Agriculture
Chair: Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
- Max Baucus (D-MT)
- Michael Bennet (D-CO)
- Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
- Bob Casey (D-PA)
- Kent Conrad (D-ND)
- Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
- Tom Harkin (D-IA)
- Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
- Pat Leahy (D-VT)
- Ben Nelson (D-NE)
- Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
- Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
- Thad Cochran (R-MS)
- John Cornyn (R-TX)
- Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
- Mike Johanns (R-NE)
- Dick Lugar (R-IN)
- Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
- Pat Roberts (R-KS)
- John R. Thune (R-SD)
Appropriations
Chair: Daniel Inouye (D-HI) Ag Sub-Committee
Chair: Herb Kohl (D-WI)
- Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
- Dick Durbin (D-IL)
- Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
- Tom Harkin (D-IA)
- Tim Johnson (D-SD)
- Ben Nelson (D-NE)
- Jack Reed (D-RI)
- Robert Bennett (R-UT)
- Christopher Bond (R-MO)
- Sam Brownback (R-KS)
- Thad Cochran (R-MS)
- Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
- Arlen Specter (R-PA)
Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions
- Chris Dodd (D-CT)
Agriculture
Chair: B Collin Peterson (D-MN)
V. Chair: B Tim Holden (D-PA)
B Joe Baca (D-CA)
- John Boccieri (D-OH)
B* Leonard Boswell (D-IA)
- Bobby Bright (D-AL)
B* Dennis Cardoza (D-CA)
- Travis Childers (D-MS)
B Jim Costa (D-CA)
- Henry Cuellar (D-TX)
- Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA)
B Brad Ellsworth (D-IN)
- Debbie Halvorson (D-IL)
B Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD)
- Steve Kagen (D-WI)
- Larry Kissell (D-NC)
B Frank Kratovil (D-MD)
- Betsy Markey (D-CO)
B Jim Marshall (D-GA)
P Eric Massa (D-NY)
B Mike McIntyre (D-NC)
- Walt Minnick (D-ID)
B Earl Pomeroy (D-ND)
- Mark Schauer (D-MI)
- Kurt Schrader (D-OR)
B David Scott (D-GA)
B Zachary Space (D-OH)
- Timothy Walz (D-MN)
- Frank Lucas (R-OK)
- Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
- K. Michael Conaway (R-TX)
- Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE)
- Virginia Foxx (R-NC)
- Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)
- Sam Graves (R-MO)
- Timothy Johnson (R-IL)
- Steve King (R-IA)
- Robert Latta (R-OH)
- Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)
- Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)
- Jerry Moran (R-KS)
- Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)
- Phil Roe (R-TN)
- Mike Rogers (R-AL)
- Jean Schmidt (R-OH)
- Adrian Smith (R-NE)
- Glenn Thompson (R-PA) *=House Organic Caucus member B=Blue Dog Democrat
Appropriations
Chair: Dave Obey (D-WI) Ag Sub-Committee
Chair: P Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
- Sanford Bishop (D-GA)
* Allen Boyd (D-FL)
- Lincoln Davis (D-TN)
*P Sam Farr (D-CA)
*P Maurice D. Hinchey (D-NY)
P Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)
P Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
- Jack Kingston (R-GA)
- Rodney Alexander (R-LA)
- Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO)
* Tom Latham (R-IA) *=House Organic Caucus member
P=Congressional Progressive Caucus
Education and Labor
P Chair: George Miller (D-CA)
- Jason Altmire (D-PA)
- Robert Andrews (D-NJ)
- Timothy Bishop (D-NY)
P Yvette Clarke (D-NY)
- Joe Courtney (D-CT)
- Susan Davis (D-CA)
P Marcia Fudge (D-OH)
P Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
P Phil Hare (D-IL)
- Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX)
P Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
- Rush Holt (D-NJ)
- Dale Kildee (D-MI)
P Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
P Dave Loebsack (D-IA)
- Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
P Donald Payne (D-NJ)
- Jared Polis (D-CO)
- Robert Scott (D-VA)
- Joe Sestak (D-PA)
- Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH)
P John Tierney (D-MA)
- Dina Titus (D-NV)
- Paul Tonko (D-NY)
P Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)
- David Wu (D-OR)
- Buck McKeon (R-CA)
- Judy Biggert (R-IL)
- Rob Bishop (R-UT)
- Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
- Michael Castle (R-DE)
- Vernon Ehlers (R-MI)
- Luis F Fortuno (R-PR)
- Brett Guthrie (R-KY)
- Peter Hoekstra (R-MI)
- Duncan D. Hunter (R-CA)
- John Kline (R-MN)
- Kenny Marchant (R-TX)
- Tom McClintock (R-CA)
- Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)
- Thomas Petri (R-WI)
- Phil Roe (R-TN)
- Todd Russell Platts (R-PA)
- Tom Price (R-GA)
- Mark Souder (R-IN)
- GT Thompson (R-PA)
- Joe Wilson (R-SC) P=Congressional Progressive Caucus
Apologies for interrupting this food blog with a post about campaigns and elections, but Blanche Lincoln's days are numbered as a U.S. senator from Arkansas. She trails Republican challengers by double-digits in recent polls by Public Policy Polling and Rasmussen. In fact, Lincoln trails her leading Republican challenger by more than 20 points in PPP's poll.
