Bush Visits USDA

The president doesn’t get to visit all the different departments of the federal government as often as he would like, so it was a pleasure for him to drop in at the US Department of Agriculture this week for the swearing in ceremony of Ed Schafer as new ag secretary.

“The roots of this Department stretch back to the presidency of Abraham Lincoln,” Bush told the assembled USDA employees, cabinet members and congressional representatives. “In 1862, President Lincoln established the first federal agency devoted to agriculture — and he called it “the people’s department.” Nearly a century-and-a-half later, the USDA can still be called “the people’s department.” With your nutrition programs and support for farmers and ranchers, you help ensure that our people are healthy and well fed. With your food safety measures, you give peace of mind to families across America. And with your conservation efforts, you help preserve our natural resources.”

Bush outlined his priorities for agriculture in his last year as president with Ed Schafer as secretary, saying “We will work to make our strong agriculture sector even stronger.”

That includes improving trade and increasing use of energy from agriculture.

“We recognize that farmers also have the potential to help our nation solve one of its greatest challenges — and that is our dependence on foreign oil. I’d much rather our farmers be growing energy than trying to buy from other parts of the world. So we will continue to work for renewable fuels — including a new generation of ethanol and biodiesel.”

Bush also talked about the importance of getting a good farm bill passed “a bill that spends the people’s money wisely, doesn’t raise taxes, reforms and tightens subsidy payments” and threatened to veto any bill that does not meet those qualifications.

Read remarks from Bush and Schafer here.