalities surrounding the president and giving advice on trade. How will you advocate for american farmers and to be a voice for preserving and expanding new export markets?
▶ 1:05:15Mr. Lindberg: I look forward to working with the ambassador. I have, similarly, several colleagues in the commerce department incoming as well as in the treasury department that are the three lead organizations now in trade negotiations and I look forward to working closely with each of them to ensure our farmers voices are well represented in those discussions.
▶ 1:05:40Sen. Klobuchar: I appreciated our discussion on export promotion programs. You talked to the chairman about that. Will you commit to ensuring the regional agricultural promotion program remains in place for export market development?
▶ 1:05:54Mr. Lindberg: I will commit that we need programs to reduce our trade deficit. The export promotion programs help us do that.
▶ 1:06:05Sen. Klobuchar: Thank you. How can usda work to make a domestic special league crop growers while facing cheaper imports? Maybe it should not even be called specialty crops. This is like potatoes, tomatoes, things we eat may be a better way to describe it. Can you answer about the cheaper imports and what is going on on that front?
▶ 1:06:25Mr. Lindberg: Our specialty crop producers should absolutely be exporting more in their own way. Secretary rollins recently announced that the secretary -- technical expertise of the foreign agricultural service offers to our producers and in the foreign markets they sell into bigotry there are no non-tariff barriers on those export markets is something I look forward to working on.
▶ 1:06:58Sen. Smith: Thank you for being here today. I'm excited about your leadership and look forward to that. Mr. lindberg mississippi leads the nation in catfished production but our producers face unfair constitution, unfair subsidized low cost sometimes imported catfish, particularly from vietnam.
▶ 1:07:24Sen. Smith: Growers in mississippi and across the south race high-quality, sustainable, farm raised catfished. And they follow very strict environmental, labor, and health standards. How will you work with the U.S. trade representative and usda food safety and inspection service to ensure the strict enforcement of inspection standards to prevent unsafe imports from harming consumers and domestic catfished producers?
▶ 1:07:49Mr. Lindberg: Thank you, senator. We discussed this in your office and I look forward to working with you and your staff to make sure that domestic catfished producers to get the market in america they deserve.
▶ 1:08:06Mr. Lindberg: Certainly, somebody will have to explain to me someday how the united states of america with two oceans on each side of us and the mighty mississippi and at the great lakes and all these things, yet, we import 75% of rc food we consume. I will absent -- our seafood we consume. I will absolutely work to ensure that our catfish producers have the ability to sell here domestically.
▶ 1:08:36Sen. Hyde-Smith: Congress in 2023 provided 3.7 billion dollars in relief to support producers who had experienced economic losses due to the natural disasters. Unfortunately, the biden administration changed the emergency relief program without input from congress and with disregard for congressional intent.
▶ 1:09:01Sen. Hyde-Smith: As a result, some of the hardest hit producers were left behind, while they also wrestled with historically high inflation and put costs and also low commodity prices. Will you commit to ensuring fair and equal access to usda programs for all farmers regardless of operation, size, and background? Mr. westhill thank you, senator for the question. It is important for me to skate within my lane.
▶ 1:09:30Sen. Hyde-Smith: My job if I am fortunate enough to be confirmed is to ensure that everybody that wants to do business with usda, in of the -- any of the customers across any area of the department, are able to do that without any arbitrary barriers on any basis covered under civil rights law's. I commit to ensuring individuals will be free from discrimination in participating in usda programs.
▶ 1:09:54Sen. Hyde-Smith: Mr. lindberg the livestock and poultry producers in mississippi and around the country have taken huge financial hits from animal diseases like avian influenza. In some countries like china coming they use these disease outbreaks as an excuse for unjustified trade barriers that aren't science based.
▶ 1:10:18Sen. Hyde-Smith: We saw this in bsc in early 2000 when it took 13 years for china to buy our beef again. That is something I worked on as the mississippi commissioner of agriculture and commerce during that time. It was just their excuse. You had an outbreak. What steps will you take to ensure international trade restrictions imposed on U.S. products are science based and it lifted promptly when conditions warrant?
▶ 1:10:45Mr. Lindberg: Thank you senator for the question paid a 100% believe tariff barriers are one aspect of trade policy that countries use against our farmers and ranchers. There are a lot of non-tariff barriers. What are the ones you are discussing today is vitally important to them to have market access and to be able to get beyond that.
▶ 1:11:08Mr. Lindberg: As the undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs I will lead the codec's office, our effort to work with agencies around the world, different countries around the world to make sure we have a set of agricultural standards that meet the needs of our farmers and ranchers. That is one avenue I would work through to make sure exactly the case you are listing here today was fixed and through that avenue make sure that we set the appropriate standards that benefit our farmers and ranchers.
▶ 1:11:36Mr. Lindberg: I am a fierce advocate for it I will show up in the countries and knock the door down and say, it's time to open uand move forward. This is no longer acceptable under president trump and at the america first trade agenda. I look forward to doing that, getting on the airplane and being there to actually make sure those get implement it in a timely manner.
▶ 1:11:54Sen. Hyde-Smith: I look forward to that as well.
