[Senate Hearing 117-91]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 117-91
NOMINATION OF JANIE SIMMS HIPP,
OF ARKANSAS, TO BE GENERAL COUNSEL
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE,
NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
MAY 27, 2021
__________
Printed for the use of the
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available on http://www.govinfo.gov/
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
45-948PDF WASHINGTON : 2022
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY
DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan, Chairwoman
PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
SHERROD BROWN, Ohio MITCH McCONNELL, Kentucky
AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota
MICHAEL F. BENNET, Colorado JONI ERNST, Iowa
KIRSTEN E. GILLIBRAND, New York CINDY HYDE-SMITH, Mississippi
TINA SMITH, Minnesota ROGER MARSHALL, Kansas
RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois TOMMY TUBERVILLE, Alabama
CORY BOOKER, New Jersey CHARLES GRASSLEY, Iowa
BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico JOHN THUNE, South Dakota
RAPHAEL WARNOCK, Georgia DEB FISCHER, Nebraska
MIKE BRAUN, Indiana
Joseph A. Shultz, Majority Staff Director
Mary Beth Schultz, Majority Chief Counsel
Jessica L. Williams, Chief Clerk
Martha Scott Poindexter, Minority Staff Director
Fred J. Clark, Minority Chief Counsel
C O N T E N T S
----------
Thursday, May 27, 2021
Page
Hearing:
Nomination of Janie Simms Hipp, of Arkansas, to be General
Counsel of The Department of Agriculture....................... 1
----------
STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY SENATORS
Stabenow, Hon. Debbie, U.S. Senator from the State of Michigan... 1
Boozman, Hon. John, U.S. Senator from the State of Arkansas...... 2
WITNESSES
Hipp, Janie Simms, of Arkansas, to be General Counsel of The
Department of Agriculture...................................... 4
----------
APPENDIX
Prepared Statements:
Hipp, Janie Simms............................................ 20
Document(s) Submitted for the Record:
Stabenow, Hon. Debbie:
AIANTA, letter of support.................................... 24
Food and agriculture trade associations, letter of support... 26
Clif Bar and Company, letter of support...................... 27
Farm Credit, letter of support............................... 28
Fort Belknap Indian Community, letters of support............ 29
NACD, letter of support...................................... 62
NCTCA, letter of support..................................... 64
SAFSF, letter of support..................................... 67
Intertribal Agriculture Council, letter of support........... 69
Hipp, Janie Simms:
Committee questionnaire, Office of Government Ethics
Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure
Report and 5-day letter filed by Janie Simms Hipp.......... 75
Question and Answer:
Hipp, Janie Simms:
Written response to questions from Hon. Debbie Stabenow...... 120
Written response to questions from Hon. John Boozman......... 122
Written response to questions from Hon. Kirsten Gillibrand... 128
Written response to questions from Hon. Richard Durbin....... 130
Written response to questions from Hon. Raphael Warnock...... 131
Written response to questions from Hon. Roger Marshall, M.D.. 132
Written response to questions from Hon. Charles Grassley..... 132
Written response to questions from Hon. John Thune........... 134
NOMINATION OF JANIE SIMMS HIPP, OF ARKANSAS, TO BE GENERAL COUNSEL OF
THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
----------
THURSDAY, MAY 27, 2021
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a.m., via
Webex and in room 366, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon.
Debbie Stabenow, Chairwoman of the Committee, presiding.
Present or submitting a statement: Senators Stabenow,
Brown, Klobuchar, Gillibrand, Smith, Booker, Lujan, Warnock,
Boozman, Hoeven, Hyde-Smith, Marshall, Grassley, Thune, and
Fischer.
STATEMENT OF HON. DEBBIE STABENOW, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE
OF MICHIGAN, CHAIRWOMAN, U.S. COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE,
NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY
Chairwoman Stabenow. Good morning. I call today's hearing
of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
to order. We are here today to consider the nomination of Ms.
Janie Simms Hipp to be General Counsel at the U.S. Department
of Agriculture. In that role, Ms. Hipp's work will touch every
function of the Department. That means she will have a hand in
the implementation of the programs that make sure families have
enough to eat, kids have healthy meals in schools, farmers are
supported and have the tools they need to address the climate
crisis, and folks in small towns and rural areas can access
high-speed internet. These are issues I am passionate about,
and I know Ms. Hipp is as well.
She is no stranger to the important work she will take on,
if confirmed. She has worked with farmers and ranchers for most
of her career, experience that will be very valuable if she is
confirmed as General Counsel. She is the first General Counsel
nominee in more than 20 years to have a background this
expansive in agricultural law. She even has a master of laws in
agriculture and food law that she earned from the University of
Arkansas. That is an institution I am sure we can all agree,
but particularly our esteemed Ranking Member could agree offers
an outstanding education.
Ms. Hipp has since established herself as one of the
preeminent minds in her field. She currently serves as CEO of
the Native American Agriculture Fund, where she works with
Native American farmers and ranchers to support their continued
engagement in agriculture. Her breadth of experience would be
very valuable as General Counsel.
In the mid 1980's, Ms. Hipp worked in the Oklahoma Attorney
General's Office where she had firsthand experience helping
farmers during the national farm credit crisis. Having someone
in leadership who has counseled producers through those
stretches will be a priceless asset for the Department of
Agriculture and the people they serve. She also understands how
USDA functions and the broad range of issues it handles.
While at the Department, she worked closely on research
advancing innovation for producers as well as programs for
beginning farmers and ranchers during her time at the National
Institute of Food and Agriculture. While at the Risk Management
Administration, she helped farmers understand and access
Federal crop insurance and other risk management programs, as
part of the farm safety net.
Ms. Hipp has also taught agricultural law for years,
addressing a wide range of issues affecting agriculture,
natural resources, and rural communities.
Finally--and we could go on and on, Mr. Ranking Member.
This is a woman with a very impressive resume--finally, Ms.
Hipp is a proud citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, and from her
past experience as USDA's Director of the Office of Tribal
Relations and as Founding Director of the University of
Arkansas' Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative, her
knowledge of Native American agriculture and Tribal issues will
be invaluable. Her nearly four decades of legal experience,
most of it in agricultural law, will give her essential
insight, if confirmed as General Counsel.
