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I grew up in a city. My parents would think there was something wrong with America if they knew I was secretary of agriculture.

Tom Vilsack

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Tom Vilsack
Age: 74
Born: 1950
Born: December 13
Lawyer
Politician
United States Secretary Of Agriculture
Pittsburg
Pennsylvania
Thomas James Vilsack
Thomas James Tom Vilsack
Wrong
Agriculture
America
Secretary
Something
City
Would
Parents
Think
Grew
Thinking
Cities
Knew
Parent

More quotes by Tom Vilsack

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Proper school nutrition must be complemented by activities outside of the cafeteria. The decisions parents make to keep their kids healthy are critical in fighting this battle on the home front.
Tom Vilsack
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If we truly want an innovative and creative renewable fuel industry, then it needs to be challenged. And if we create a set of protections that allow it to not be as creative and innovative as possible, then we aren't doing a service to the industry or to the people of this country.
Tom Vilsack
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I can't give you a specific number today, in large part because the analysis upon which we would make that determination has not been completed. . . . I think it is fair to say there may be additional costs associated with a farming operation, but it is very difficult to quantify.
Tom Vilsack
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The future of healthcare security should include flexibility from the federal government to allow us to serve the state's most vulnerable citizens.
Tom Vilsack
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People don't understand rural America. Sixteen percent of our population is rural, but 40 percent of our military is rural. I don't believe that's because of a lack of opportunity in rural America. I believe that's because if you grow up in rural America, you know you can't just keep taking from the land. You've got to give something back.
Tom Vilsack
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It's how you make decisions that matters, and that ought to be the question that people ask of any candidate for any executive office, whether it's mayor, governor or president. How do you make decisions? Who do you want in the room helping you make those decisions?
Tom Vilsack
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The lack of access to proper nutrition is not only fueling obesity, it is leading to food insecurity and hunger among our children.
Tom Vilsack
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If I had a rain prayer or a rain dance I could do, I would do it.
Tom Vilsack
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Food during my early years was a very difficult issue for me. I grew up in an addictive family. My mother had serious problems with alcohol and prescription drugs. I was an overweight kid. I can remember back in those days there weren't the strategies that there are today to deal with those issues.
Tom Vilsack
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One out of every 12 jobs in the economy is connected in some way, shape or form to what happens on the farm.
Tom Vilsack
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To help producers serve larger institutional customers like schools and hospitals, USDA has helped fund new regional infrastructure like cold storage warehouses, commercial kitchens and local slaughter facilities.
Tom Vilsack
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More than half of America's rural counties are losing population and with it, political representation.
Tom Vilsack
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I don't think the face of the Democratic Party is Nancy Pelosi.
Tom Vilsack
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If we can get people to focus on fruits and vegetables and more healthy foods, we'll be better in terms of our healthcare situation.
Tom Vilsack
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I think people have to remember where we were in 2009. We were losing 800,000 jobs a month. We had an unemployment rate in double digits. We had poverty rates soaring. We had kids who were food insecure. Today in 2016, we have a lot less unemployment, a lot less poverty, and a lot fewer kids who are food insecure.
Tom Vilsack
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When you've paid your debt to society, you need to be reconnected and re-engaged in society.
Tom Vilsack
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There is more potential for economic growth in rural America than at any time in decades.
Tom Vilsack
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The Obama administration will continue to fight for a comprehensive immigration solution that includes AgJobs and a stable workforce for our farms.
Tom Vilsack
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We have a long tradition in this state of caring for our neighbors - it is truly an Iowa value.
Tom Vilsack
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What Republicans have done in my view is that they are systematically dismantling a sense of community in America.
Tom Vilsack