[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 138 (Tuesday, October 6, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1915-E1916]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      TRIBUTE TO DEPUTY SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE RICHARD ROMINGER

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                             HON. VIC FAZIO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 6, 1998

  Mr. FAZIO of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 
a true friend, a dedicated public servant, and one of our nation's 
leading agricultural policy-makers, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture 
Richard Rominger. Rich is also one of my constituents and a long-time 
Yolo County farmer. As I prepare to leave office at the end of this 
Congress, I am confident that the interests of the American farmer will 
be well protected with Rich Rominger in Washington, D.C.
  Rich has had a long and distinguished career in the field of 
agriculture, beginning with the family farm. The Romingers have been 
farming in the Winters, California area for nearly 140 years. He is a 
true California farmer who, along with his brother, sons, and nephews, 
has raised alfalfa, beans, corn, tomatoes, rice, safflower, sunflowers, 
wheat, and numerous other crops for consumption and export. Rich took 
this expertise to Sacramento in 1977 where he headed the Department of 
Food and Agriculture under Governor Brown. During that period, he also 
served as the president of the Western Association of State Departments 
of Agriculture and the Western U.S. Agricultural Trade Association. He 
was also on the board of directors for the National Association of 
State Departments of Agriculture.
  Throughout his career, Rich has received various awards from groups 
too numerous to mention here. Suffice it to say, they have all been 
extremely well-deserved. I am proud of my long and productive 
relationship with Rich. We have both toiled on behalf of ag issues and 
the farmers of northern California, he more literally than I, for over 
twenty years. From the Farm Bill of 1996, to expanding overseas markets 
to addressing critical agricultural research needs, Rich Rominger has 
been, and will remain, a leader on issues related to the health of our 
nation's farms and ranches.
  His work on behalf of farmland preservation also deserves praise. As 
a past board member of the American Farmland Trust and now as deputy 
secretary, Rich has devoted a considerable amount of time to efforts 
which seek to preserve valuable farmland, particularly in California's 
Central Valley. This work will protect California's food production as 
well as an important part of our agricultural heritage.
  I am proud to have worked with Rich Rominger throughout my career in 
Congress.

[[Page E1916]]

He is a true gentleman, and I salute him for his many accomplishments 
and hard work on behalf of American agriculture.

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