To address historical discrimination at USDA, an Equity Commission and agriculture subcommittee have been created. One of the notable members of the 15-member Equity Commission is Shirley Sherrod, who was forced to resign 12 years ago as USDA’s Georgia rural development director. Conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart released an edited version of a Sherrod speech which were taken out of context. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who also led USDA during the Obama administration, fired Sherrod at that time, but later apologized and offered her a new job. The new agriculture subcommittee includes former North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Sarah Vogel, Intertribal Agriculture Council Executive Director Kari Jo Lawrence of South Dakota and Hmong America Farmers Association co-rounder Janssen Hang of Minnesota.
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