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“TRIBUTE TO STEVE BEASLEY” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the Senate section on pages S140 on Jan. 24, 2005.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO STEVE BEASLEY
Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President. I rise today to say a few words of thanks to Steve Beasley, an outstanding agriculture economist at USDA who recently completed a year-long fellowship on the Senate Finance Committee. Steve's service to the committee, and by extension to the State of Montana, will be remembered fondly and with great appreciation.
A year ago I was able to snag Steve away from his job at the Foreign Agriculture Service at the Department of Agriculture. He brought to us years of experience in foreign market development and capacity-
building. During his time with the committee, his expertise proved invaluable as he worked on calculating the effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement on Montana agricultural products, analyzing the effect of agricultural trade liberalization on crop prices over the past few years, as well as helping prepare me for trade missions to Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, and Thailand.
Half of my State's economy is based on agriculture, and the work Steve did for us will serve us for the next several years as we examine the effects of trade on our economy's largest sector. I am sad to see him go, but I know the USDA is eager to get him back. I thank him for his hard work over this past year, and I wish him all the luck in the future.
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