Secretary Perdue Makes Religious Liberty a Priority in USDA Office
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perude has announced that religious liberty and freedom of speech are a priority in the office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Perdue’s office issued a statement earlier this week after sending a policy memo to all USDA employees.
“Today, I want to reestablish this Department’s commitment to safeguarding every American’s First Amendment rights, particularly the right to free speech and the right to religious free exercise. USDA is committed to protecting both,” he said in the memo.
In his memo, Perdue also touched on mutual respect and tolerance. From the press release:
“I expect each and every USDA employee to uphold their fellow Americans’ First Amendment freedoms. Whether we are inspecting private businesses for compliance with food safety laws or protecting our public lands for recreation, cultivation, and preservation, we must set the example of our nation’s highest ideals. These are lessons we learned as children – that we should be kind to others and treat them with respect. Doing so is not optional, and it is not discretionary.”
Perdue’s initiative follows Trump’s Executive Order last week on ‘Promoting Free Speech and Relgious Liberty.‘
You can read Secretary Perdue’s entire statement here.
About Author
Jessica Szilagyi
Add a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
So…why this? To give exemptions or waivers from food safety practices, etc. based on religious grounds? With the intersection of Citizens United, agribusiness could be finding God real quickly. But since scripture generally supports humane husbandry and gentle and kind agricultural practices… will farmers now be legally free to leave the corners of the field available for passers-by to freely pick? Or will Monsanto now be able to keep a field fallow every seven years? Or is there somehow going to be LGBT discrimination in ag laws and policies?
Every fifty years all USDA loans will be forgiven.
What’s next, the Ag Dept supporting the Second Amendment with “farm carry” subsidies?
Expressing 14th amendment support would be more appropriate from Confederate battle flag supporter Perdue.