▶ 1:11:55Chair Boozman: Senator welch.
▶ 1:12:00Sen. Welch: Thank, Mr. chairman. I am delighted to be here. Mr. lindberg I really enjoyed our visit to the office. Of course, I am quite proud of you and your families actions in norwich, vermont where I live. Welcome. I want to acknowledge your experience is really quite perfect for the job for which you are being considered.
▶ 1:12:27Sen. Welch: I want to acknowledge my respect for the work you have done and what you bring to this. This is where it gets tough for me. My view on these tariffs is that they are catastrophic for farmers. That is based on roundtable discussions I have had with many vermont farmers. We import a lot of our fertilizer. From canada. In many cases, our grain. The dilemma I have is the dilemma you will face.
▶ 1:12:56Sen. Welch: You can be the best negotiator possible, but if there are administration policies that make an uphill climb andupmountain climb how will you deal on that? You have no control over tariff policies but they are hammering farmers in vermont now and I suspect all across the country. How do you deal with that?
▶ 1:13:19Mr. Lindberg: Thank you senator. I appreciate our time together. I believe president trump has demonstrated an ability to sign and execute new trade agreements . For his first term he signed significant bipartisan trade agreements including usmca and 50 total agreements which supported over one million jobs.
▶ 1:13:42Mr. Lindberg: My face is in the fact we will get better deals for farmers and that is what he has tasked me to do and I think through those deals there will be a boon to our farming economy.
▶ 1:13:54Sen. Welch: I understand you don't have any say or influence over the tariff policy. You just have to deal with the hand you are given. But I -- as I expressed privately, I think these tariffs will make your job more difficult and the day-to-day economics of our farmers more difficult. Second, the usta, vermont farmers love it. -- usda, vermont farmers love it. It has a great reputation and it is a lean and mean machine.
▶ 1:14:24Sen. Welch: We are seeing cuts in the number of staff. I object to that. They don't seem to have any rhyme or reason. The foreign assistance folks are also getting cut. How will you contend with doing a very demanding job? A very important job with these significant staff cuts that appear to be taking place within usda?
▶ 1:14:50Mr. Lindberg: Since I haven't been in the building it I can't comment c1 I have not seen anything about cuts into the organizations I will oversee in this capacity.
▶ 1:15:05Mr. Lindberg: What I will say is that my importance working with the foreign agricultural staff and the kodak staff is that they do provide a very valuable service and have done generally speaking a very excellent job globally speaking and I look forward to working with them in this capacity.
▶ 1:15:26Sen. Welch: You have a very hard job and it appears that some of those forces are going to make it more difficult. I wish you the best of luck. Mr. westhill, equal opportunity, you are totally committed to it, you are an incredible example of what can be done where you work hard and overcome whatever obstacles face you. But obviously you have some sensitivity that the deck is stacked in some ways much more significantly for some people than others, correct?
▶ 1:15:57Mr. Westhill: Senator, certainly people are disadvantaged, no doubt about that.
▶ 1:16:02Sen. Welch: There is a real administration opposition to d.e.I.. From a distance, it appears oftentimes that that means if a white person didn't get the job there is suspicions about preferential treatment. What is your observation about the administration action about d.e.I.
▶ 1:16:29Sen. Welch: On university campuses, going after law firms, going after private entities that really mind you shouldn't be subject to the willful action of the executive.
▶ 1:16:40Mr. Westhill: Senator, thank you very much for the question. I'm not familiar with the specific example you cited in terms of the white person.
▶ 1:16:49Sen. Welch: Paul weiss, these are law firms where the administration is saying they don't like their hiring practices.
▶ 1:16:56Mr. Westhill: So, what I have noticed from the outside, what I have observed is that the president has put together what I think is a very bold agenda for civil rights advancement. Anything that goes against the advancement of civil rights as it exists in the law will not be tolerated.
▶ 1:17:17Mr. Westhill: The protective orders for example that I have read, not seeing what the implementation is like inside the administration yet, if I'm fortunate enough to be confirmed I will evaluate that. It looks to me like anything that is discriminatory, the president has said that is going to be prohibited and that is exactly what civil rights laws meant to do.
▶ 1:17:38Sen. Welch: Thank you very much, I yield back.
▶ 1:17:43Chair Boozman: Senator. >> thank you, Mr. chair. I want to welcome both of you. Mr. lindbergh, I understand you have ties on the esteemed senator from vermont made references to your ties in the new england area of the country. But we now consider you a dakotan. We are pleased to see you here and your wonderful family.
▶ 1:18:16Chair Boozman: The governor and first lady, thank you for being here. Great to see all of you. Mr. west hill as well, great to see your family as well. My first question is for you, Mr. lindberg. Undoubtedly, you are a south dakota state jackrabbits fan and that is a very big rival to the north dakota state bison.
▶ 1:18:37Chair Boozman: If you are confirmed are you going to be able to set that rivalry aside and be fair to the north dakota farmers and ranchers as well as all of our other great ranchers and farmers across this country?
▶ 1:18:48Mr. Lindberg: I will.
