Avian flu response cited in push for Perdue confirmation

House Agriculture Committee members are leaders requesting that the U.S. Senate quickly confirm George Ervin “Sonny” Perdue as the secretary of agriculture, citing the recent avian influenza outbreak as a key reason the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) needs a top administrator.

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Sonny Perdue | U.S. Navy
Sonny Perdue | U.S. Navy

House Agriculture Committee leaders are leaders requesting that the U.S. Senate quickly confirm George Ervin “Sonny” Perdue as the secretary of agriculture, citing the recent avian influenza outbreak as a key reason the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) needs a top administrator.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway, R-Texas, and Collin Peterson, D-Minnesota, the committee’s ranking member, on April 3 wrote to Sens. Mitch McConnell, Charles Schumer, Pat Roberts and Debbie Stabenow, about the importance of Perdue’s confirmation. McConnell, R-Kentucky, is the Senate Majority Leader; Schumer, D-New York, is the Senate Minority Leader; Roberts, R-Kansas is the Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman; and Stabenow, D-Michigan, is the Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member.

In their letter, Conaway and Peterson wrote: “Highly pathogenic avian influenza was discovered in a commercial poultry flock along the Mississippi Flyway. In the southern high plains, wildfires have burned more than two million acres, killed thousands of livestock and tragically took human life. The U.S. Department of Agriculture plays the lead role in responding to these and many other serious situations that are unfolding, and the department absolutely must have someone at the helm.

Others to support swift confirmation of Perdue

The Senate Agriculture Committee has already advanced the nomination of Perdue, a former governor of Georgia. Roberts, who recently toured the wildfire damage in the state he was elected to represent, has advocated for Perdue’s nomination. In a recent news release, Roberts stated, “Our farmers and ranchers have been waiting too long for this important position to be filled. We need to get Governor Perdue down to USDA to get to work.”

While Stabenow acknowledged she and Perdue have “some differences on policy,” she stated that she supported his nomination as agriculture secretary.

The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and the National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) on the same day expressed their support for a swift confirmation. “U.S. farmers, ranchers and agribusinesses – and the consumers we serve – need the strong, capable leadership at USDA that Gov. Perdue will provide,” the groups jointly stated.

Perdue was the last cabinet level nomination to be made by now-President Donald Trump. Perdue was nominated by Trump to fill the position on January 19, one day before Trump was inaugurated.

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