Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman resigns

By Kylene Orebaugh

Ten days following the re-election of President George Bush, four top officials have sent letters of resignation. Nov. 12 Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman resigned, along with three other top officials including Secretary of State Colin Powell, Education Secretary Rod Paige and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham.

An Associated Press article dated Nov. 15 cited Bush administration officials confirming the resignations.

In her resignation letter dated Nov. 12, Veneman said she would "always be thankful and humbled that you entrusted me to serve our nation during these extraordinary times. It is with that same humility that I submit my resignation to you today."

Veneman also noted that during the Bush administration farm income had reached record levels and cited other accomplishments she credited to the administration.

Veneman's press secretary Alisa Harrison Nov. 15 , sent reporters who asked for a list of Veneman's accomplishments a notice that said, "The state of the American food and agriculture sector, future career opportunities and the natural break between terms, makes this a logical time for the secretary to leave. She is very proud of the accomplishments in this term."

The accomplishments Harrison cited included implementation of "the most complicated farm bill in history in the least amount of time, along with multiple disaster programs." Harrison also noted that Veneman also enhanced the U.S. Department of Agriculture's infrastructure to deal with pests and disease by instituting the "Incident Command Structure" across the department that has dealt with threats such as bovine spongiform encepalopathy or BSE and avian flu, increased the availability of Internet services to farmers and gotten the "very first clean audit of the department--two years in a row."

Numerous leaders within the agriculture sector have issued statements regarding the secretary of agriculture's resignation.

Kansas Senator, Pat Roberts, R-KS, called Veneman a good friend, but also an advocate. Roberts is a senior member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

"I consider her not only a good friend, but a tireless advocate for agriculture. She will be missed. I wish her well in her future endeavors," Senator Roberts said. "She has been a strong advocate for producers, free and fair trade, food safety and conservation programs. Her legacy will be the food security of the United States due to her untiring efforts to place agroterrorism as a priority within our national security system and her ability to maintain confidence in our food supply through sound science and knowledge during times of difficult challenge."

President of the American Farm Bureau Federation, Bob Stallman applauded the work Veneman has tackled during her term.

"We applaud Secretary Veneman's service to American agriculture. During her tenure, we have faced a variety of complex issues, some of which were crises, and she handled them adeptly," Stallman said. "While she came into office as a recognized advocate for improving international trade rules, her portfolio expanded to issues that no other agriculture secretary has had to confront. She had to deal with the specter of agro-terrorism. She had to deal with the threat of hoof-and-mouth disease entering the country, the detection of BSE in Canada and the United States, and several other food safety challenges. And she had to deal with the difficult tasks of implementing the 2002 farm bill and helping to keep a new round of international trade talks on track."

Stallman concluded adding that the AFBF hopes President Bush "will nominate a successor who will prove to be as effective an advocate for agriculture as Secretary Veneman was."

National Cattlemen's Beef Association President, Jan Lyons saluted the Secretary of Agriculture on her accomplishments while in office.

"American cattlemen salute the service of Secretary Veneman and her commitment to helping food and agriculture producers across the country," Lyons said. "Over the past four years, Veneman has confronted historic challenges within our industry. On Dec. 23, 2003, she announced the first case of BSE on American soil, and then worked to inform consumers about the safety of the food supply and our commitment to keeping the U.S. BSE-free. She led efforts to promote the BSE safeguards we have in place that make America's food the safest in the world, and then put in place additional safeguards as dictated by science to further reduce our risk of BSE."

Lyons, like Roberts, calls Veneman a trusted friend.

"We are looking forward to working with the Secretary for the remainder of her tenure, and we wish her the best in her future endeavors. On a personal note, Ann Veneman has been a solid leader and a trusted friend, and I will miss working with her. As a cattle producer, I know her work will be appreciated for generations to come."

Democratic Senator, Tom Harkin, D-IA, called Veneman's job a thankless one.

"Secretary Veneman served with dedication and conscientiousness in what is often rightly called a thankless job, and I wish her the best in the future," Harkin said. " I commend Secretary Veneman and her staff for working with us in Congress as we wrote a strong new farm bill in 2002. We agreed on a lot of issues, and naturally disagreed on others. Most of those disagreements were over unnecessary obstacles to carrying out the farm bill thrown up by the White House and its Office of Management and Budget."

Harkin also wants President Bush to make the best of this opportunity.

"I urge President Bush to seize this opportunity to nominate a successor who will work with Congress to fully implement the 2002 farm bill, strengthen our nation's food security and safety, conserve our natural resources, and improve the lives and economic future of farm families and all rural Americans," Harkin said. " I look forward to working with USDA and the next secretary to advance the interests of agriculture, consumers and rural America in the next four years."

Another AP article said Veneman is the daughter of a California peach grower and was the nation's first woman agriculture secretary. Speculation on a potential replacement has centered on Chuck Conner, White House farm adviser, Democratic Rep. Charles Stenholm of Texas, who lost his seat in the Nov. 2 elections, Allen Johnson, the chief U.S. negotiator on agricultural issues, Bill Hawks, undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs and Charles Kruse, president of the Missouri Farm Bureau Federation.

Date: 11/18/04

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