Skip to primary navigation Skip to main content

United States Senate Committee on Agriculture Nutrition & Forestry

RSS Feed

Minority News

  • 112th Congress (2011-2012)

    Roberts: Senate Ag Reports Out Ag Reform, Food and Jobs Bill

    WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry today said the committee reported out the 2012 Farm Bill, officially called the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act, which reduces spending on agriculture programs by over $23 billion, strengthens the safety net for producers in need and streamlines redundant and costly programs. Senator Roberts joined Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (R-Mich.) in int...

  • Senator Roberts: Bipartisan Farm Bill Saves Taxpayer $23 Billion; Reforms American Agriculture

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, today said the Committee’s 2012 Farm Bill would reform Agriculture in America, saving nearly $23 billion and consolidating nearly 100 programs while ensuring critical safety nets are improved to allow farmers and ranchers to continue to meet exploding global demand for food and fiber. “We’ve worked hard to put together the best bill possibl...

  • Ranking Member Roberts' Statement on Ag Committee Mark-up Postponement

    WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry issued the following statement regarding the postponement of the Agriculture Committee mark-up scheduled for tomorrow morning: “I support Chairwoman Stabenow’s decision to postpone the Farm Bill mark-up scheduled for tomorrow morning. Significant bipartisan progress has been made on many sections of the bill. Just a few issues remain to be worked out. I have give...

  • Stabenow and Roberts: US Beef and Dairy Safeguards Protect Public Health, Livestock

    WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chairwoman of Senate Committee on Agriculture Nutrition and Forestry, and Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS), the Committee’s Ranking Member, today said that the USDA’s proven firewalls and internationally recognized safeguards that protect against potential cases of BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) worked as intended. Earlier today, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced an a-typical result on a random test of a dairy ...

  • Ranking Member Roberts and Chairwoman Stabenow: Public/Private Ag Research Partnership Needed to Meet Global Food Demand

    WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry and U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) Chairwoman of the Committee, today introduced legislation to establish a foundation to solicit private donations to enhance research for the most pressing challenge facing U.S. agriculture – meeting exploding global demand.   “Agriculture research must remain a priority for our nation, especially given...

  • Senator Roberts’ Statement at Ag Hearing on Risk Management and Commodities

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – At a hearing of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, ranking member U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) today said he would continue work to preserve, protect and strengthen crop insurance for producers to improve stability of the nation’s safe and abundant food supply and to enhance rural communities. The following is text of the senator’s opening statement as prepared for delivery: “I look forward to hearing from everyone a...

  • Senator Roberts: MF Global Execs Should Find Missing Funds without Bonuses

    WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) today said a proposal to award huge cash bonuses to MF Global executives to aid in the search for missing client funds following the firm’s bankruptcy is absurd. “This is not your ordinary Chapter 11 bankruptcy,” Roberts said. “The process to return customer funds to their rightful owners will take years. This unprecedented loss of segregated customer funds may well have occurred at the direction of MF Global officials....

  • Senator Roberts: All Farm Bill Titles Require Streamlining and Improvement

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – At a Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee hearing on nutrition programs and the marketing of local and regional products, U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), ranking member, today said all titles of the Farm Bill should be consolidated, streamlined and evaluated to determine the best use of taxpayer dollars. The following is Senator Roberts’ opening statement as prepared for delivery: “To those producers who market their crops locally, co...

  • Senator Roberts: USDA Report Shows Misuse of Taxpayer Dollars

    WASHINGTON, DC –U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), ranking member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, raised questions about the “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” initiative, saying it isn’t steeped in reality since most food Americans consume isn’t grown locally. “This report highlights one of the fastest growing sectors in agriculture, and I commend farmers and ranchers around the country for taking advantage of opportunities to ad...

  • Roberts Calls on Senate to Approve Bill to Protect Agriculture from Pesticide Rule

    WASHINGTON, DC – With less than 24 hours remaining before the Environmental Protection Agency begins enforcing their controversial and duplicative pesticide permitting rule, Senator Roberts called on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to call up and approve compromise legislation to prevent costly fall-out for public health officials and agriculture producers. Roberts again urged the Senate to call up and pass the House approved, bipartisan H.R. 872, the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of ...