Ms. Hipp has a broad range of support from groups across
agriculture and rural affairs, and I ask unanimous consent that
such letters be entered into the record, without objection.
[The letters can be found on pages 24-74 in the appendix.]
Chairwoman Stabenow. Now I would like to turn to my friend,
our distinguished Ranking Member, Senator Boozman, for his
opening remarks.
STATEMENT OF HON. SENATOR JOHN BOOZMAN, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE
STATE OF ARKANSAS
Senator Boozman. Thank you, Madam Chair, and good morning.
Along with the Chairman, Chairwoman, I am pleased to welcome
Janie Simms Hipp to the Committee as we consider her nomination
to be General Counsel at the Department of Agriculture. Ms.
Hipp, if confirmed as General Counsel, will be responsible for
providing advice and counsel directly to the Secretary and
Deputy Secretary.
In addition to overseeing the Washington, DC.-based office,
the General Counsel supervises 12 field offices within the
Office of the General Council (OGC).
Ms. Hipp currently serves as the CEO of the Native American
Agricultural Fund, created as a result of the Keepseagle
litigation settlement, with a charge to distribute the
remaining settlement funds to eligible entities to assist,
educate, and support Native American farmers and ranchers.
Ms. Hipp has a vast array of agricultural law experience,
spanning decades at USDA in several roles. She has a deep bond
to Arkansas, earning an LLM in agriculture and food law from
the University of Arkansas School of Law, and serving in
various positions at the National Center for Agricultural Law
Research and Information at the University of Arkansas School
of Law. It is truly great to see a fellow Razorback serving our
broad agricultural community with such dedication.
It is important USDA has a General Counsel who can be
relied upon by Congress and the agriculture community to
provide sound, practical, and candid legal guidance to the
Department. Aggies have many concerns these days, some of which
are a direct result of action or inaction by the Department.
For instance, I remain concerned the Administration may
force the establishment of a bank through the CCC that would
intervene in markets for environmental offsets, or pay farmers,
ranchers, and forest owners for anything carbon. Congress has
received neither details nor a legal basis for the
establishment of a bank or this type of entity, whatever we are
calling it at the current time, as the idea seems to constantly
evolve and be based on shaky legal interpretation.
I remain opposed to any effort to shoehorn the
establishment and operation of a ``carbon bank'' into the CCC
authority, and I ask the Department to communicate details
about how such a bank would work and provide comprehensive
legal justification for the establishment of a ``bank'' prior
to any such action taking place. I expect OGC and the
Department to follow the call to transparency on important
issues by providing Congress and the public with the basis of
its positions. Transparency is key to good a working
relationship with Congress, and the lack of it shown so far by
the Department is concerning, to say the least.
I hope OGC can assist USDA in releasing nearly $2 billion
in financial relief to contract poultry and livestock producers
and expediting the regulatory approval for billions more in
assistance to producers of agriculture commodities affected by
the pandemic. Using resources from the bipartisan Coronavirus
Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, better known as the
CARES Act, and the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, the
Department has access to resources to help farmers across the
country recover from COVID-19. It is vital this relief reaches
those who need it. Ms. Hipp, if confirmed, I urge you to do all
you can to assist in breaking the logjam, releasing the funds,
and expediting the regulatory review process.
Finally, I remain concerned for the future of the USDA's
new swine inspection system. Due to a court ruling, USDA will
need to reconsider this program and choose a path forward.
Their decision will impact thousands of hog farmers, so I
implore you to weigh this decision very carefully.
Before closing, I would like to mention an issue that is
really very important to a great number of members of this
Committee. Several of you have written to me and the
Chairwoman, asking the Committee to hold a hearing on livestock
and cattle market issues. I believe this is an important topic
that warrants review by the Committee, and I urge the Committee
to plan, as soon as possible, to have a hearing.
I think the livestock industry--and I was part of this
industry for many years--is in a very, very difficult situation
right now. We need to understand exactly what is going on in
that regard and begin to offer solutions. With that I yield
back.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you very much, Senator Boozman,
and I agree. We need to work together. Many members of the
Committee are concerned about what has been happening with
supply chains in the livestock industry, and we need to work
together with members of the Committee to understand and look
for solutions.
Ms. Hipp, before hearing your opening comments we have two
things that we need to address. First, I need to administer the
oath we give to all of our nominees, so please raise your right
hand. I am not seeing here on the monitor, but I am assuming
you are with us.
Ms. Hipp. Yes, I am.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Good morning.
Ms. Hipp. Good morning, Madam Chair.
Chairwoman Stabenow. All right. Please raise your right
hand. Do you swear or affirm that the testimony you are about
to provide is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth, so help you God?
Ms. Hipp. I do.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you. Second, do you agree that,
if confirmed, you will appear before any duly constituted
committee of Congress if asked to appear?
Ms. Hipp. I will.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Great. Thank you very much, and again,
welcome. I look forward to learning more about your vision and
priorities for the General Counsel's Office at the Department
of Agriculture. Your testimony will be made a part of the
record in its entirety, and you may proceed as you desire.
STATEMENT OF JANIE SIMMS HIPP, OF ARKANSAS, TO BE GENERAL
COUNSEL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Ms. Hipp. Thank you so much, Madam Chair Stabenow, and
Senator Boozman, my fellow Razorback, and members of the
Committee. I am really honored to be with you today and I am
grateful and deeply humbled by President Biden's nomination of
me to serve as General Counsel for USDA. If confirmed, I look
forward to providing legal advice to Secretary Vilsack, a
leader I deeply respect and admire. There are over 200
extremely talented lawyers at OGC, and if confirmed, I will
join thousands of dedicated and passionate career USDA
professionals across the U.S. and around the world. I look
forward, if confirmed, to rejoining their ranks.
I extend my love and appreciation to my husband, Mitch,
whose limitless support enables me to do the work I do every
day; my sons and their wives; my sister, all of my family and
friends, and my work colleagues across the U.S. I also extend
my thanks to the countless farmers, ranchers, and forest
landowners I have had the pleasure of working alongside for the
past 36 years.
