Senator Marshall to Secretary of Agriculture Nominee, Brooke Rollins: Defending American Agriculture

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. voted in support of President Trump’s Secretary of Agriculture Nominee, Brooke Rollins, in her Senate Agriculture Committee confirmation hearing.

In the hearing, Senator Marshall discussed Brooke’s life-long passion for agriculture and her extensive professional experience in the White House and domestic policy. Having grown up on a farm in a small town, Brooke’s love for agriculture started at a young age, participating in Future Farmers of America, 4H, and earning her agriculture degree from Texas A&M. Brooke shared her heart for America’s farmers and ranchers, and her commitment to defending our food producers and rural Americans’ way of life. 

Having served as the acting director of President Trump’s Domestic Policy Council at the end of his first administration, Brooke shared how she will put America’s farmers and ranchers first by peeling back regulations and addressing important issues such as 45Z and biofuels. 

You may click HERE or on the image above to watch Senator Marshall’s full remarks.

Highlights from Agriculture Secretary Nominee Brooke Rollins’ Hearing Include: 

On Brooke Rollins’ Background and Her Belief in the Importance of Agriculture:

“The fact that I’m sitting here today, that I am in the United States Capitol, that I’m sitting in front of this committee, that I am serving at the appointment of the President of the United States as one of his potential Cabinet members – but yet, I grew up in a town of 1200 with a single mom with two little sisters, went to Texas A&M on an agriculture scholarship because of my love, but also we needed the money. Future Farmers of America is the organization that set my path so many years ago.”

“I am fighting for the next Brooke, who is growing up in a little bitty town with a single mom, that her weekends are spent on horses and raising cattle and barrel racing and at Friday night football…and making sure that those communities continue to raise and provide thriving and incredible opportunities for the next generation of leaders so that this country can continue in the next 250 years to do what we’ve done in the last 250 – and that is to create and govern under our founders vision of the greatest country in the history of the world. And this work, and this committee, and this moment in time, is the backbone to all of that.” 

On President Trump’s compassion and support for farmers and ranchers: 

“Any time in any senior staff meetings, or anytime we were in the Oval Office and these issues would come up, he would always point to me and say, where are we on that? And it was so clear to me that that is where his heart is.”

“I’ll never forget a Cabinet meeting where we were having a discussion about some big corporate entity who had asked for a very large sum in the millions of dollars for a project. And that same week he had been asked for that project, he’d also visited some farmers in Georgia…he looked at the entire cabinet, and then turned, you know, over his shoulder, and looked at us, who were sitting behind him as a senior team, and he said, ‘I’m not here for those guys who are asking for billions of dollars for their new project and their market value is many, many billions and billions more. I’m here for those farmers. I am here for those men and women that I met in Georgia yesterday who are hurting but never complain, never miss a beat, never stop doing what they’re called to do, which is to produce for the families across America and across the world. That is who I am here, and we all,’ pointing to the cabinet and the staff, ‘are here to serve.’”

On the importance of biofuels and 45Z to farmers and ranchers: 

“I think that everyone knows where the President is on this, and he often jokes that there were a lot of meetings…I believe that in the last 48 hours, one of his executive orders on energy actually included a mention of biofuels. And also, my role, if confirmed, is to defend all of American agriculture.”

“I believe, Senator, that you and others who hail from the states where this is a driver for your farmers and your ranchers and your economy, should feel very confident that you have a friend and a defender in this current administration to make sure this continues. 45Z obviously – my friend Scott Besson, if confirmed over in the Treasury, will be working on that, that’s in his purview, but I will ensure that he has the data and the voices and the opinions around him to make the right decision.”

On Brooke Rollins’ involvement in peeling back WOTUS regulations in the first Trump Administration for America’s farmers:  

“I do have extensive experience in many of these regulatory programs that in the last administration we worked to roll back, but also to align better for the needs of our ag communities, and ensure that the Waters of the United States rule did not put more farmers out of business. Same with the Endangered Species Act, I know that that’s also a big issue in our forestry lane as well…My policy heart is very happy at the opportunity to make those better, to understand the harm and follow the data on it and work with all of you to try to solve that for the next four years.”