The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“HONORING MIKE POULSON” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E311 on March 14, 2019.
The Department is primarily focused on food nutrition, with assistance programs making up 80 percent of its budget. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, said the Department implements too many regulations and restrictions and impedes the economy.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
HONORING MIKE POULSON
______
HON. CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS
of washington
in the house of representatives
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Mike Poulson's career and service to Washington's Fifth Congressional District as Senior Policy Advisor focusing on Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Mike's experience with farming extends back to his family settling in the Columbia Basin of Washington State after his father went through the very detailed process of eligibility to purchase land in the Connell area. After graduating from Connell High School, Mike enlisted in the Army National Guard because, in his words, ``he just assumed that everybody pulled a stint in the military.'' In 1965, Mike bought some farmland of his own in a unit close to his family unit and started to build his own home. In the mid 1980s, Mike was elected Vice President of the Washington State Farm Bureau, a position he took on even while farming full time.
Mike ventured outside of farming in the 1990s when he began consulting on public policy and environmental issues. Mike had a way of being able to communicate complex, and often controversial, environmental issues to the public. I had the fortune of meeting him during my time in the Washington State House and came to have a deep respect for his understanding of these issues which affected many in my district. A few short months after I was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, Mike leased out his farmland and joined my staff--
becoming the longest serving member on my team until his retirement on February 28, 2019.
Mike has many significant accomplishments in his career including: developing solutions for Columbia Basin water shortages; speaking out against the harmful impacts of the Waters of the United States regulation; combatting the recent falling numbers of our wheat and coordinating an effort to find long-term solutions with the Washington Grain Commission and Washington State University; and bringing the A to Z project to fruition on the Colville National Forest--which is a national model for restoring the health of our forests. In the words of Derek Sandison, Director for the Washington State Department of Agriculture ``Mike has the ability to sort through rhetoric around complex issues to get to the core facts and quickly get to the right side of the issues.''
I am grateful for his friendship, advice, and most importantly, service to Eastern Washington over the past 15 years. I wish Mike well in his retirement.
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