February 2001 - View from Washington

By Dorothy Mayes

Visions of New Ag Markets
Look for export markets and food safety to be big issues for newly appointed Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman. Her past three jobs – ag lawyer, director of agriculture for California, and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) deputy secretary, the number two slot at the agriculture department in Washington, DC – point in those directions.

Veneman, who in l99l became the first woman to be second in command at USDA, is now top banana there under another Bush administration. She had spearheaded the effort in California to elect her current boss.

In an article for the California Farm Bureau Federation “Voters Guide,” she stressed President Bush’s commitment to “prying open new markets” for ag products. She also noted his “strong agricultural and trade mantle.” Other Bush convictions: upholding private property rights and basing regulations on science, common sense, and local input.

Back in l995, when Veneman became head of California agriculture, there were those who scoffed at her lack of on-farm experience, discounting her years in USDA’s federal bureaucracy. According to an article in December l998 in the Modesto Bee, the California Farm Bureau was “disappointed” that the then new state official wasn’t a farmer. But by the time Veneman left California’s ag post, the newspaper said, California ag types were singing her praises. The California Farm Bureau head, Bill Pauli, was quoted as saying that Veneman brought the state “a new vision” on ag issues.

Veneman’s claim of agricultural roots traces back to her childhood on a Modesto peach ranch. Her GOP credentials are now rooted in two Bush administrations – and she hails from a heavyweight state both in terms of number of voters and electoral college votes.

A More Business Friendly EPA
President Bush’s head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will definitely be more business friendly than her predecessor, but don’t expect that to mean any wholesale dumping or weakening of environmental regulations. As governor of New Jersey, Christine Todd Whitman both pleased businesses and gave environmental groups some reason for hope.

As governor of New Jersey, Whitman cut the environmental protection budget by about 30 percent, abolished the state’s environmental prosecutor’s office, and according to top New Jersey businessmen, generally kept her pledge to keep the state “open for business.” But she also
fought against ocean dumping and was successful in preserving one million acres of open land in a heavily populated state.

An official statement from the Sierra Club’s national office noted that Whitman has “a mixed record” on the environment but added that “on balance,” the organization thinks it can work with her. The national group may, of course, be adopting a wait-and-see attitude, since it will have to work with Whitman. Also, folks there may be breathing a sigh of relief that Bush didn’t pick a much less environmentally friendly person.

The head of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club, however, didn’t see any reason to be diplomatic. “Whitman’s appointment is a Christ-mas gift to America’s polluters,” said Jeff Tittle. (Bush tapped her for EPA just prior to Christmas Day.) “People think she’s a moderate because she’s pro-choice [on abortion]. But she’s taken a hard-right approach on the issues she’ll see at EPA.”

The New Jersey Business and Industry Association head Chris Biddle praised Whitman, saying, “She’s stopped treating businesses like felons.” Whitman, he added, had gotten rid of “a lot of those hoops and hurdles” that stymie business.

Note: Whitman says that former President Teddy Roosevelt is her environmental role model. Roosevelt was known for his big game hunting expeditions and love of the outdoors. Roosevelt, said Whitman, “understood the necessity of striking the right balance between competing interests for the good of all Americans.”

At the press conference announcing her nomination, Whitman pointed out that she grew up on, and still lives on, a family farm.

Dollar-Conscious Budget Man
Another White House pick that will have a big impact on agribusiness: Office of Management and Budget Director Mitchell Daniels Jr. Daniels is the protégé of Indiana Senator Richard Lugar, a long-time advocate for agriculture on Capitol Hill and former chair of the powerful Foreign Relations Committee.

Daniels came to Washington as Lugar’s administrative assistant and went on to become President Reagan’s political director from l985 to 1987. He then returned to Indiana and headed the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank, and joined a law firm. He then went to the pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co., where he was a corporate v.p. for the past 13 years – mainly directing the company’s government relations.

A fellow lawyer who has known Daniels for 30 years, Dan Evans, said that the one standout personality trait of Daniels is “parsimony.” He went on to explain: “No one is more focused than Mitch when there’s a dollar on the table.”

Daniels will face the challenge of how to carry out Bush’s across-the-board tax cuts while boosting defense spending, yet funding domestic programs that follow his boss’ “compassionate conservatism.”

A 50/50 Split
Don’t expect any Republican senators from states with a Democratic governor to leave Capitol Hill to join administrative ranks or for any other voluntary reason. If they did, the Senate would tilt to a Democratic majority. Currently, there is the same number of Republicans as Democrats in the chamber. Vice President Cheney will be the one who would break any tie votes, giving Republicans a slight upper hand.

Briefly:
• President Bush will receive a $400,000 salary from taxpayers this year – twice that of his predecessor Bill Clinton. The raise, the first since l969, was voted by Congress. It’s only the fifth time presidential pay has been raised. George Washington made $25,000, a right handsome sum in l789.

• With bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or “mad cow” disease, spreading in Europe, USDA has banned all rendered animal protein products imported from the continent. Previously, rendered products from only ruminants had been prohibited from entering the United States. The European Union has itself banned most all animal products in feed at least until June.