As was mentioned, I am a proud citizen of the Chickasaw
Nation. My paternal grandmother was an original enrollee. I am
deeply appreciative of my Tribe's leadership and Governor
Anoatubby's vision and support for Chickasaw people. If
confirmed, I will be the first Native woman selected to serve
as General Counsel, and I know the importance of that honor.
While I have worked with Tribes for over 20 years on food
and agriculture issues, my work actually started long before
then. I grew up in far southeast Oklahoma, small, rural, remote
town of about 5,000 people. We were agriculture and forest
dependent, and what a great place to grow up.
I was raised by educators. Higher education was never an
option in our house; it was expected.
My grandfather ran a small tractor dealership--nothing
fancy. I did the payroll every Saturday and my sister and I
helped with the books every month. I grew up listening to
farmers' stories as they came by for coffee.
I worked my way through Oklahoma State and finished at OU,
spent several years in State public service, and then attended
Oklahoma City University Law School at night while working
during the day. After a short stint in private practice, I
moved to the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office during the
height of the farm financial crisis of the 1980's. Oklahoma was
hit hard. Our State's farmers and ranchers were in trouble, and
one of the casualties was in my own family. My grandfather's
tractor dealership was lost. Oklahoma had the highest rates of
farmer and rancher suicides in the country, and foreclosure
rates were through the roof.
One day, the AG asked me to attend a meeting in February,
in Minnesota, and I remember it being very cold, and while
there I met an amazing group of lawyers taking action to
support their own States' farmers and ranchers, advocating for
stemming the tide of foreclosures and getting information into
the hands of producers so their operations could be saved.
These folks are friends to this day. I am forever grateful
for their work on farmer advocacy and all that they have taught
me. I cut my teeth standing alongside farmers and ranchers
throughout this country, and through these experiences I come
to deeply understand the differences that solid, legal
resources can make in agriculture.
Eventually, as Senator Boozman says, I found my way to the
University of Arkansas to attend a new LLM in ag law programs,
staying there to teach ag law and build my own body of work.
While I consider Arkansas my permanent home, I have spent
countless hours traveling throughout the U.S. and around the
world as an ag lawyer. I held a teaching and extension
appointment in Arkansas, but my work extended well beyond her
borders. Over the years I have taught or discussed or written
about almost every section in the farm bills dating back to the
1980's.
The Chairwoman has previously talked about how my work at
USDA NIFA and after that with Secretary Vilsack, who appointed
me as his Senior Advisor for Tribal Relations, and in that
location within his office I worked across the entirety of
USDA, across a wide variety of issues impacting Tribal
governments, and then returned back to Arkansas and launched an
initiative focusing on indigenous food and agriculture, but
also then later working as CEO of the Native American Ag Fund.
I have worked with small, midsized, large producers,
processing plant owners, local food folks, urban farmers, new
and beginning farmers, socially disadvantaged farmers and
ranchers, national policy groups, foresters, farm credit--you
name it. I have worked with them all. I have also worked
alongside food distribution and anti-hunger advocates to keep
people fed. I refer to myself as a mechanic under the hood and
a practical problem-solver.
Some of my most enjoyable moments are those spent with
young folks who are passionate about food and agriculture,
because I see in their eyes that we will all be okay with them
as our new leaders. If confirmed, I am honored to work
alongside Secretary Vilsack again and to fulfill our roles
within USDA. I will work tirelessly to seek access and equity
in the conduct of USDA's programs in search for meaningful and
informed and practical solutions to the complex challenges we
face.
I will never forget where I grew up, and I will work
alongside each of you in a transparent and collaborative
manner. I will always keep our Nation's farmers and ranchers,
no matter who they are, as my guiding light and my North Star.
Thank you, and I look forward to your questions and our
important work together. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Hipp can be found on page 20
in the appendix.]
Chairwoman Stabenow. Well, thank you so much, Ms. Hipp, and
I just have to say, as someone who has been in the Senate now
for 20 years, on this Committee for 20 years, I cannot think of
someone who has come before us as a nominee that has had more
experience or breadth of experience and depth of experience
than you possess. I appreciate very much your willingness to
serve our country again in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
We are going to begin, for members' knowledge, of course, a
round five-minute questions, and let me start first saying that
given all of your extensive experience, what have you learned
from your previous positions, and how do you think those
experiences will help you as General Counsel at the USDA?
Ms. Hipp. Madam Chairwoman, I was asked this the other day
and I gave it a moment's thought and then I immediately knew
what my answer was. I learned a long time ago, particularly in
my LLM program work, that I did not go very far without a
really great agricultural economist and a wonderful ag
scientists at my elbow. I learned that because agricultural
lawyers cannot solve all of the problems and the challenges and
the opportunities that we face in agriculture. I learned a long
time ago that I need very important experts at my elbows, and
there are many of those throughout the agriculture sector.
I think also one of the most important things that I can
always do is to listen, and to listen to where people are
coming from, what is important to them, what their issues are,
and really absorb that and use that to inform us as we work
within the Office of General Counsel, doing our jobs every day.
Farmers need markets, they need clarity, they need security so
that they can keep facing the challenges that they face every
day to feed us, and I think that is probably the most important
thing I have ever learned across my entire career.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you. Well given that, what are
your priorities as General Counsel?
Ms. Hipp. Well, the first priority is to get a handle
exactly on where all of our cases stand and where all of our
challenges are, where the regulations are that are pending
before us, what issues are waiting for OGC offices to actually
do our part of the equation, which is to interpret and to
assist our clients throughout the Department. My priorities
include, first of all, getting a handle on everything that we
have in front of us.
Also, I think it is really important for us to establish a
regular mechanism so that we can communicate with the
Committee. I think that is extremely important, and throughout
my entire career in agricultural law I have never known a
circumstance when it was not valuable for OGC lawyers to be
regularly communicating with the Committee and their staff.
That is important as well.