▶ 1:18:50Sen. Hoeven: Very good. [laughter] the other questions are going to be easier, no doubt about it.
▶ 1:18:56Mr. Lindberg: Go yotes. All my jacks fans at home, go jacks. But go yotes.
▶ 1:19:09Sen. Hoeven: If the south dakota teams win, I always root for them as they go on to national playoffs. An incredibly important tool that we need and we use for our farmers and ranchers in a lot of different instances, one of which was back during the first trump administration when we were taking on china in regard to tariffs and other trade issues.
▶ 1:19:37Sen. Hoeven: Do you feel it is an important tool and that we continue to keep it as an important tool for agriculture?
▶ 1:19:43Mr. Lindberg: I do.
▶ 1:19:45Sen. Hoeven: The next one, a huge industry in our state, ranking member left, but senator smith is also on this committee. That is probably north of a $3 billion industry of family-based farms in north dakota, minnesota, probably not as much in south dakota. Incredibly important businesses.
▶ 1:20:10Sen. Hoeven: A sector for our state, the sugar program is incredibly important. It is absolutely aligned with what president trump is trying to do in making sure we don't have unfair trade practices, that we don't have dumping that wipe out domestic industries. Do you support the sugar program and that it is enforced strictly?
▶ 1:20:33Mr. Lindberg: I do.
▶ 1:20:35Sen. Hoeven: As far as trade and you may have had some of these in the opening remarks. Your sense of how we work through, we all want a level playing field. We share the goals and objectives of the trump administration getting better terms from our producers for exporters as well as helping our economy here at home.
▶ 1:21:02Sen. Hoeven: Talk about how you will help us work through the short-term disruption to get to the long-term goals we all share.
▶ 1:21:08Mr. Lindberg: Yes, thank you, senator, I appreciate that. What I believe is that as the secretary mentioned this morning , there are trade deals on the horizon in the short run here. And we will see new market access generated through president's negotiations. I look forward to the boone that will come to our family farms when we get those trade deals signed in the not-too-distant future.
▶ 1:21:37Mr. Lindberg: The president has also made very clear through post on social media that he will have the farmers and ranchers' backs should there be a need for that at that time. I believe that will not be necessary at this moment but certainly I will follow the president's direction should that be needed.
▶ 1:21:53Sen. Hoeven: And have you had substantial dialogue with ustr already and talked about how you can work to effectuate better terms for our producers?
▶ 1:22:08Mr. Lindberg: I don't think that would be appropriate for me to have those substantive discussions. Ambassador greer served in the first trump administration and we built a relationship through that. I look forward to having regular communications with a vested or greer and his team.
▶ 1:22:26Sen. Hoeven: He is a very impressive guy, his approach is spot on. You saw he has a great staff. I think working together you guys are going to be a great duo. My final question is in regard to the farm bill. In the opinion of myself and others on this committee, we have to have affordable and we have to update reference prices.
▶ 1:22:59Sen. Hoeven: Though I know you will be discussing trade agreements along with the map and fmd program, do you share agreement with that program?
▶ 1:23:09Mr. Lindberg: I certainly would love to utilize the map and fmd program to open up vast new market opportunities. Out of respect for my time, I will save my questions. >> thank you, Mr. chairman. Welcome to both of you.
▶ 1:23:31Mr. Lindberg: I want to pick up on something that senator hoeven was talking about and that is acknowledging that there is real short-term pain that will be directed at our farmers due to the tariff policy. I think what is happening now is we are saying the quiet part out loud. You are repeating what president trump said and what secretary rawlins alluded to, which is that we will help pay for our farmers to get through this short-term pain.
▶ 1:24:01Mr. Lindberg: To review the bidding as someone who lives on her family soybean farm that now gross soybeans and corn, under the first trump administration the president did what seemed I think look a normal activity, he put 15% tariffs on chinese goods. Batteries, pork, a couple of things. That we can control, it is the retaliation we can't control. China retaliated and put huge tariffs particularly in soybean farmers.
▶ 1:24:30Mr. Lindberg: We had $27 billion of agricultural losses and are soybean farmers lost 15% market share. We never got it back. China buys their soybeans from brazil and argentina. We never got it back. How did the trump administration cover down on those losses because the farmers were losing their minds? We pay them with taxpayer dollars paid for by this committee to the tune of $23 billion in what people would call government checks.
▶ 1:25:00Mr. Lindberg: Welfare checks. And farmers hate taking welfare, they just want to compete. I don't think there is a question on the desire particularly against china to go after them and their unfair trading practices. It is that we can't control where the trade war goes. So can you with knowledge that that is the accurate description of what happened on soybean farmers in the last administration from that trade war?
▶ 1:25:26Mr. Lindberg: Senator, thank you for the question. And I appreciate the fact that you are a family farmer, that is wonderful. Thank you for giving me a chance to comment on it. If you look at the trade data from our phase I trade negotiations with china in the first administration, the agricultural exports when tariffs were implemented by president trump did have a drop in the subsequent year after the tariffs were implemented. If you look at the trade date of the year after the china phase I deal was signed between the U.S.
