Five questions with Bill Hawks
Under Secretary of Marketing and Regulatory Services
United States Department of Agriculture

In 2001, the U.S. Senate confirmed Hawks’ appointment as Under Secretary of Marketing and Regulatory Services, United States Department of Agriculture, for the administration of President George W. Bush. He oversees and directs three regulatory agencies including Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Agricultural Marketing Service and Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration.

Bill Hawks was born November 22, 1944, near Oxford. In 1969 he married Diane Allen, and they have two children: Jennifer Hawks and Thomas Allen Hawks. He attained both a Bachelor of Science and Masters Degree in Agricultural Economics from Mississippi State University.

Bill Hawks actively farmed from 1970 until 2001 when he accepted his current position at USDA. He raised soybeans, double crop winter wheat and corn. In December of 1994, Bill was elected to the Mississippi State Senate, representing his native DeSoto County. During his five years in the Mississippi Senate, Bill was a leader on the committees with jurisdiction over agriculture and the environment.

1. What is a typical day like for you at USDA?
My typical day is usually traveling across the U.S. visiting with farmers, ranchers, and other government officials, informing them of the latest USDA policies and learning from them how government actions, or inaction, effect their livelihood and health. There are occasions when I travel to foreign countries to meet with respective government officials on issues affecting trade of various agricultural products. When I’m in the office, my day usually begins bright and early between 6:30 and 7 a.m. My meetings with USDA colleagues and various constituents begin at 7:30 and go throughout the day. Oftentimes I’m called upon by members of the U.S. House and Senate to participate in briefings or hearings on the issues that come under my authority. On lighter scheduled days, I can usually find 5 minutes for lunch.

2. Would you consider running for office in Mississippi again?
Yes, without question. I am excited about serving others and enthusiastically encourage each and everyone to consider public service at some time in their life. Again, I am humbled and proud to serve America’s farmers, ranchers and President Bush however, Mississippi is home to me. If the appropriate conditions occurred I would certainly be open to seeking public office.

3. What are the biggest issues on your plate?
Today there are many big issues that are being addressed by my team in Marketing and Regulatory Services that are crucial for the agriculture industry both in the U.S. and abroad. There is no particular order of importance to the issues as we strive every day to equitably allocate resources to eventually resolve them. Some of the issues include: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) “mad cow disease,” Avian Influenza (AI), Sudden Oak Death, Soybean Rust Disease, Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) and many sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) trade issues.

On BSE, we are enhancing our surveillance program to test as many animals as possible in what we refer to as the “target or high risk” population—meaning that if the disease is in the United States, this would be the group of animals that would most likely have the disease.

$13.7 million has been transferred from USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to address avian influenza (AI). Part of the funding, $10.8 million, will be used to develop a national low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) control and prevention program.
Also, $15.5 million was transferred from USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) to APHIS to help stop the spread of Sudden Oak Death to non-infested areas of the United States. These funds will enhance our efforts to control Sudden Oak Death that has already killed a large number of oak and tanoak trees. APHIS officials will apply the funding to nursery inspection, sampling and testing and sudden oak death education and outreach. To date, more than 100 nurseries in 13 states received infected plants from one nursery in southern California.

National and international scientists and researchers, including USDA experts, agree soybean rust will most likely be introduced into the United States by natural means through airborne spore dispersal. APHIS is working to delay the human–assisted introduction of the disease through its safeguarding program. We are also focusing our efforts on protection, detection, response, and recovery. Education, outreach and training has been conducted with the help of many in the industry, and inspection of soybean commodities is conducted at ports of entry by the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection officers.

Earlier this year President Bush signed into law legislation that delays the implementation of mandatory COOL for all commodities except wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish until September 2006. During the rulemaking process, USDA received over 5,000 comments, the majority of which related to the designation of fish and shellfish as either wild or farm-raised, the definition of a processed food item, and the recordkeeping requirements for both retailers and suppliers. USDA is evaluating all of the comments received and will address these comments in the final rule. Agricultural Marketing Service expects to publish the final rule in the next few months to provide affected parties with as much time as possible to make the necessary adjustments to comply with the law.
USDA already heavily emphasizes resolving SPS issues, but Marketing and Regulatory Programs is taking greater strides to find ways to help resolve these issues for enhancing agricultural exports. We are deploying more resources overseas and expanding domestic
rotations of APHIS attaches so that when an issue arises overseas our officials are on the scene to assist in resolving those issues.

We are also constantly developing coalitions that support scientific standards upon which sanitary and phytosanitary issues can be more easily resolved. Working to enhance U.S. agriculture and protect our food supply is a responsibility that I undertake passionately for the Bush Administration. USDA employs many bright people from across the world and I am humbled and proud to represent my home state of Mississippi. Whether it’s improving locks and dams on the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers to provide efficient transportation of our nation’s commodities, or opening up foreign markets for beef, dairy and fruits and vegetables, I strive to consider what would be the best for farmers in Mississippi and the nation when making policy decisions.

4. What is the future of agriculture in Mississippi?
The national outlook for Agriculture looks good and is showing growth in jobs and income for farmers. So I think the same holds true for Mississippi. If you recall, just after President Bush signed the Farm Bill in May 2002, the price of corn was under $2 per bushel, soybeans were under $5 per bushel and cotton was selling for 35 cents per pound. The farm economy had been weak for so long, beginning with the 1998 crops, many were suggesting that those prices might be the norm for the future.

The story is quite different today thanks to sound economic decisions by President Bush. The U.S. agricultural economy has sharply rebounded. According to USDA’s Chief Economist, the index of prices received by farmers in April of this year was the highest for any month since USDA started keeping records in 1910. Prices continued strengthening even while U.S. crop harvests were good in 2003 and disruptions in livestock and poultry trade caused by BSE and Avian Influenza. With good harvests and strong prices, U.S. net cash income surged to a record high in 2003 and producers are having another strong year in 2004.

As the economic outlook for the country continues to improve, so does the agriculture outlook. This is good news for Mississippi farmers.

5. Do your regulatory programs play a role in the War on Terrorism?
Yes. Preventing the potential introduction of bioterrorism through pest and disease is critical to our Nation’s food supply. This is a top priority of the Bush Administration. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, (APHIS) is responsible for safeguarding U.S. agriculture from unintentional and intentional introductions of plant and animal pests and diseases. To accomplish this mission, APHIS has a safeguarding system in place to prevent introductions of foreign animal diseases, as well as response mechanisms to quickly contain and eradicate such introductions.

USDA has made significant progress in enhancing our safeguarding system to improve agricultural biosecurity nationwide. We have taken steps to increase our network of partners and better share information with cooperators by proactively communicating with stakeholders such as the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, the North American Plant Protection Organization, the National Institute for Animal Agriculture, the United States Animal Health Association, university systems, and county extension agents.

In the event of an agro–terror attack, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and APHIS will partner to safeguard America’s food and agricultural resources. DHS will lead the team of first responders to contain and manage the threat while APHIS provides crucial scientific and diagnostic expertise.

APHIS monitors pests and diseases overseas in order to determine their possible risk to U.S. agriculture. APHIS currently has 64 Foreign Service Officials stationed in 27 countries on six continents; these officials are working closely with their foreign counterparts to collect this information and provide data needed to focus APHIS’ safeguarding efforts effectively on high-risk pathways. We also have officials from APHIS stationed in Afghanistan and will soon be deploying officials to Iraq.

In June 2002, President Bush signed into law the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 (the Bioterrorism Act). This Act enhances inspections at U.S. ports, gives U.S. officials better tools to prevent and contain attacks on our food supply, and provides new authority to track and control biological agents and toxins.

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