I think getting a sense of what we have before us in the
Office of General Counsel. We have such an incredible group of
people who are so highly trained in that department, in OGC,
and I think it is really important for us to also plan for the
future and determine how we bring up new lawyers as we need to
fill the positions that might be vacated by someone who is
retiring.
When I was at USDA before there were a lot of folks who,
that is their home for 30 years or more, and we need their
expertise in the next generation of legal advisors that come
through the Department.
In terms of OGC itself, and I interpreted your question to
be that, those are my top priorities for the immediate future.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Well, thank you. Talk a little bit
more about Department morale, because over the last few years
staff morale has really dropped sharply, particularly in the
Office of General Counsel. I am very concerned about this. In
fact, in 2019 there was a survey that showed that the office
ranked 414th out of 420 subagencies for employee engagement,
and they particularly talked about concerns with the leadership
of OGC.
How would you address this? You talked a little bit about
it, but how will you focus on improving morale of the excellent
staff that are there?
Ms. Hipp. Well, Chairwoman, one of the first things that I
will do is I will sit down with not only the leadership of OGC
as it stands right now but every single one of our OGC
attorneys and staff. We need to listen to them. We need to find
out what exactly is driving the lower morale. I will work
diligently to address their needs and to boost that morale as
much as I can.
I have worked within big lawyers' offices before, I have
worked in state attorneys general offices before, where you are
surrounded by lawyers, and a lot of work gets done in those
offices. Sometimes we just need to pause and sit with each
other and determine how we can best support each other. I will
do my best to infuse a new sense of mission and purpose and
support within that office. I will honor those qualified and
extremely talented professionals, and I will hold that as one
of my top priorities, to improve the morale within OGC.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Well, thank you very much. Many
questions I could ask you, given your broad experiences and the
issues you will be involved in, but I want to adhere to my time
being up so that we can keep the Committee on schedule. I am
going to turn to Senator Boozman.
Senator Boozman. Thank you, Madam Chair, and again, we are
very grateful for your willingness to serve. You are a talented
lady that has got so much to offer, and certainly make a lot
more money in the private sector and this and that, but much of
your career has been spent in public service, and we really do
appreciate that.
During your staff interview you discussed your past
practice and speaking ``truth to power'' and your intention to
continue that practice as General Counsel. Can we count on you
to continue delivering measured legal advice to Secretary
Vilsack and the Department regarding administration policies,
and will you commit to being transparent by publishing legal
opinions on administration policy proposals, including briefing
us on those opinions?
I will say that we really do appreciate the great work of
the career staff at USDA. They have been invaluable in helping
both sides of the aisle always and giving us good technical
advice as we try and push things forward. Will you, again, as I
described, give the advice that we would like and publishing
legal opinions, et cetera?
Ms. Hipp. Senator Boozman, I promise to you that I will. I
believe in transparency. I believe in frank discussions.
Sometimes folks misinterpret the law, and you need to actually
explain exactly what the language says. Sometimes we can be a
little bit too technical. I can be technical. As a lawyer I
trained to be technical. Particularly having spent so much time
in public government service as a lawyer, I can switch that on
in a heartbeat.
It is also really important, I have found, particularly
when you are doing front-facing work with your stakeholders
that you actually speak in normal English, and that is really,
really important, I think, in terms of communicating what
exactly the Department is doing. I promise to you that I will
be transparent with you all, I will be transparent with our
stakeholders, and we will be as fastidious as we possibly can
be to reach the goals that you set forward, which is to have
that front-facing ability for not only you all and your staff,
the Department's clients itself, but also our stakeholders, to
understand where OGC is coming from and how we are interpreting
the laws before us.
Senator Boozman. Very good. We appreciate that. Let me ask
you about the National Agricultural Law Center, which you have
been an integral part of. Truly, I think it is a treasure that
congressional members and their staff rely upon to get updates
on legal matters affecting agriculture. In January 2019, USDA
and the Law Center entered into an MOU to provide a cooperative
framework for the parties to develop and maintain an unpaid
legal internship program that would facilitate the Law Center
research fellows, gaining legal experience and guidance by
USDA, OGC attorneys. All of this helped the fellows gain
educational excellence and develop legal talent in agricultural
law, which I think is a win for both the Law Center and USDA.
By all accounts it was a successful program. It expired
after two years, in January 2021. If confirmed, do you commit
to supporting the National Ag Law Center at the University of
Arkansas, during your tenure, and will you commit to executing
a fresh MOU to allow this collaborative program, which was so
successful, between this Law Center and USDA to continue to
flourish?
Ms. Hipp. Well now, Senator Boozman, you know I would be
remiss if I did not want to do that. That is my alma mater, of
course. Yes, I am happy to take a look at that, if I am
confirmed. I will also share with you too that, you know, I was
in that first four or five years of LLM ag law classes, and a
lot of my law friends in Oklahoma even were scratching their
heads and wondering what it was that I was doing. I knew I was
going in the right direction because ag needs a lot of legal
talent that is very specialized.
Since the time that the LLM program has been stood up there
have been other efforts around the country to actually focus
our minds around some of the complexities that can assist
farmers in other regions, right, to access legal explanations.
That was one of the things we did the best was to explain the
law to people.
I think it really serves us well not only to look at the Ag
Law Center and the LLM program in Arkansas but also expand our
horizons a bit, because the last thing that I would want to do
is to have a lot of OGC, wonderful, mature attorneys leave and
not have a highly qualified, very specialized team to rise up
to take their place. I think we have got a lot of opportunity
for actually encouraging more intern programs like that.
Senator Boozman. You are a good lawyer. Thank you, Madam
Chair.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you, Senator Boozman. I am now
going to call on Senator Klobuchar and then Senator Grassley
will be next. Welcome, Senator Klobuchar.
Senator Klobuchar. Well, thank you very much, Senator
Stabenow, and thank you very much, Ms. Hipp. I heard you
mention Minnesota at the beginning and how you had worked with
farmers during the farm crisis. You did say it was cold--I am
going to let that go. I will not hold that against you. Could
you tell me a little bit about that work?
Ms. Hipp. Well, first of all, Senator Klobuchar, I
mentioned it was cold because it was seared into my mind
because I did not have a proper coat, so I will never make that
mistake again.
