Congressman Jim Baird, a Republican from Indiana’s 4th District, has been appointed as Ranking Member of the House Ag Committee’s Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research. Baird spoke with HAT about his new role.
“My background, Ph.D. in animal science, and connection to Purdue University, which is one of the stronger land-grant colleges, if not the strongest in my opinion, land-grant universities in the agricultural system, and my knowledge and work in research and technology, I think, will be a real asset to interpreting the kinds of things we do on that committee and the responsibilities that we have.”
You can hear more about the subcommittee in the full interview with Baird below.
Last week, Baird joined 14 of his colleagues in sending a letter to President Biden requesting that he unfreeze the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program- Additional Assistance. USDA has suspended the processing and payments until a review of the program is complete. Baird hopes that the new Secretary of Agriculture, once confirmed, will be able to move that review along quickly.
“Tom Vilsack has experience, and so I hope that he will understand how important this program is.”
When asked if he had received a response to his letter, Baird said no.
“We seem to be more involved in executive orders than we are making progress for what we need to do. We haven’t even resolved, at this point, another round of the coronavirus emergency relief. We can’t seem to come to agreement on that.”