Minority News

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry, today released the following opening statement – as prepared for delivery – at the nomination hearing to consider Rostin Behnam, Brian D. Quintenz, and Dawn DeBerry Stump to serve as Commissioners of...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry, invited Michigan dairy farmer Ken Nobis, president of the Michigan Milk Producers Association, to share the perspective of the state’s dairy producers at a Senate hearing on Tuesday. The hearing...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry, today released the following opening statement – as prepared for delivery – at the hearing entitled “Commodities, Credit, and Crop Insurance: Perspectives on Risk Management Tools and...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry, today issued the following statement regarding the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations mark-up of the FY18 Agriculture Appropriation Bill: “This bipartisan bill is a win for our farmers,...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry, today issued the following statement regarding recent announcements of nominees to fill key Senate-confirmed leadership roles at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). President Donald Trump has...

   WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) urged U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to strengthen Michigan agriculture during negotiations to improve the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Agriculture is Michigan’s second largest industry, and exports of...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry, today issued the following statement regarding President Trump’s nomination of Rostin “Russ” Behnam to serve as a Commissioner of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC): "Russ Behnam...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry, today released the following opening statement – as prepared for delivery – at the hearing entitled “Opportunities in Global and Local Markets, Specialty Crops, and Organics: Perspectives for the...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry, today voted on the nomination of J. Christopher Giancarlo to serve as Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Members of the Senate Agriculture Committee favorably voted the nominee...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry, today released the following opening statement – as prepared for delivery – at the hearing entitled “Conservation and Forestry: Perspectives on the Past and Future Direction for the 2018...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry, today released the following opening statement – as prepared for delivery – at the nomination hearing to consider the nomination of J. Christopher Giancarlo to serve as Chairman of the Commodity Futures...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry, issued the following statement in response to the revised agreement to address sugar trade concerns between the United States and Mexico: "I am pleased that this revised agreement makes improvements to...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) wrote Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to request information about the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) role in the Trump Administration’s ongoing review of certain national monuments containing acreage managed by the U.S. Forest Service.  Stabenow...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry, today released the following opening statement – as prepared for delivery – at the hearing entitled “Agricultural Research: Perspectives on the Past and Future Successes for the 2018 Farm...

WASHINGTON – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley and Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) today pushed back on the Trump Administration’s plans to eliminate the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Under Secretary for Rural Development, expressing concern that the elimination of the position will hinder efforts to boost rural...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry, issued the following statement in response to the agreement in principle reached to address sugar trade concerns between the United States and Mexico: “While I appreciate Secretary Ross and...

WASHINGTON – Today, 29 U.S. Senate Democrats sent a letter to President Trump expressing strong concerns over recent actions that would have negative impacts on families in rural America. Last week, President Trump issued a budget proposal calling for drastic cuts that would undermine the important rural development mission at the U.S....

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry, today released the following opening statement – as prepared for delivery – at the hearing entitled “Examining the Farm Economy: Perspectives on Rural America.” Stabenow’s statement,...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry released the following statement in response to the Trump administration’s fiscal year 2018 budget request. The proposal guts funding from Farm Bill programs by $231 billion, on top of slashing the...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry, wrote Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt to request information about the recent dismissal of nine members of the Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC), a major scientific...