▶ 1:25:57Mr. Lindberg: And china, agricultural exports went up to 39% higher than pre-tariff levels. Before the tariffs started, after they went into place we saw a dead, we saw market facilitation payments happen, and then the year after that occurred, a 39% increase on what was pre-tariff levels for agricultural exports to china.
▶ 1:26:20Sen. Slotkin: Then why were we cutting checks to farmers from this committee? Taxpayer dollars, not something to sneeze at. Why were we having to subsidize our farmers who just wanted to compete? Honestly. The stats sound great and I would be thrilled. I'm a cia officer, no one wants to push back on china more than me. But the truth is we paid from this committee checks to farmers to get them through and then completely lost that market share.
▶ 1:26:50Sen. Slotkin: I think we need to acknowledge, I had a big farm town hall on friday and these are folks who are not democrats, that's for sure, and they are stressed out about the potential retaliation. You combine that with the immigration issues. They have legal, vetted immigrants who are not showing up to work because they are scared.
▶ 1:27:14Sen. Slotkin: Our farmers have a high level of uncertainty and I just ask you to again, we don't want to subsidize basically with welfare checks our farmers because of trade policy and please, please stand in the breach on that. Other topic I want to add to the chorus on the unfair trade practices that lots of countries use with us, that I want to put on your radar that I want you to go into battle with the country of turkey on tart cherries.
▶ 1:27:40Sen. Slotkin: We would love you to do blueberries, asparagus, potatoes, go to battle, I want to know what you will specifically do for the specialty crop folks.
▶ 1:28:01Mr. Lindberg: I believe in the all of the above trade approach. The america first trade agenda I believe calls with that. We need to do big deals come little deals, medium deals and all kinds of deals to make sure we get that market access.
▶ 1:28:16Mr. Lindberg: Not only will I be working with interagency colleagues to make sure we are advocating for our farmers and ranchers in the stray discussions we are having today, but the foreign agricultural service doesn't excellent job of maintaining nontariff barriers list that our farmers are facing around the world and I will absolutely address those every time I get the chance to meet counterparts in other countries and break those down.
▶ 1:28:39Sen. Slotkin: Great, please go to turkey. I yield back. >> thank you, Mr. chairman. Gentlemen, thank you for being here. Five-alarm fire, we are in trouble. The agricultural department and seven big chore in front of us. We are losing farmers every day. We lost 150,000 farms in our last four years, our trade deficit is god-awful, it is not acceptable.
▶ 1:29:08Sen. Slotkin: The biden administration didn't do one trade deal and it looked like they tried to put our farmers out of business on purpose. I couldn't believe it. We have got to do something. I get calls every week, we are going out of business, the worst farmers have ever been. We can't do business as usual, something has got to be done. If we don't do that, we are going to lose them, it will be over and we will be buying every bit of the food we eat out of this country. We saw what happened during covid.
▶ 1:29:39Sen. Slotkin: It was a disaster when we couldn't get drugs because china is the only one that makes drugs. I will get off my soapbox and think both of you for what you are going to try to do. Mr. lindberg, kotten has weekends due to the surge of low valutextile imports of synthetic fibers. All from southeast asia. They come through an $800 to minimus loophole and it is killing us.
▶ 1:30:08Sen. Slotkin: President trump has been working to close that loophole. Can you talk about that?
▶ 1:30:11Mr. Lindberg: Senator, thank you. I appreciate you spending some time with me in your office, I enjoyed our conversation. Absolutely, president trump has taken seriously based on the news report the exemption which has been a tragedy for not only are caught farmers, but also for manufacturers and a lot of other industries around the world.
▶ 1:30:35Mr. Lindberg: I will absolutely work alongside and look forward to working alongside our interagency colleagues to make sure that those exemptions are held accountable and are following the law of the land. Our former governor is at the department of homeland security. Thank you.
▶ 1:30:54Sen. Tuberville: It sounded like a little thing, but all of those little things add up. We have got to get better commodity prices. If we don't, it will be over for united states farmers. Mr. west hill, how do you plan to address the staffers that do not support president trump's agenda?
▶ 1:31:17Mr. Westhill: I appreciate the question. I think the career staffers I work with in the first term, many of them were consummate professionals. One of them is here today supporting my nomination as one of my guests. He served as the chief of staff the entire time I served in the first term. I think the important thing to do is to put out a clear vision for what your plan is.
▶ 1:31:45Mr. Westhill: I think the vast majority of individuals in that office, that is why they went into the office. It is a civil rights office, not a d.e.I. Office. The vast majority of those individuals I think will get behind president trump's agenda which is to advance civil rights.
▶ 1:32:00Sen. Tuberville: Team, team usa, the only way we can make it. We can't do it by pulling each other apart. The biden put U.S. cattle producers at a competitive disadvantage and allowed beef imports from paraguay. They do not have the same food safety standards as the U.S. can you speak to usda's plans to ensure sufficient due diligence is done in these inspections?
▶ 1:32:27Mr. Lindberg: Sir, thank you for the question. For me in my role at usda as the undersecretary for foreign agricultural affairs and trade, that will be worked by my colleagues but I look forward to working with my colleagues to make sure they have timely market analysis and intelligence on those issues.