Assuming Lincoln loses, either to a Democratic primary challenger or to a Republican in November, the Senate Agriculture Committee will be needing a new chair in January 2011. Currently, Democrats are expected to retain a majority in the Senate, which would put Debbie Stabenow of Michigan in line to chair the Agriculture Committee. Republicans have a slim chance at winning enough seats to take over the Senate this November. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia would be the likely new chair, since is the ranking Republican on the committee now, but it's possible that the GOP caucus could shuffle things around.
If we focus on suffering, as I believe that we should, it is not necessarily impermissible to kill animals and use them for food; but it is entirely impermissible to be indifferent to their interests while they are alive. So too for other animals in farms, even or perhaps especially if they are being used for the benefit of human beings.
The problem is that most of the time, the interests of animals are not counted at all--and that once they are counted, many of our practices cannot possibly be justified. I believe that in the long-run, our willingness to subject animals to unjustified suffering will be seem a form of unconscionable barbarity--not the same as, but in many ways morally akin to, slavery and the mass extermination of human beings.
So what is Chambliss' - pardon the expression - beef with Sunstein? These quotes from Sunstein's 2004 book Animal Rights: Current Debates and New Directions:
I will suggest that animals should be permitted to bring suit, with human beings as their representatives, to prevent violations of current law... Laws designed to protect animals against cruelty and abuse should be amended or interpreted to give a private cause of action against those who violate them, so as to allow private people to supplement the efforts of public prosecutors.
Chambliss says he will drop the hold after he has a chance to meet with Sunstein. Sunstein has already met with Kansas Republican Sen. Pat Roberts, who he gave assurances that he would not promote burdensome animal rights regulations for farmers.
The fact of the matter is that we do NOT have very many laws that protect agricultural animals from suffering, and those that we do have are not well-enforced. And while the idea of a pig suing a human is absurd, I think it makes perfect sense for a human to bring a case against a human over cruel treatment of a pig. Given how well the Obama administration has done thus far on the rights of some humans (Guantanamo prisoners, gays and lesbians...) I doubt animal rights is at the top of his agenda. Truly, those who want to abuse animals legally have little to fear from the Obama administration. But that doesn't make the way we treat agricultural animals right, and we certainly should have more laws in place (like California's Prop 2) to protect animals from cruel treatment.
According to Obama Foodorama, Tom Vilsack will likely select Michael Doyle as the Under Secretary for the Food Safety and Inspection Service. And why is that bad?
Let's start with who's behind his nomination: Saxby "I hate sustainable agriculture" Chambliss. Yes, the very same Saxby Chambliss who got his Senate seat by accusing the incumbent Senator, a war hero (who lost 3 limbs in Vietnam), of being for the terrorists. Plus several Senators from states with major factory farm interests. And then there's the details on Michael Doyle himself:
Doyle is currently Director of the Center For Food Safety at the University of Georgia, and a professor in the department of food safety and technology. His work at the land-grant university has been heavily funded by major meat industry concerns, and Doyle has won big acclaim for his industry-friendly policy wonking, in particular from the American Meat Institute, a huge pro-meat/low-government intervention lobbying force on The Hill. He's also received big funding and support from the National Chicken Council, another industry lobbying group.
Please, send an email to AgSec@usda.gov and tell Vilsack you don't want Doyle to get the nomination. He's got too much of a conflict of interest. Or, put another way, he's the fox and FSIS is the henhouse.
Today the Senate Ag Committee met to confirm three nominees to the USDA: Kathleen Merrigan (Deputy USDA Secretary), Jim Miller (Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services), and Joe Leonard (Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Civil Rights). All three will be confirmed, there is little doubt about that, but the highlight of the hearing for me was when Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) took Merrigan to task for her love of organic agriculture. Just one more reason we need to toss his ass out of the Senate in 2014.
Today the Senate Ag Committee held a hearing about child nutrition. There were two panels, but I'd like to focus on the second one for now - I'll get to the first one later. The second one involved one health professional and three industry representatives - one for dairy, one for Mars (as in the candy), and one for the American Beverage Association (i.e. soft drinks). Each of the industry reps presented their own special lines of bullshit, and Harkin totally took them to task over it. It was awesome. I wish I had some popcorn to munch while watching!!
UPDATE: If you want to express your thoughts to the Senate Ag committee, the committee # is 202-224-2035.
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