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“THE NOMINATION OF DAN GLICKMAN” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the Senate section on pages S4839-S4840 on March 30, 1995.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE NOMINATION OF DAN GLICKMAN
Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, in a few moments we will be voting on confirmation of Dan Glickman to be Secretary of Agriculture. I compliment the President on his nomination for that position. I think that former Congressman Glickman is preeminently well qualified for that position.
I would like to say that I have known Dan Glickman since before he was born because we come from the same town, Wichita, KS. Actually we come from a number of towns; Wichita, KS and Philadelphia, PA. But at various times in my life I have lived in those places, and lived in Wichita. The Specter family and the Glickman family were friends for many, many years. In fact, my father, Harry Specter, was a business associate of Dan Glickman's grandfather, J. Glickman. Maybe that is too high an elevation. Actually, my father borrowed $500 from J. Glickman in about 1936 or 1937 at the start of a junk business. In those days my dad would buy junk in the oil fields of Kansas and ship them in boxcars, and ship them through Glickman Iron and Metal. And J. Glickman got the override on the tonnage. So our family relationship goes back many, many years.
My family left Wichita in 1942, a couple of years before Dan Glickman was born. So that I like to say that I have known Dan since before he was born. But I have certainly have known him for his entire lifetime. I have a very, very high regard for him.
[[Page S4840]] He had a very, very outstanding record as a Member of the House of Representatives from Wichita, KS. He has a very thorough grasp of the agriculture community and farm problems in America; a background that I share to some extent. Russell and Wichita and all of Kansas are in the wheat country, and as a teenager I drove a tractor in the farmland. It is quite an experience to drive a tractor in the harvest, round and round knocking down grain; pulling a combine, again, again, and again. It is a great incentive to become a lawyer, which I did after moving out of Kansas.
But beyond his professional qualifications and his experience, Dan Glickman is a great human being, compassionate, understanding, and will really be able to work with the problems of the American agriculture industry.
Still I think he has a keen eye for budget deficits and cost reductions to fit into the trend of the times as we try to move to balance the Federal budget for the target year 2002.
So I do not know that my colleagues will need too much urging because Dan has such an outstanding record and an outstanding reputation. But I wanted to add these few words in support of his nomination for Secretary of Agriculture.
I thank the Chair. I yield the floor.
Mr. FAIRCLOTH addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair recognizes the Senator from North Carolina.
Mr. FAIRCLOTH. Mr. President, I rise to support the nomination of Dan Glickman. I could not help but notice the Senator from Pennsylvania saying that he was driving a tractor and that encouraged him to become a lawyer. Well, I failed to become a lawyer.
But I rise to support the nomination of Dan Glickman as Secretary of Agriculture.
As the distinguished majority leader has indicated, Dan Glickman has an outstanding record on agricultural issues and I am certain that he will serve this Nation well as its Secretary of Agriculture.
As Secretary, I am optimistic that Mr. Glickman will take an even-
handed approach to agricultural regulations. Recently, legislation has been introduced which is intended to provide special treatment for a limited class of poultry producers. I am referring to S. 600--the so-
called Truth in Poultry Labeling Act of 1995. It is anything but truth in labeling.
This legislation is just one example of the pressures which may be brought to bear on the Department of Agriculture during Mr. Glickman's tenure as Secretary.
I am hopeful that he will not yield to special interests seeking preferential market treatment under the guise of antifraud legislation. If successful, S. 600 would result in significant economic harm to poultry producers across the Nation--so that a limited class of local producers could achieve market dominance.
I hope that as Secretary, Mr. Glickman will send a clear signal that such tactics have no place in the rulemaking procedures of the Department of Agriculture under his leadership or at any other time.
Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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