▶ 1:32:49Sen. Tuberville: Thank you. Our peanut growers in my state, which is huge and across the country have been at a competitive disadvantage in the marketplace due to nontariff trade barriers on peanuts from the european union.
▶ 1:33:11Sen. Tuberville: Would you commit to ensuring usda and ustr work together on trump's agenda to reduce trade barriers for market access for all of our farmers?
▶ 1:33:20Mr. Lindberg: I look forward to doing exactly that.
▶ 1:33:23Sen. Tuberville: Thank you Mr. chairman.
▶ 1:33:24Chair Boozman: Senator smith.
▶ 1:33:27Senator Smith: Thank you, Mr. chairman. I want to start by making a couple of comments about nutrition programs and food programs, snap and wick and school meals and especially food banks because I know we are waiting to see what the republican budgets look like out of the house.
▶ 1:33:53Senator Smith: A couple of things I had an opportunity to do an minnesota last week, I had a chance to visit food shelves. These are places where the community really comes together to make sure people can put food on the table. What we of course see when we go to see these food banks are working families, seniors, often people working when they cannot afford groceries all month long.
▶ 1:34:20Senator Smith: These are the folks relying on food banks. I bet it is the same around the country. Since january, food shelves have seen a significant increase in new families, often people coming through the door for the very first time. Of course, this is a problem in all different kinds of communities, but it is particularly a problem in rural communities. In this country, nine out of 10 counties with the food insecurity rate several.
▶ 1:34:51Senator Smith: In minnesota, the counties that have seen the biggest increase in business to food shelves are also rural. Nobles county, my colleagues from south dakota will recognize nobles county. They have seen an increase nearly 195% over the last year.
▶ 1:35:14Senator Smith: I draw attention to this because right now usta is cutting funds that is helping food shelves meet their needs. The emergency food assistance program has been frozen and cut and this has had a dire impact on food shelves around the country.
▶ 1:35:37Senator Smith: Really want to put a point on this as we think about the big issues before us in the upcoming budgets and the reconciliation budget in particular. Now, thank you for being here. Want to use the time I have left to ask what we can do to create and preserve export markets. I appreciated how senator klobuchar talked about minnesota farmers and producers really struggling around tariffs.
▶ 1:36:09Senator Smith: There is no doubt in minnesota farm country that the first trump administration, minnesotans were hit hard with these retaliatory tariffs. In many places, farmers had yet to recover the lost market share. From what happened in those years. I appreciated in your testimony you said you are ready to work with counterparts across the administration. Here's an example.
▶ 1:36:41Senator Smith: I have been strongly supportive of reopening the colombian market to american poultry products, including turkeys. This was a long and arduous process to get these new agreements put into place. And then of course president trump comes in. This month it was all items from columbia would receive a 10% tariff.
▶ 1:37:11Senator Smith: This is the environment going forward. How do you plan to work with new potential trading partners while existing trade agreements are getting torn up sometimes over issues? How do you do the hard work of making agreements in that environment?
▶ 1:37:40Mr. Lindberg: Thank you for the opportunity to comment. I appreciate what is going on in southwestern minnesota. I can see that corner of your state from my house. My objective is to work with the interagency partners that I will engage with across the treasury, commerce, usta functions. I think it plays a vital role in those discussions.
▶ 1:38:06Mr. Lindberg: We have market intelligence we provide back to feed into those discussions. One of the strengths I bring to the table, I have also engaged with many of my counterparts who have been confirmed that I will be working with.
▶ 1:38:35Mr. Lindberg: It was a bringing together of like-minded folks.
▶ 1:38:41Sen. Smith: I know I'm out of time, Mr. chair. I just want to make a point that it is difficult to reach agreement when there is so much inconsistency in the policy.
▶ 1:39:08Sen. Smith: It is difficult for anybody to reach new trade deals in this environment.
▶ 1:39:12Chair Boozman: Thank you. Senator justice.
▶ 1:39:16Senator Justice: Thank you Mr. chairman, ranking member. I guess if I could just talk to all of you. I would say to Mr. lindberg, to Mr. westhill, to your families, thank you so much for being here in every way. Governor, it is a real honor to have you because you have come a long way and you have come along long way in support.
▶ 1:39:47Senator Justice: All of you that are sitting out here are wondering, what is going to happen? What is going to happen? These two individuals couldn't be more diverse, from civil rights to trade. When it really boils down to it, you are team tag today -- team ag today.
▶ 1:40:18Senator Justice: Coach tuberville is a great friend and coach and I have been a coach for a long time also. It is team. Today especially in our fields today farmers are out there, they are busting there butt, the most productive engine and all the land could ever be.
▶ 1:40:47Senator Justice: They are worried to death because from the standpoint of our trade deals, we would all be frivolous if we were to sit back and say, it is going very good. It is not very -- going very good. With absolutely all in me, all of us on team ag without any question, we've got to do something.
