Perdue says he will advocate for agriculture spending

Former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue (R), President Trump’s choice to lead the Agriculture Department, said Thursday he will be a strong advocate for federal spending that supports U.S. farmers amid a budget proposal that may slash a wide swath of programs. 

Perdue said that while he had no input into the White House’s budget proposal released last week, he vowed to dig into the numbers and ensure that the nation’s agriculture community gets the funding it needs.

If confirmed, Perdue said he “will get under the boards” and work for “agriculture consumers and producers to let this administration and any of the people making those decisions in that budget area know what’s important to America.” 

{mosads}He told Sen. Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), the top Democrat on the Agriculture Committee, that he recognizes the importance of the programs at the heart of her concerns and said he would “do everything within my power within the confines of the administration to match what our desires are.”

“These are important programs,” Perdue said. “I think the president understands that many of his votes came from the areas that you referred to.”

Stabenow said the White House’s budget released last week would have “devastating” effects on agriculture, which is already under tight fiscal constraints.

She said that so far the Trump administration has made it “clear that rural America has been an afterthought.”

“Rural America is the economic background of our country, and it’s too true that small towns are continuing to struggle to recover from the recession,” she said.

Trump has proposed a budget cutting the Agriculture Department’s funding by 21 percent — a cut of $4.7 billion to $17.9 billion, the third-largest cut to any federal agency.

“It’s clear the president has focused on making things, which I appreciate in Michigan, but now growing things, which is equally important,” Stabenow said. 

“So when we look at a 21 percent cut in the budget, it’s extremely concerning to me and to so many of us that care about small towns,” she said.

She asked Perdue a series of questions about programs that are either a target for elimination or for deep cuts in the Trump budget proposal.

Perdue said he supported rural access to clean water, health centers, the latest agricultural research and capital as well as programs for organic farmers and those that feed seniors and children.

“I indicate all this because these are some of the areas that have been zeroed out like rural water or have taken severe cuts in the budget, which are deeply concerning,” Stabenow said.