That work was incredible. I actually was able to sit with
other assistant attorneys general from around the country, and
we were all deeply concerned about what was happening within
our States. The foreclosure rates were out of control, and the
suicide rates were high. We were grasping at what we could do,
as assistant attorneys general, to actually stem the tide.
What we found was that we were powerful working together,
helping farmers and ranchers really understanding the
complexities of restructuring their loans. This Committee
actually passed out the Ag Credit Act of 1987. All of that
happened during that time period, and we were all instrumental
in getting the word out.
I personally did work with multiple, 300- to 400-person
events with farmers in Oklahoma. I know that work was going on
in Minnesota. It was going on everywhere. I think we discount
the importance of actually having that specialized focus for
lawyers within the States, such as yours and such as mine, to
actually be there as a support system to farmers and ranchers.
What came out of that was a whole history of farm advocacy and
farm work, explanatory measures for farmers and ranchers so
they understand the laws and regulations more deeply, and
really can adjust them to their business plan.
Senator Klobuchar. Okay. Very good. Measuring the impact of
conservation practices on greenhouse gas emissions was listed
as a priority for USDA. Senator Thune and I have long worked on
legislation to strengthen conservation data management and
analysis. In your opinion, how can we get the most out of pilot
projects that measure this, and will you commit to work with us
to protect producer privacy while allowing for the delivery of
technical assistance to farmers?
Ms. Hipp. Senator Klobuchar, I will commit to you to focus
on data privacy. I know it is terribly important to farmers and
ranchers across the country. I have to admit, straight up, that
I am an agricultural data nerd, and agricultural data is
critical, not only for us to really understand food security
across our country, biodefense, and all of those other,
including conservation and climate issues. Farmers and ranchers
need good data to enhance their own productivity and enhance
their own work at the farm level. Gathering that data and
making sure it is accessible and usable to people but also that
we protect the data and that the data has privacy sitting
around it, that is terribly important.
One of my favorite agencies at the Department is NASS, so
you can tell that I really love data and I like to know as much
as I can.
Senator Klobuchar. Okay. The RFS, something else. Maybe
Senator Grassley will ask you about that. He and I have done a
lot of work on it. As you know, the EPA implements the RFS in
consultation with the Department of Energy and Agriculture. If
confirmed, will you confirm that the Department of
Agriculture's role in implementing the RFS is not overlooked or
diminished? We obviously had problems over the last four years
with that.
Ms. Hipp. Senator Klobuchar, I promise you that I will be a
big voice at interdepartmental tables. I think it is critical.
I have learned it so many times in my own career and life. I
have had opportunities to sit across the table with other
departments of the Federal Government. Sometimes the voices of
farmers and ranchers and agriculture get drowned out by other
voices, but they have not heard my voice yet.
Senator Klobuchar. Okay. I like that answer. Last, Senator
Moran and I just introduced a bill to open up the market with
Cuba, and this is a great opportunity. Obviously, 11 million
people 90 miles off our shore. We keep in place the human
rights provisions as well as the ability to make claims on
land. This has been at a standstill for the last four years. It
is a great opportunity for my State and many States.
How does your experience working on trade adjustment
assistance and risk management programs help inform your view
of USDA's role in promoting exports, not just in Cuba but
around the world?
Ms. Hipp. Well, specifically to the Trade Adjustment
Assistance Program that I was the national program leader of,
that particular program was meant to actually assist farmers
and ranchers and fishers when they were impacted, their
operations were impacted by trade, trade wrinkles, or something
that happened in the trade arena that took away that market for
them.
That program was quite effective. We did a lot of business
and market training, and there were cash payments that you all
authorized that went into the hands of the farmers and fishers
that actually participated in the TAA program.
I will tell you, that sort of technical assistance that
sits up under the farmers, specifically, that helps them adjust
and begin to quickly pivot and get into new markets, or to
adjust their operations so they can stay in the markets that
they are in, those things are really, really important, no
matter who our trading partners are.
Senator Klobuchar. Exactly. Okay. My time is up. Thank you.
I look forward to working with you.
Ms. Hipp. Thank you. I look forward to working with you
too.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you very much. As we know,
members are juggling multiple committees this morning. I
believe that we have Senator Fischer with us, so we will turn
to her. Senator Fischer.
Senator Fischer. Well, thank you, Senator Stabenow, and
thank you, Ms. Hipp, for being here today.
Ms. Hipp, both the Department of Justice and the USDA have
been looking at large meatpackers in recent years, due to the
concern about the historic spread between cattle prices and
boxed beef prices, and to see if anticompetitive activities are
occurring. If confirmed, how do you envision the USDA and DOJ
working together, both on the current investigation as well as
the ongoing oversight of beef packers, and what do you think
effective coordination would look like between the USDA and
DOJ?
Ms. Hipp. Senator Fischer, I think OGC, specifically, but
not just OGC, other departmental offices within USDA, need to
be very connected, if you will, with DOJ during this process. I
have been hearing of these issues for as long as I have been an
agricultural lawyer, and they seem to ebb and flow in terms of
spikes of concern. I believe that I am seeing a bipartisan
approach to this issue that has risen to a level I have not
seen it before.
I pledge to you all and the Committee and you that we will
be a strong voice, and we will sit down with DOJ regularly, as
we are prone to do anyway. This issue is very important. It can
be extremely technical. We have got a lot of economic analysis
and issues that sit up underneath it. It is a high issue of
mine and concern.
As you know, Tribes around the country, over half of our
market value is in livestock, so it is really an important
issue for me, personally, but it is also important for the
Department and for the entire agricultural sector. I will be on
it.
Senator Fischer. I agree with you. We are right now seeing
a huge spike in concern about this issue. I would also say that
we are seeing bipartisan momentum. You heard Ranking Member
Boozman, his comments at the beginning of this hear about a
coming together, the need that we have a hearing on the
livestock market reauthorization soon, because that will be an
opportunity where we can come together as Senators to be able
to address this. I appreciate your comments.
