Illinois Agricultural Leadership Program Class of 2014 poses in front of the White House.
From Washington, DC; Thursday, March 14, 2013
By Julie Gerdes, Spencer Janssen, and Rodney Phelps
Our day started with a short walk to the White House. The weather was cool and brisk but had a bright sunrise. The class had a group picture taken in front of the White House. From there, we took a brief coffee break before using public transportation to get to the Hill for our morning’s activities.
Capitol Hill
When we arrived at the Capitol, we were able to tour the Capitol with interns from the offices of Congressman Schock and Congressman Davis. The tour was a great hands on look at the history of our nation and how we used to operate and how the laws are governed today. After the tour we had the honor of meeting with Congressman Rodney Davis. Congressman Davis was very open and approachable to us on the current status of the government and where he felt the sitting congress may end on the Farm Bill and other topics that are to be debated.
As we had a full day planned, we supported the DC cab companies and headed to Hogan Lovells Law office for our afternoon session. We were greeted with great cookies and soft drinks.
Industry Perspective on Policy
Our first afternoon speaker was Ambassador Clayton Yeutter, Senior Advisor with Hogan Lovells. Mr. Yeutter spoke with us on the trade talks that are currently being discussed. The biggest agreement that Mr. Yeutter had great input on was TPP: the Trans Pacific Partnership. Mr. Yeutter felt that this trade agreement was very pivotal win for the US and the participating countries.
As Mr. Yeutter closed his remarks, we reset our room and had a very engaging presentation from Mr. Josh Balk , Director of Corporate Policy, Farm Animal Protection of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). Josh presented the HSUS stance on several topics that we have been seeing in the news media and in print. As we all have our opinions on the HSUS, Mr. Balk gave us some very good information and sources to read for the background of the animal welfare initiatives that Mr. Balk referred to in his presentation.
Emily Meredith with Animal Agriculture Alliance followed the HSUS with her Alliance position on the Animal Agriculture issue in the US. The Alliance has a very robust advertising and training campaign to educate the public on the animal industry. Emily was very dynamic and had differing views from HSUS.
Our final speakers of the trip were Audrey Adamson of the National Pork Producers Council and Colin Woodall of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. These two informed us of many of the issues pertaining to the livestock industry, including the negative press that has surrounded these organizations. Audrey and Colin are fighting for the animal issues on Capitol Hill so that our livestock industries can thrive in America as well as other countries.
For our last night in D.C., IALP had dinner with Missouri’s ag leadership program (ALOT) at Trattoria Alberto in the Eastern Market neighborhood. We enjoyed discussion regarding our programs and what we’d been hearing from speakers all week. Following dinner, the IALP Class of 2014 embarked on an evening tour of the monuments together. It was a great way to cap our week in the Nation’s Capitol.
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