▶ 1:41:17Senator Justice: You've got to do something right now. It is going to be beating the day in a same old same old. I'm an undersecretary or whatever it may be. Really what you have in your fingertips is just this. We are losing this battle. Our farmers and ranchers are in real trouble.
▶ 1:41:51Senator Justice: My family has a family farm and we grew it to great big farm but with all that being said, I know what is going on. I can positively tell you that our farm families, they are worried, they see their products
▶ 1:42:24Senator Justice: , we have to marketer processes -- market our products. With all that being said I have a couple of really quick westerns. Mr.
▶ 1:42:42Senator Justice: Lindberg, can you speak to what the first steps you might take to help president trump straight addenda -- agenda to ensure farmers and ranchers as well are not caught in the middle of a crossfire while he fights to even out trade. Everybody is so hung up on are the tariffs good or bad?
▶ 1:43:20Senator Justice: An absolutely ripe trade to where other countries are not taking advantage of us all the time. Please answer.
▶ 1:43:32Mr. Lindberg: Thank you for the question and our time together before. President has already begun the process of writing this wrong and they ship. You said you were a coach previously. I believe you can't win the game unless you have a strategy to win the game. I think the way in which we win this game is by inviting our farm groups in.
▶ 1:44:02Mr. Lindberg: Figuring out what are those markets, what are those opportunities? What can we expect if we have a game plan in place and it is our job to knock those trade barriers down and get those market opportunities it is our group to support the coach.
▶ 1:44:33Mr. Lindberg: It is a strategic and targeted approach. I commit to doing that with you.
▶ 1:44:40Sen. Justice: The only other thing I have, Mr. westhill, I have a great question here and everything. I am out of time. I congratulate you on your son's athletics. You went to the university of north carolina and my daughter play basketball for clemson for a little while. Other than that, we are in great shape.
▶ 1:45:07Sen. Justice: Everybody here should know and I think I'm correct about this coming years and years ago they said to our farmers what is the value in a box of corn flakes if corn were three dollars a bushel? What is the value of the corn in that box? I think it was a third of a penny. You know. Our farmers and ranchers need us and they need us all right now. We shouldn't forget that.
▶ 1:45:34Chair Boozman: Thank you. Senator schiff.
▶ 1:45:38Senator Schiff: Thank you, Mr. chairman. Mr. lindberg. As you know, I come from california and we are very much in the specialty crop business, really proud of the whole agricultural community. The number one agricultural producing state, to remind my colleagues.
▶ 1:46:01Senator Schiff: By having such a heavy concentration of two crops haven't participated as much in the work of the usda and the sense of being a recipient of support from the department, but a number of programs are hugely important to us, the market access program, the technical assistance for specialty crop program, the regional program and the assisting of exports. Would like to hear your thoughts on those programs, whether you see their value.
▶ 1:46:32Mr. Lindberg: Thank you for the question, my wife's uncle is a fruit farmer. Spoken to him many times about the importance of those programs. I absolutely commit to working with those promotions to make sure they have a chance to export their products.
▶ 1:46:57Sen. Schiff: I would say also that a lot of the research helps the specialty crop farms in dealing with different pests and diseases that threatens the livelihood. The layoff of these important personnel is of great concern.
▶ 1:47:18Sen. Schiff: I would ask you to push back against the firing of these important scientists and researchers who are doing work that can save us billions in agricultural input.
▶ 1:47:34Sen. Schiff: I want to ask you about the usda's history and the present and in terms of the history, the department has an incredible history, a very important institution in our society going back to the days of lincoln and it has the record of some pervasive discrimination.
▶ 1:47:58Sen. Schiff: What is your commitment to making sure that the usda serves a diverse group of farmers in california. We not only have an traordinarily diverse set of crops but I didn't diverse set of farmers. I want to make sure that farm programs are accessible to all of the farmers.
▶ 1:48:21Sen. Schiff: Not only is there no discrimination but there are affirmative efforts to ensure that farmers are aware of these programs and that there is the outreach so all can participate. I want to hear about making sure we are reaching a diverse group of farmers in the country.
▶ 1:48:45Mr. Westhill: I appreciate your interest. There was a long history of discrimination. I have read the book on it. I have talked to your colleagues. There are barriers for participating.
▶ 1:49:23Mr. Westhill: I'm committed to making sure that there is equal footing no matter their race or any other protective characteristic of civil rights law.
▶ 1:49:35Sen. Schiff: Thank you. Mr. lindberg, I don't know whether this is going to become necessary, it depends how long the tariff fight goes on. Farmers around the country would much rather farm and trade and sell then be reliant on government support, but if there is a fund established to help farmers that are injured by retaliatory or other tariffs, in the past specialty crop farmers have really not participated
▶ 1:50:05Sen. Schiff: Very much and those in california have participated even less. What can you do to make sure there are resources to help make those farmers whole even though there has been traditionally much more attention on commodity growers?
▶ 1:50:19Mr. Lindberg: I believe there will be a number of new trade deal signed in the not-too-distant future that those programs will not be necessary, but should that become necessary I will commit to making sure the specialty crop producers are represented and have the chance to apply just like any other form commodity groups.