Right now I am actually working on legislation that would
address Federal and State enforcements efforts to address
competition problems that we are seeing. I believe that
improved tools and heightened partnership between our key
Federal agencies--USDA and DOJ--on antitrust in agriculture are
going to help to make sure that producers are not being harmed
by this anticompetitive activity we are seeing. I thank you for
that.
Mexico has announced that they would ban GMO corn by 2024.
Mexico takes a large percentage of our corn, both from Nebraska
and across the country, and this ban would be devastating.
Moreover, it is troubling to see Mexico adopting Europe's
precautionary principle as the basis for rejecting import
permits and delaying product approvals. These actions
contravene the commitments we made in the USMCA.
Could you comment on this and what you see as the OGC's
role in addressing USMCA enforcement priorities, and what would
be your understanding of the OGC's role in advising on
international trade deals?
Ms. Hipp. Well, Senator Fischer, as you know the Foreign Ag
Service is a part of our agencies within the Department. We
also have relationships with USTR, obviously, as well as any
other entity within the Federal family.
I think our role is to be fully engaged on these issues
from the get-go, and to remain fully engaged as the Department,
because we have to deal with the issues that spin off from our
trading partners taking steps that impact our landscape. I will
pledge to you that we will be aggressively involved and follow
the lead of our leadership, Secretary Vilsack, and be
concerned, and lend the appropriate backup within OGC to
whatever we need to do to bring to the table to inform the
conversation.
Senator Fischer. Great. I think it is vital to address the
enforcement priorities that were made in the USMCA, so thank
you very much. Thank you, Chairwoman.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you very much. Senator Lujan,
Ben Ray Lujan is, I believe, with us.
Senator Lujan. Good morning, Chair Stabenow, and to all the
Committee members. Thank you so much, Ms. Hipp, for being with
us today as well. I very much appreciate your willingness to
continue to serve the people of America.
I know that I speak for many of my colleagues when I say
the Federal response to PFAS contamination has been inadequate.
The communities impacted by PFAS contamination is an issue that
hits very close to home. It has harmed the livelihood of
farmers in eastern New Mexico who saw the region's groundwater
contaminated after years of firefighting drills at a nearby
Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis, New Mexico.
That is how I came to know Art Schaap at Highland Dairy.
The family farm is directly across the fence from Cannon Air
Force Base and draws its water from the aquifer shared by the
base and the dairy. Since we first learned of the PFAS
contamination at the base, all of Highland's cows have been
adulterated due to the drinking of the contaminated water, and
as a result, all milk and beef sales were condemned in October
2018. Currently, 4,000 cows are stranded on the dairy and 1,100
have died onsite.
Over the past two years, Highland Dairy participated in a
study conducted by FSIS, which determined that the cows could
not be rehabilitated. While the FSIS tests were ongoing, the
USDA provided support to the dairy indemnity payment program
known as DIP. Unfortunately, Mr. Schaap has since exceeded the
arbitrary 18-month cap under which someone can receive
assistance under the DIP program.
The New Mexico [audio interruption] USDA the authority to
purchase cows through the DIP program in last year's
consolidated appropriation bill, but unfortunately USDA has
still taken no action under this authority, and Highland Dairy
is now in dire need of assistance and will cease operations.
Now I, along with some of my colleagues of the New Mexico
delegation, sent letters to USDA on April 16th on this issue,
but we have yet to get any kind of response here. If you are
confirmed, I sincerely hope you and your colleagues at the
Department of Agriculture will prioritize this issue and that
we can work together to be able to provide the support and
relief required to the family.
Will you commit to work with me on this issue and finding
the way to ensure Highland Dairy and other ag-related
businesses impacted by PFAS contamination are not forced to
shutter?
Ms. Hipp. Senator Lujan, I pledge to sit down with you and
your staff and learn more about this issue. As you were
explaining it, my mind was immediately going to several
different agencies and program authorities that I was aware of.
I just want to make sure that we are laying things all out on
the table so that we can assist you and your constituents
properly, and I pledge to you that as soon as I get confirmed
that I would have this as a top priority, for sure.
Senator Lujan. I appreciate that, Ms. Hipp. The Air Force
did not do what they should have done, and we were told that
these additional authorities were needed. Although the
delegation disagreed with that assessment, we moved forward,
and our colleagues supported us in securing the language. I
would argue there is every tool that is required right now to
get this done, but what we need is rule promulgation so that
way we can make sure we are helping these family farms.
The second question I have, and just a point I want to
raise, is historically the Department of Agriculture has faced
charges and been found liable in court of discriminatory
practices against socially disadvantaged communities, and
unfortunately farmers and ranchers in New Mexico have directly
been impacted by these past discriminatory practices.
First, do I have your commitment to work with myself and
this committee to ensure that USDA is not only providing
equitable services and outreach but also looking for
opportunities to use existing authority to remedy and uplift
communities that have been impacted by these harmful practices?
Ms. Hipp. Yes, Senator Lujan, you have my pledge, as do all
the other Committee members, to work on these issues. I have
seen it myself, throughout the years, of structural issues that
we need to really address and do our best to put our arms
around and fix, once and for all. I have many ideas in that
area, because I have spent so much work in that space myself.
If I am confirmed, I am happy to not only work across the
Department and with Secretary Vilsack, who is very passionate
about this issue, and do whatever I can within OGC itself and
with our team of lawyers to really unpack some of the
structural problems that we know exist and really address them.
I look forward to working with all of you on that, in a very
transparent way.
Senator Lujan. Thank you, Ms. Hipp, and I do appreciate Mr.
Vilsack's attention to many of these areas. He has already
worked to help some farmers in New Mexico, in Rio Rico County,
a predominantly Hispanic community, that were really treated
unfairly under the Trump administration.
Then last, Chair Stabenow, I just want to recognize the
work that Ms. Hipp has done in the Native American Agricultural
Fund. I will submit a question to the record, but I definitely
look forward to working with you when you are confirmed, and
learning how Congress and the USDA can provide additional
support and resources to these communities.
Thank you so much, and I yield back my time.
