Today, Western Values Project called on the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture to press Sonny Perdue on his record during his hearing to be Secretary of Agriculture.

The Western Values Project — an organization that works to further the national conversation around public land use and conservation. – sent a letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture outlining their concerns about Mr. Perdue’s ability to serve as Secretary. The letter includes a 28-page research dossier for their review, outlining Mr. Perdue’s conflicts of interest, ethical lapses and questionable business dealings.

To read the letter, click HERE.

To view the research dossier on Perdue, click HERE.

In addition to the research provided in the letter, Western Values Project outlined tough questions hat Mr. Perdue must be asked during his hearing in order to address his record:

• As Governor, Sonny Perdue blocked the acquisition of new public land — a move that more than doubled the value of adjacent property he owned. Will he commit to ensuring that the 192 million acres of land under USDA’s control are not managed in a way that benefits him, the Trump Organization and Trump associates?
• During his time as Governor, Sonny Perdue appointed a timber industry executive to run the state’s forests and replaced a parks program with one that increased timber harvest. Will he ensure uses other than logging can happen on National Forest lands?
• Sonny Perdue ran for governor as an ethics reformer, but once in office he failed to honor his own ethics pledges. Indeed, 13 ethics complaints were filed against Perdue and the state ethics commission twice found that he had violated state ethics laws. Given his past record, how can he be taken at his word running an agency with more than 100,000 employees and a $139 billion annual budget?

Chris Saeger, Executive Director of the Western Values Project had this to say about the hearing and Governor Perdue:

“Someone who used the power of public office to sign a tax law that uniquely benefited him, oversaw a public real estate deal that doubled the price of one of his private land holdings, and violated ethics laws on numerous occasions is not qualified to lead an agency that manages vital national resources, let alone one with more than 100,000 employees and a $139 billion annual budget. We ask that our Senators ask Perdue the hard questions that Americans deserve to hear.”