▶ 1:50:37Sen. Schiff: And that may require some adjustment of how those programs operate since the treaties have a much longer life and a much higher investment and many of the farmers have the same long history of farming the same crops. There are some barriers to participation. Thank you, Mr. chairman.
▶ 1:51:01Chair Boozman: Thank you. Senator fischer.
▶ 1:51:06Senator Fischer: Welcome, gentlemen, thank you both for putting yourselves forward to serve this country, I appreciate that. Mr. lindberg, good to see you and I appreciated our conversation about how trade is critical to the agriculture economy in my state of nebraska. The biden administration left us with a $49 billion agricultural trade deficit. I know you and secretary rawlins want to tackle this problem.
▶ 1:51:35Senator Fischer: I'm excited to see that secretary rawlins announced she will be visiting six international markets. Nebraska ag producers have talked to me about a number of these markets, securing access for biofuels in india and brazil and our beef in the u.k..
▶ 1:52:14Senator Fischer: I discussed what opportunities for export market development they are hoping for from the trump administration. They showed excitement about vietnam in particular. Other competitors such as the european union, russia, and canada have trade agreements in place with vietnam that give them lower tariff rates.
▶ 1:52:38Senator Fischer: The secretary rawlins planning, it sounds like there is a real opportunity to ensure that we can compete fairly in the market. As the secretary and yourself work to open markets in new countries, how would you plan to get input and feedback from our farmers and ranchers about where they see opportunity or where they have challenges exporting?
▶ 1:53:12Mr. Lindberg: A friend of mine is here today, bonnie glick. Glad to have her as a nebraska farmer here. Yes, absolutely. The process by which I started my career in consulting. I planned to go into my office day one.
▶ 1:53:32Mr. Lindberg: To put the number -49 billion on the whiteboard and begin inviting your nebraska pork producers, your different commodities to come in and have conversations with us the comment window that was opened for these groups.
▶ 1:54:05Mr. Lindberg: We have to get to the $60 billion sales number. America has always fed the world and we are not meeting our mandate there.
▶ 1:54:19Sen. Fischer: Can you talk a little bit about how you would coordinate with organizations that receive trade promotion funding through the usda? Mr.
▶ 1:54:32Lindberg: In my current capacity as ceo of south dakota trade, we have worked extensively with food export midwest that receives funding to help promote our agricultural products overseas. We have worked on trade missions together in the past. I have engaged with their staff and sending them referrals to help promote products overseas as well. It would be very much my pleasure.
▶ 1:55:04Lindberg: And to engage in what you are referring to in that question.
▶ 1:55:09Sen. Fischer: I know there farmers and ranchers are excited about the prospect of opening up new markets. When we look at the retaliatory tariffs, that makes people nervous, but our farmers and ranchers are also willing to give the president time on this to be able to expand those markets. We look at china and what they are doing.
▶ 1:55:40Sen. Fischer: A major crop we have in nebraska. We are facing a duty from the chinese of 155%. That shuts the farmers out of the market. Can you talk a little bit about your goals when you look at china and what may be you would see, what you would see them doing to meet some of the needs we have in this country, how we
▶ 1:56:11Sen. Fischer: Can come together, what you would tell soybean farmers in nebraska who is feeling anxious about those tariffs? What would you say?
▶ 1:56:21Mr. Lindberg: Sure, one thing I might mention, this morning, secretary besson spoke at the white house and the quote I really enjoyed that he said was the aperture of uncertainty is narrowing.
▶ 1:56:41Mr. Lindberg: After we signed, we saw a net fixed -- export to china from pre-tariff levels. We know the trade deals work. I look forward to working with you and your producers to make sure we will be here as a lifeline for them.
▶ 1:57:10Sen. Fischer: Thank you very much.
▶ 1:57:13Chair Boozman: Senator warnock.
▶ 1:57:16Senator Warnock: Thank you, chad boseman, congratulations to both of you for your nominations and welcome to your families. Over the last few months, president trump has thrown the global economy and agricultural markets into a tailspin with uncertainty caused by his sweeping and chaotic tariffs. I don't share the secretary of treasury's positive view.
▶ 1:57:49Senator Warnock: The president's actions have created uncertainty and we see it on the ground. We see with georgia farmers who are worried about affording necessary imports like fertilizer and losing access to critical export markets. Mr.
▶ 1:58:05Senator Warnock: Lindberg, if confirmed, you would be responsible for international agriculture trade at usda and I remain concerned that the presidents manufactured trade war will hurt georgia farmers who I'm hearing from regularly and I'm concerned it will push our allies in exactly the wrong direction. Do you share that concern?
▶ 1:58:31Mr. Lindberg: Senator, thank you for the question. As a point of reference, I have been a longtime acquaintance of former georgia agricultural secretary gary black and we have discussed trade issues and have worked together in the past. He spoke at a summit I hosted in south dakota for several years. The short answer is I believe that george's pecan growers face unfair tariff barriers around the world and nontariff barriers on their products.