Ms. Hipp. Thank you.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you very much, and you are
correct on her leadership in so many areas, including our last
farm bill, working very, very closely with us on Tribal issues,
and many of the successes in the 2018 Farm Bill directly
related to her counsel and input. Thank you for raising that.
Senator Marshall?
Senator Marshall. Thank you, Madam Chair, and it is
exciting to get to almost meet Ms. Simms Hipp. I thought, first
of all, I would just give you an opportunity to talk about the
advantages of Allis-Chalmers tractors.
Ms. Hipp.
[Laughter.] I knew you were going to say that, Senator. We
had a nice chat the other day about colors of tractors.
Senator Marshall. All right. Well, we are going to have to
go to a tractor pull someday at the State fair in Kansas, and
we will just settle this once and for all.
Of course, there are many serious topics to discuss today,
and one of them is just the talk around the Capitol here, is
carbon a commodity? You know, in my opinion, you are not being
paid to produce the carbon. You are being paid for the value of
the service of sequestration.
Do you have any type of a legal opinion? Is carbon a
commodity?
Ms. Hipp. Senator, at this point I am going to reserve my
answer to get back to you on that. I would love to dig deeper
into that issue. What I will say is that a lot of these
questions come up in the context of utilization of the CCC for
carbon sequestration purposes, and I think that the CCC has
some very powerful authorities to actually sit up under and
support our farmers and ranchers, and has been used for years
and years in many ways to support farm bill programs. I look
forward to digging deeper on this particular issue and getting
back with you all on the Committee as we work through this
together.
Senator Marshall. Okay. Well, thank you, and we look
forward to those discussions as well.
I am not sure if we talked about the SALE Act, which we
passed last December. You may recall my first job off the
family farm was working at our local sale barn. I started there
for minimum wage and worked my way up. Anyway, the SALE Act is
a livestock dealer trust, and I am not sure if you have had a
chance to even look at that, but I just want to make sure that
you are committed to fulfilling the USDA's role in this,
implementing guidance, and enforce the priority of unpaid
livestock sellers.
Ms. Hipp. Senator, we talked about this the other day, and
I will followup and dig deeper into the SALE Act. I did share
with you, when we visited, that I had previous experience with
trusts of that nature that are created under Federal law, in
other arenas, and they are such very powerful tools and very
effective. I look forward to digging deeper and getting back
with you and the Committee on this issue, and seeing what needs
to be done to fully implement.
Senator Marshall. Great. I want to just talk about the
price divergence issues in the cattle market, and I understand
you answered a similar question earlier, but I had to go vote
in another committee. I am going to kind of repeat probably the
same question you heard or something close to it.
Over a year ago, we asked the USDA and DOJ to study this
and come back and tell us, is there, frankly, any funny
business going on in these markets, if there is any unlawful
market behavior. I think the USDA gave us a partial answer but
really not to the extent that I was satisfied with. I just have
to tell you again, my phone is blowing up with this issue, that
my friends and family members, the people I grew up with,
families that are fifth, sixth, seventh generation cattle
people, cow-calf folks, people that do backgrounding, people
that have the small feed lots only having one buyer show up and
say, ``Here is the price. Take it or leave it.''
I am very concerned about this and just want to make sure
that if you are confirmed you will commit to providing Congress
with an immediate update onto the investigation and release the
complete findings of the investigation for industry review as
timely as possible.
Ms. Hipp. Senator, I commit to you all that I will get on
this as one of my very, very top priorities. My phone is
blowing up as well, and I just want to assure you that this is
one of the top priorities we will be working on if I am
confirmed, and I will communicate with you all regularly about
it.
Senator Marshall. Great. You mentioned in your opening
remarks living through the decade of inflation, and I remember
that too, in the 1980's. I am not sure which is worse, $2 wheat
or paying 12, 16 percent for your operation loan. I do not
think many people understand that a farmer typically, at the
start of the season, has an operation credit, and it really
depends on what the short-term interest rates are. You know, is
there any concern on your part about inflation and how it would
impact agriculture?
Ms. Hipp. Senator, this is one of the areas that I have
spent a lot of my career in, all the way back to the 1980's.
Farmers and ranchers are so sensitive to the credit markets,
and I know they are concerned, and I know that they are
concerned no matter what the situation is, because they have to
have security, they have to have flexibility.
I have discussed with many of my colleagues the importance
of being in a place, across the entire capital market sector,
that we become a bit more flexible. Farmers and ranchers need
that flexibility and need that assurance that their capital is
not going to evaporate, and it happens when there are
fluctuations.
I think this is a top priority issue for me, personally,
and I hope to bring attention through the Office of General
Counsel to these sorts of issues. They permeate the
agricultural sector and they are terribly important.
Senator Marshall. Well, thank you so much for your direct
responses. Madam Chair, I have one more question, but I will
circle back if we get a second round. Thank you.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you very much. Senator Hyde-
Smith.
Senator Hyde-Smith. Thank you, Madam Chair. Ms. Hipp, thank
you for appearing before the Committee, and I certainly enjoyed
our visit on the phone earlier this week. One of the things
that we talked about then, and I want to re-emphasize today, is
I mentioned to you regarding the Emergency Assistance for
Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program, the ELAP
program.
As I mentioned, farm-raised catfish producers are not
eligible for the death losses due to bird predation under ELAP.
Mississippi grows more catfish than any State in the Nation. We
are No. 1 in catfish production, so this is really important to
my State. ELAP is supposed to be for producers who were not
covered under any other USDA disaster assistance program such
as the Livestock Indemnity Program. Catfish producers are not
covered under any other program.
Here is a hypothetical example to help explain what catfish
producers are experiencing, and have for a long time. A large
flock of birds, cormorants, makes home on a producer's catfish
operation for sometimes two weeks, usually two weeks. The
cormorants, on average, eat about 1.5 pounds of fish per day.
That is their diet, is fish, so they obviously come to these
catfish farms. A reasonable price paid to producers is $1 per
pound. One thousand cormorants eating a pound and a half of
fish per day for 14 days amounts to 21,000 pounds of fish
eaten. With a catfish price of about $1 per pound, that is
$21,000 that they would lose just during that time, on one
pond.