  • Senator Roberts: CFTC Roundtables Suggest Solutions to Unknown Problems; Limits Voice of Agriculture

    WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) today said roundtable discussions on customer collateral protections held by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) pre-judge the MF Global investigation and have limited participation by farmers and ranchers, many of whom are still missing their own funds in the wake of the collapse of MF Global. “While I appreciate the willingness of the CFTC to discuss solutions to the problem of missing customer funds following the co...

  • Senator Roberts: Farm Bill Conservation Programs Need Streamlining, Improved Flexibility, Reduced Regs

    WASHINGTON, DC –U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), ranking member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, today said the Conservation title of the 2012 Farm Bill should streamline programs while maintaining options for producers and eliminating burdensome regulations. “A single program will not meet the needs of all producers, but we have gone too far in the other direction,” Roberts said. “We now have duplicative programs that have become more and m...

  • Chairwoman Stabenow, Ranking Member Roberts Urge IRS to Provide Income Tax Guidance to Former MF Global Customers

    Washington, DC – Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, and Ranking Member Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Ks.) today urged the Internal Revenue Service to provide former MF Global customers, who may need to file their taxes with incomplete information, with guidance as income tax filing deadlines are approaching. The firm filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 31, 2011 after revealing that hundreds of millions of dollars in customer mo...

  • Roberts Fights for NBAF at Senate Ag Hearing

    WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry today fought to improve food security in the United States by securing further commitment from U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack that building a National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan, Kansas, would remain a critical funding priority for the nation. At a hearing today of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Roberts used his time to disc...

  • Senator Roberts: Ag Committee Holds Farm Bill Hearing on Rural Development and Energy

    WASHINGTON, DC -- At a hearing of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), the Committee's ranking member, today examined policies critical to rural communities and called out the Obama administration for dusting off tired budget proposals that target crop insurance, the most important safety net for producers. The following are Senator Roberts' prepared remarks: “Determining the needs of our farmers, ranchers, and rural residents an...

  • Senate Ag Ranking Member Roberts’ Statement on the President’s FY2013 Budget Proposal

    WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kans.) Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry today released the following statement on the President’s FY 2013 Budget Proposal: “Once again, the Obama Administration has ignored feedback from producers, and a bipartisan majority of the Senate Agriculture Committee all of whom believe that crop insurance is the most effective safety net for agriculture. Rather than listen to those in farm count...

  • Senator Roberts Announces CRP General Sign Up Starts March 12, 2012

    WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture Nutrition and Forestry today announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has opened general sign-up for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) from March 12-April 6, 2012. “CRP is one of the most proven conservation programs we have,” Roberts said. “I encourage folks to take advantage of this successful, voluntary program to improve soil quality while benefitting wild...

  • Senator Roberts Blasts Gensler’s Questionable Involvement in MF Global Rulemaking

    WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts today blasted Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Gary Gensler’s role in developing recommendations for new regulations and rules following the bankruptcy of MF Global. These actions have occurred  even though the CFTC’s own investigation is not complete, and despite the Chairman’s own recusal of enforcement matters pertaining to MF Global. “Once again, I find it odd and confusing that Chairman Gensler...

  • Roberts Pushes for MF Global Task Force

    WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), ranking member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, today pushed for a task force to be created to review the findings and develop recommendations from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) investigation into the MF Global bankruptcy. The request for the task force was sent in a letter this week to CFTC Commissioner Jill Sommers. “While I understand that the CFTC’s investigation into the los...

  • Roberts Seeks Additional Answers on Gensler's Role with MF Global

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) today sent a letter to Gary Gensler, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), seeking answers on the timing of his decision to recuse himself from matters related to MF Global’s bankruptcy. “Mr. Chairman, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of having a firm hand at the wheel of this nation’s regulator of the futures and swaps industry,” Roberts said in the letter. “That regulator al...