The Senate Ag Committee spent their Thursday interacting with President Trump’s nominee to be his Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins. There were few moments when Mrs. Rollins was not warmly and positively interacting with Senators from both sides of the aisle.
The Texas native spent time detailing her days growing up in Glen Rose, Texas, being involved in 4-H and FFA before heading to Texas A&M to study ag leadership and then working for Governor Rick Perry and then later for Donald Trump in his first term. She told the Senators that she was on road traveling from Texas to Alabama when President Donald Trump called her to discuss becoming his Secretary of Agriculture.
She told the Committee she is excited about becoming the Trump Administration’s Secretary of Ag and she pointed to the quote from Thomas Jefferson on the worth of agriculture- “Agriculture is our wisest pursuit because it will, in the end, contribute most to real wealth, good morals and happiness.”
Rollins says she understands that farmers and ranchers are facing huge problems, calling current economic issues “one of the most economically challenging times in American agriculture history.”
She offered several items at the top of her “to do” list if confirmed:
Ensure disaster and economic assistance passed by the last Congress be deployed as soon as possible.
Work on getting a handle on animal disease outbreaks.
Modernize, Realign and Rethink the US Department of Agriculture
And support rural communities and make sure they are equipped and supported for the future.
Her complete opening remarks can be heard in the listen bar above.
She dialogued and answered questions from all of the Senate Ag Committee members- you can hear her give and take with Chairman Boozman and ranking member Amy Klobuchar by clicking on the listen bar below:
Rollins waits on the Senate Ag Committee for a vote to recommend her nomination to the floor of the US Senate. Based on the dialogue that she had with members of the Committee- she will be recommended with a strong bipartisan vote.
See the full committee hearing by clicking on the play button in the video box below
