USDA chief defends undersecretary choice

Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman defended a nominee for a top position at her department against allegations he was insensitive to minorities and favored corporate farm interests, the Associated Press reported.

Veneman, speaking to reporters after a ceremony honoring former Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman Thursday, called Thomas Dorr, an Iowa farmer picked to be undersecretary for rural development, a "visionary thinker."

Dorr's nomination has been criticized by groups representing minority farmers and small- scale farming interests. At Iowa State University in 1999, Dorr observed that an economically prosperous area of his state lacked ethnic and religious diversity. He also has suggested the creation of giant farming operations in which individual farmers would work together.

The Senate Agriculture Committee has not scheduled a hearing on Dorr's nomination. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, has not taken a position on Dorr.

In a recent letter to the committee, members of the Congressional Black Caucus said they were shocked that a USDA nominee "would express the belief that ethnic diversity is an impediment to economic growth."