▶ 1:59:03Mr. Lindberg: I believe georgia's shrimping industry is getting decimated unfairly by foreign imports that are produced in unsanitary conditions. It is time that we take a stand and that we provide better market access that gives your producers what they deserve, what they have been promised in many cases around the world. But also protect our domestic producers.
▶ 1:59:23Sen. Warnock: Are you concerned that these tariffs are pushing them toward china?
▶ 1:59:28Mr. Lindberg: I believe that the president is going to sign a number of new trade agreements that will open up market access for our producers.
▶ 1:59:37Sen. Warnock: I have done a lot of work on this issue, I'm well aware of the concerns that georgia farmers have had with getting their products, pecans and other products, I have dealt with the toxin issue with respect to peanuts in foreign markets. The tariffs is still another issue. We have seen this movie before. And when it happened during the first trump administration, they were basically subsidized.
▶ 2:00:06Sen. Warnock: As I have talked to georgia farmers, I would submit to you that they want trade, they don't want aid. If confirmed, what will you do to combat this isolationist strategy and open new export markets for georgia farmers? We agree we want to open export markets.
▶ 2:00:21Mr. Lindberg: Absolutely we do. I believe the trade agreements that were signed in the first trump administration were examples we can live by. The usmca, which was a bipartisan agreement, provided new market access. We can replicate successfully agreements like that to increase those opportunities around the world for georgia producers.
▶ 2:00:41Sen. Warnock: I'm certainly concerned about the outcome of these practices, I haven't seen much so far that hardens me, but I look forward to working with you in the future. We will do everything we can to open international trade markets for georgia farmers.
▶ 2:00:59Sen. Warnock: I have spoken many times about usda's terrible and well-documented record of discrimination in and stuff like farmers and the importance of federal programs aimed at addressing past discrimination and serving underserved farmers. I'm proud of mine and senator booker's efforts in the previous administration to breakdown the structural and financial barriers erected by the agency that many underserved farmers face, but the work is not over. Mr.
▶ 2:01:28Sen. Warnock: Westhill, good to meet you the other day in my office. If confirmed, you would be over civil rights and usda. Do you agree that usda has historically engaged in discriminatory actions that have uniquely harmed black farmers in their farm lending programs?
▶ 2:01:46Mr. Westhill: Senator, thank you for the question and it was a pleasure to meet with you in your office. As I have suggested to you, I have read the book on that particular --
▶ 2:02:01Sen. Warnock: It is a yes or no question?
▶ 2:02:04Mr. Westhill: It is a yes.
▶ 2:02:06Sen. Warnock: You are aware of the pickford case and are you aware of usda agreeing to consent decree settlement which the court has blessed in light of that history of discrimination?
▶ 2:02:18Mr. Westhill: Yes, senator, I'm aware of pickford.
▶ 2:02:20Sen. Warnock: Do you acknowledge that according to an npr analysis of usda data as recently as 2022 black farmers were still denied usda loans at higher rates than any other race?
▶ 2:02:33Mr. Westhill: Senator, I'm not aware of that.
▶ 2:02:37Sen. Warnock: I want you to become aware of it. I'm going to submit that report. How would you continue the important work to dismantle the structural barriers and rebuild trust between the usda and farmers who previously faced discrimination?
▶ 2:02:57Mr. Westhill: I appreciate the question and I appreciate your strong interest in these types of issues. It is one of the reasons why a dedicated my career to working on these issues. What I can commit to is enforcing civil rights at usda vigorously. The same thing we did in the first term when I headed this office as deputy assistant secretary, we will do it again.
▶ 2:03:22Mr. Westhill: There are arbitrary barriers preventing anyone from doing business with the usda, customers, employees, or otherwise. We want to make sure those are broken down and I'm committed to that.
▶ 2:03:31Sen. Warnock: I'm also concerned about this administration's attack on programs that fall under the broad umbrella of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. Following the president's d.e.I. Executive order, this administration haphazardly and illegally in my view froze funding passed by congress on a bipartisan basis for many critical programs causing chaos for students and organizations who depend on those funds
▶ 2:04:02Sen. Warnock: Including usda's 1890 national scholars program. While I was glad to see that program un-frozen, it didn't happen until some folks made noise, there was a lot of public outcry. And the recognition this shouldn't have happened in the first place. Do you believe that 1890 institutions like fort valley state university are d.e.I.?
▶ 2:04:27Mr. Westhill: Senator, no I don't, I'm very proud of the work I did in the force term to support the white house initiative on historically black colleges and universities and I look forward to helping with that again if confirmed.
▶ 2:04:40Sen. Warnock: I'm glad to hear of your commitment to these institutions, recognition that they do critical work. If you are confirmed, will you commit to ensuring that usda fully implements all 1890 programs as required by statute and attended by congress?
▶ 2:04:57Mr. Westhill: Senator, anything that is within the law I would make sure that if it is under my authority, it be enforced, absolutely.
▶ 2:05:03Mr. Westhill: Thank you so very much.
▶ 2:05:07Chair Boozman: Thank you. Thanks again to Mr. lindberg and Mr. westhill for appearing before the committee and for committee members for participation in today's hearing. The record will remain open for two business days and with that, we are adjourned. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap.org]