Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, has announced he will take over the chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), filling the spot left vacated by deceased Sen. Ted Kennedy. The next senior member likely to succeed Harkin is Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas.
Harkin said he will remain a member of the Agriculture Committee, a committee he has been on since he first joined the Senate in 1985. "My dedication to the Agriculture Committee dates back to my first year in Congress when I served on the House Agriculture Committee in 1975. In that time, I have had the great privilege of serving as Chairman of the Senate Committee during enactment of the 2002 and 2007 farm bills – bipartisan legislation that passed this body by an overwhelming majority," Harkin said.
Harkin said it is because of these bills that support for renewable energy and support for farm income grew exponentially, acres and acres of lands have been preserved through conservation efforts, rural developments efforts grew to help small towns that Americans have access to more fruits and vegetables and food assistance is covered for American families who need it.
Lincoln has been a member of the Senate Ag Committee since 1999 where she played a strong leadership role during the debate on the 2008 Farm Bill. She has been an advocate of investments in renewable energy, conservation and farm programs that benefit production agriculture and rural America.
Policy is one of the most important issues facing farmers today, but often the most difficult to digest. Jacqui Fatka has a passion to decode the often difficult world of agricultural policy into terms understandable for today's ag players.
Fatka joined the Farm Progress team as E-Content Editor in August 2003 after graduating from Iowa State University. Prior to full-time employment with Farm Progress, she interned at Wallaces Farmer magazine, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley's press office and the Iowa Pork Producers Association and freelanced for National Hog Farmer. She also worked as a public relations consultant with Iowa Industries for the Future, an effort to bring together major players in the biorenewables industry.
Currently Fatka is a staff editor at a sister publication, Feedstuffs. For Farm Futures she regularly tells the story of ongoing agricultural policy changes. Her byline can also be found on management profiles.
Fatka grew up on a grain and livestock farm near Atlantic, Iowa. She currently lives in central Ohio with her husband Eric.
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