To me that certainly sounds like a disaster, an emergency.
The joint explanation statements accompanying the Fiscal Year
and Fiscal Year omnibus appropriation bills direct USDA to
update its ELAP regulation so that farm-raised fish producers
are eligible for death losses due to this, because it is a
serious loss.
Can you elaborate on any legal reasons why USDA cannot, or
should not, carry out this directive that comes from Congress?
Ms. Hipp. Senator, I very much appreciate our visit the
other day about this. We commiserated quite a bit about it,
because I do live in Arkansas and we are familiar with this
issue. I also shared with you my prior experience as National
Program Leader for Risk Management and my work at RMA, so I am
passingly familiar with the whole arena of crop insurance and
disaster assistance and things of that nature.
I will commit to you that I will have this on my top five
list when I walk in the door, if confirmed, and I will get back
with you on this. I need to unpack where we are with the
regulations and see what next needs to be done.
Senator Hyde-Smith. I certainly appreciate that, and I
appreciate your commitment to the livestock producers as well,
because as the rest of us, my phone is blowing up over that. It
is just so unfair right now with the market. I certainly
appreciate that and look forward to working with you.
Ms. Hipp. I look forward to working with you too.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you very much. Now we will turn
to Senator Hoeven.
Senator Hoeven. Thank you, Madam Chair, I appreciate it,
and Ranking Member Boozman.
Ms. Hipp, the first question I have is in regard to the
Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC). We are working with our
Chairman on the whole carbon issue relative to farmers, and
getting some compensation for carbon capture. One of the issues
that has come up is whether or not that USDA could implement a
carbon bank using the CCC funds without congressional approval.
Do you believe that the CCC Charter Act gives the USDA
authority to establish a carbon bank?
Ms. Hipp. Senator Hoeven, first of all that is a really
important question. I believe that the CCC has tremendous
authorities, but I think that, you know, any time we move into
an arena where we are considering new issues that could be
addressed through the CCC, we need to work very closely with
you all on those issues, and I pledge to you we will do that.
Senator Hoeven. I will give it one more try. Do you think
the Charter Act has that authority, or do you think that it
does not and would require legislation for establishing a
carbon bank?
Ms. Hipp. I have to confess to you that I have not done the
significant amount of legal research that I feel compelled to
do to actually unpack the entirety of that question, but I
promise to you that I will and I will get back to you and we
can have a deeper discussion about it.
Senator Hoeven. Thank you. That goes to my next question
and that is, if confirmed, will you commit to improve
transparency from the OGC, including sharing legal
justifications on any decision you make?
Ms. Hipp. Yes, sir, I will.
Senator Hoeven. One of our big concerns in the ag sector is
livestock, lack of transparency in competition in the cattle
market. We have seen the negative effects of low levels of
sales and volatility it has created in the market. If
confirmed, will you commit to working with the Ag Marketing
Service to ensure rigorous enforcement of the Packers and
Stockyards Act?
Ms. Hipp. Yes, sir, I will.
Senator Hoeven. Thank you. Crop insurance. No. 1 risk
management tool for farmers is crop insurance. If confirmed,
will you ensure USDA abides by provisions in the farm bill and
rejects any cuts to crop insurance, which we wrote specifically
into the last two farm bills?
Ms. Hipp. Sir, crop insurance is one of my family homes
within USDA. It is so terribly important to all of our
producers, and I will commit to you to strongly work with you
all around crop insurance. If we do not have it, producers are
left with little to work with. We have to have strong crop
insurance.
Senator Hoeven. Yes, right on. Thank you. Sugar is hugely
important in our State--14,000 jobs, $1.8 billion annual
economic impact. Nationally, 142,000 jobs, $20 billion a year.
If confirmed, will you commit to administering sugar policy as
prescribed by the 2018 Farm Bill?
Ms. Hipp. Sir, I believe the Office of General Counsel's
responsibilities are to take the law as written, to have
reasonable interpretations of the law, and to drive through
toward completion of our responsibilities as authorized by you
all. I confirm to you that I will strongly support our
continued work in that area to that legal standard.
Senator Hoeven. That legal standard being----
Ms. Hipp. Our conformance with the law.
Senator Hoeven. Okay. Forest Service. Little Missouri
Grassland, we have got a number of grasslands. Little Missouri
National Grasslands is actually the largest--and is that in the
country or in our State?--in the country. Anyway, so we have a
number of grasslands. We work with our grazers--multiple use in
the grasslands, including our grazers.
If confirmed, will you ensure that the Forest Service
fulfills their good neighbor obligation and follows applicable
laws and regulations regarding local consultation. That is what
is so important, and I know you have run into it. Anybody that
has worked in ag has, and that is with the Federal Government
it is very important that we consult with the people on the
ground and work with the people on the ground. Will you commit
to do that?
Ms. Hipp. I will commit to do that. I have worked long and
hard with the Forest Service in my prior responsibilities, and
I believe they do a great job of doing consultation. It becomes
really a challenge when you are in the middle of fire season. I
will share with you that. They get stretched really thin. I
really love our Forest Service folks, and I think consultation
with local folks is critical.
Senator Hoeven. Thank you. I appreciate it very much.
Ms. Hipp. Thank you, sir.
Chairwoman Stabenow. Thank you very much. Having concluded
the number of Senators that have questions this morning I want
to thank you again, Ms. Hipp, for your knowledgeable answers to
all of our questions, and again, you have a big job ahead of
you, if you are confirmed as General Counsel. I am certain that
your nearly four decades of experience in agricultural law
makes you eminently qualified for this position. You have a
clear dedication to our Nation's producers and to rural
America. I have no doubt that you are uniquely equipped to meet
the moment, and you have my full support.
This concludes our hearing today. The record will remain
open until tomorrow at 5 p.m. for members to submit additional
questions or statements. With that the hearing is adjourned.
Ms. Hipp. Thank you.
[Whereupon, at 10:35 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
=======================================================================
A P P E N D I X
May 27, 2021
=======================================================================
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
=======================================================================
DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD
May 27, 2021
=======================================================================
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
=======================================================================
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
May 27, 2021
=======================================================================
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]