Aderholt Questions USDA Officials on Budget Request for Research Agencies and Programs

Washington, D.C. — Congressman Robert Aderholt (AL-04), Chairman of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, released the following statement after the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics and Chief Scientist Dr. Catherine Wotecki, Administrator of the National Agriculture Statistics Service Dr. Cynthia Clark, Administrator of the Economic Research Service Dr. Mary Bohman, Administrator of the Agricultural Research Service Dr. Ed Knipling, Director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy, and USDA Budget Director Mr. Mike Young testified before the Subcommittee.

“This Subcommittee has a strong tradition of supporting agricultural research programs,” said Aderholt. “While USDA has a very broad research mandate, neither Congress nor USDA can fund every worthwhile or interesting project proposed even if it meets the goals of the Research, Education and Economics Action plan. In today’s budgetary environment, USDA must prioritize its research missions in an effort to give American taxpayers the best possible return on their investment.”

“In this year’s budget request, the Department proposes the Agriculture Research Service (ARS) spend $155 million to design and build a new state-of-the-art poultry science lab in Athens, Georgia, meanwhile consolidating six existing laboratories across the country and closing a facility in Arkansas. While this Subcommittee is generally supportive of investments in infrastructure for agricultural research, we need more information on how this new lab will help researchers better understand poultry diseases and improve the health of U.S. poultry,” continued Aderholt.

“I appreciate the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA) efforts over the past two years to consolidate and streamline the management of some of its programs. However, this Subcommittee is concerned about NIFA’s disregard for our request for information on the scope, timeline and cost of a number of their programs, including the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI),” added Aderholt.

“While today’s hearing was productive, this Subcommittee is left with several unanswered questions. In particular, questions regarding specific program details that are vital to this body doing its job. We do not offer these directives and ask for this type of information without reason and we encourage Dr. Wotecki and her colleagues to comply with these directives, or this Subcommittee will be forced to make the Department’s research programs funding and allocation decisions without this important data,” concluded Aderholt.

Click here to view Chairman Aderholt’s entire opening statement as prepared for delivery.

Aderholt currently serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies for the powerful House Appropriations Committee, is a member of the Committee’s Commerce, Justice and Science; and Homeland Security Subcommittees, and also serves on the Helsinki Commission.

For more information about Aderholt’s work in Congress visit www.aderholt.house.gov.