Tom Vilsack
Secretary of Agriculture
Thomas James Vilsack was born in December 1950 in a Roman Catholic orphanage in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was adopted early the next year. He earned an undergraduate degree from Hamilton College and a Juris Doctor from Albany Law School.
He served six years as Mayor of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and six more years as a member of the Iowa Senate. For the following eight years, he served as the governor of Iowa.
Vilsack was nominated by President Barack Obama to be the Secretary of Agriculture. He was confirmed by the unanimous consent of the Senate and assumed office in January 2009. After his full-term tenure expired, he became president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council.
He was nominated by President Joe Biden to be Secretary of Agriculture and was confirmed by the Senate. He assumed office in February 2021.
Vilsack is married to Christie Bell, and they have two sons.
In the News…
At the annual PowerXchange meeting, organized by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that 39 rural energy projects have been selected to receive $2.2 billion in grants. The funding is intended to connect around 2 million rural residents to a reliable source of electricity, providing updates to local energy infrastructure. Five clean energy projects were also awarded $129 million to install clean energy solutions within rural power grids.
Secretary Tom Vilsack said, “Rural electric cooperatives are the backbone of America’s power delivery.”
When asked about U.S. farmland being covered with solar panels and wind turbines, he said, “We know that there are some concerns out there about whether renewable energy will overtake prime farmland,” adding, “We’re obviously encouraging use of non-prime farmland for purposes of renewable energy,”
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Secretary Vilsack today? You can let him know at:
The Honorable Tom Vilsack, Secretary
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1280 Maryland Ave SW
Washington, DC 20250
