Source: Chris Scott, MEATINGPLACE, 11/5/14

The re-election of Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kans.) may make the 34-year Washington veteran the first person ever to lead the agriculture committees in both branches of Congress.

Roberts – who yesterday defeated independent candidate Greg Orman to win his fourth term in the U.S. Senate – is expected to be named head the Senate Agriculture Committee when the Republican Party takes over control of the political body in January. The 78-year-old legislator defeated Orman despite federal documents that reported that he missed nearly two-thirds of Senate Ag Committee meetings between 2000 and 2014. He had been offered to head the panel when he was elected to the Senate in 1996, but opted instead in 2003 to become chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Roberts served as chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture between January 2005 and January 2007. He also co-wrote the “Freedom to Farm Act” of 1996, which aimed to wean farmers from federal subsidies and emergency bailouts.
Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas) is expected to be named chairman of the House Agriculture Committee after being re-elected yesterday to represent the 11th District of Texas. Conaway currently is chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture’s subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management.

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