Smith makes commitments on rural broadband, other issues

Glen Smith, President Trump’s nominee to be agriculture undersecretary for rural development, made commitments to both Republican and Democratic senators on Wednesday at his Senate Agriculture Committee confirmation hearing.

In his opening statement, Smith, a member of the board and former chairman of the Farm Credit Administration, said his first priority is to add value to raw, bulk agricultural products, followed by improving rural Internet services and increasing the housing supply.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has said she would consider transferring some U.S. Department of Agriculture divisions to other government agencies, but Smith told Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., that he agrees with her that the rural Housing Service should stay at USDA.

Smith was also asked for his views on providing child care, and he said it is important to take into consideration the fact that most rural families today are two-income and that he supports providing child care through community facilities that come under the USDA rural development mission area.

In responding to questions from Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., Smith emphasized his belief in the importance of high-speed, high-quality Internet service in rural America. He noted that when he chaired the Farm Credit Administration during the pandemic, he had trouble accessing proper service to conduct meetings from his home near Atlantic, Iowa. At another point in the hearing, he said he hated to be “repetitive” on his commitment to high-speed, high-quality Internet service, but that he realizes how important it is to rural hospitals.

When Welch told him that USDA has inadequate rural development staff in Vermont, Smith said he would need data to be able to answer that question.

Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., pressed Smith to commit to “follow the law and court orders,” and Smith said he would. Luján noted that the Trump administration canceled the program that provided for farmers to provide food to schools and the current uncertainty over providing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits in November. He also told Smith he fears that cuts to the Medicaid program will result in the closure of rural health care facilities that come under the rural development mission area.

Smith promised Ernst and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, that he would support ethanol, and promised Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., that he will help connect rural electric power to oil shale production.

After the hearing, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., told The Hagstrom Report that he hopes that Smith can be considered for confirmation by the full Senate in the next tranche of Trump nominees.

Boozman said he did not attend the breakfast that Trump held for Republican senators Wednesday morning because he was meeting with farmers and Farm Credit lenders from Arkansas.

The Associated Press and Axios reported Trump pressured the senators to end the filibuster and pass a bill to reopen the government, but that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said later there is not support to end the filibuster.