WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, Kansas’ senior senator, today announced he was selected to continue his leadership on behalf of farmers and ranchers as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. The Senate Republican Conference today ratified his selection to serve as Chairman for the 115th Congress.
Roberts will also continue his work on behalf of Kansans on trade, taxes and health care as a member of the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP). Roberts remains a senior member of the Senate Rules Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Ethics.
“I look forward to another productive year with a majority in Congress and now with a Republican administration,” said Roberts. “We have an aggressive agenda lined up – from passing a Farm Bill, to repealing and replacing Obamacare, to meaningful tax reform, reducing regulations, and much more. I have been listening to Kansans over the last eight years who feel ruled, not governed. It is time to get to work to improve the daily lives and pocketbooks of all Kansans.”
This is Roberts’ second term serving as Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. Roberts is the only Member of Congress in history to hold the titles of both Senate and House Agriculture Committee Chairman and Ranking Member.
Under his chairmanship in the 114th Congress, the Agriculture Committee held more than 25 hearings and business meetings, passing bipartisan legislation and addressing polarizing topics like child nutrition and food labeling. The Committee also passed the Agriculture Reauthorizations Act of 2015, emergency wildfire legislation and reauthorization of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Chairman Roberts protected the current Farm Bill from changes and cuts, and took action to resolve the Country-of-Origin Labeling trade dispute.
As a member of the HELP and Finance Committees, Roberts will have a significant role in the repeal and replacement of Obamacare. In the HELP Committee during the last Congress, Roberts helped pass the first education reform since 2001 – which included his legislation to stop the federal government from forcing Common Core on states. He also serves as co-chairman of the Senate Rural Health Caucus. In the Finance Committee, he introduced and helped pass legislation to provide tax relief for hardworking Americans, and will work for tax reform to get the economy back on track and increase jobs. To read more on the successes of the 114th Congress, click here.
Senator Roberts also remains chairman of the Eisenhower Memorial Commission committed to completing a memorial to President and General Dwight D. Eisenhower on the National Mall in Washington, DC.
Senator Robert is the most senior Marine in the Congress and is a co-chairman of the Senate Marine Corps Caucus.