[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 150 (Monday, September 19, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E947]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     RECOGNIZING MR. CRAIG PEDERSEN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. DAVID G. VALADAO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 19, 2022

  Mr. VALADAO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the incredible 
career of Mr. Craig Pedersen and to congratulate him on his retirement.
  Mr. Pedersen has spent most of his life in Kings County. Born in 
Reno, Nevada, his family moved to Lemoore in 1962 to return to their 
family farm. While he didn't know it at the time, this would begin a 
lifelong career in the agricultural industry for Mr. Pedersen. After 
graduating from Hanford High School, Mr. Pedersen began working full 
time with the family farm in 1982 and would eventually become business 
partners with his father, Robert. Together, they formed Pedersen Farms 
in 1987.
  After many years of learning the agriculture business on his family 
farm, Mr. Pedersen began to take on leadership positions in the local 
agricultural community. He has served as the Chairman of the California 
Cotton Growers Association, the California Wheat Commission, and the 
Kings County Farm Bureau. In 1992, Mr. Pedersen accepted a multi-year 
fellowship with the California Agriculture Leadership Program, which 
allowed him to travel across North and South America to obtain an even 
better understanding of the agriculture industry. Following his 
fellowship, former California Governor Pete Wilson appointed Mr. 
Pedersen to serve a four-year term on the Central Valley Regional Water 
Quality Control Board. In 2015, Mr. Pedersen was elected to the Kings 
County Board of Supervisors, where he has continued his lifelong 
commitment to the Central Valley agricultural community.
  Mr. Pedersen has been an essential part of the Central Valley 
community for over thirty years. His work has been widely recognized 
throughout Kings County, where he has received both the California 
Agriculture Leadership Profile in Leadership Award in 2000 and the 
Kings County Agriculturalist of the Year award in 2002. I cannot think 
of a man more deserving of these recognitions than Mr. Pedersen, who 
has dedicated his entire adult life to supporting agriculture in the 
Central Valley.
  I ask all my colleagues in the United States House of Representatives 
to join me in honoring the lifelong work and achievements of Mr. Craig 
Pedersen and congratulate him on a well-deserved retirement.

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