Feb 4, 2021

Majority committee members set for Senate Agriculture Committee

As chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry for the 117th Congress, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., announced Feb. 3 the majority members of the committee.

“I am honored to once again serve as Chairwoman of the Committee at such an important time, and I’m ready to get to work,” Stabenow. said in a news release “I’m pleased to be joined by 10 colleagues on the majority side, including our new members Senators Booker, Luján, and Warnock. I look forward to partnering with Ranking Member John Boozman to continue the committee’s long history of bipartisanship.”

The majority members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry for the 117th   Congress are as followed:

Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)

Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)

Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)

Michael Bennet (D-Colo.)

Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)

Tina Smith (D-Minn.)

Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)

Cory Booker (D-N.J.)

Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.)

Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.)

Last week, Stabenow announced her agenda for the beginning of the 117th Congress.

Serving on Agriculture Committees throughout her career in the state legislature, U.S. House, and U.S. Senate Stabenow has shaped forward-thinking food and farm policy and expanded the diversity of American agriculture. She has served in a leadership role on the Senate Committee since 2011.

During her previous tenure as Chair of the Committee, Stabenow authored the 2014 Farm Bill, which made historic investments in land and water conservation, clean energy, local food systems, specialty crops, cutting-edge research, and bio-based manufacturing. She built on that success in coauthoring the 2018 Farm Bill as Ranking Member, which passed on a strong bipartisan vote of 87-13 – the most Senate votes ever. Thanks to her leadership, the Farm Bill includes the most significant climate-smart agriculture provisions to date and provides historic levels of support for all types of farmers– big and small, urban and rural. It also improves the dairy safety net, strengthens support for fruit and vegetable growers, protects land and water, expands local food economies, and invests in small towns and rural communities.

tabenow has also led successful efforts to protect and expand access to healthy foods for children, families, and seniors. Most recently, she successfully led bipartisan negotiations to increase food assistance for families and provide help for the food supply chain in the COVID-19 package passed in December.