Congress of the United States ‘Washington, BE 20510 August 09, 2017 ‘The Honorable Sonny Perdue Secretary ULS. Department of Agriculture 1400 Independence Ave., 8.W. Washington, D.C. 20250 Dear Secretary Perdue: ‘Thank you for your service as the Secretary of Agriculture. We write to respectfully request that a qualified New Mexico Rural Development State Director be named as soon as possible in order to continue the mission of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development (USDA RD) mn in our state. This position is critical to providing on-the-ground leadership for USDA to manage over 5,000 loans, grants, and assistance programs. USDA RD provided more than $1.7 billion in New Mexico over the past seven years, crucial support during a time of poor economic growth in our state, especially for many rural communities. This funding came primarily through affordable loans, which can create new jobs and fund rural infrastructure projects at a good value for taxpayers. In that time, USDA RD has helped communities and over 3,000 families do projects and create opportunities to make their lives better and spur economic growth Given the diversity and unique characteristics of New Mexico, we believe that strong state director leadership is essential to providing robust and efficient levels of service for our struggling rural communities. New Mexico is a majority minority state, with the highest proportion of Hispanic residents of any state and the second-highest proportion of Native Americans, and includes many unique and historic rural agricultural communities. Economic changes in the agriculture and other industries in all corners of our state are leading many communities to turn to USDA RD for assistance. USDA RD’s mission is especially important in our state because New Mexico has one of the highest poverty rates in the nation at 20.4 percent, New Mexico is 50" in poverty among those who work full time year round and is one of six states where income inequality is greater for rural households than for urban households. In addition New Mexico has one of the highest ‘unemployment rates in the nation today. While the energy and tourism sectors are showing some recent strength, employment in the agriculture sector declined by 3.5 percent last year. These employment losses are projected to reach 5.7 percent by 2020. USDA RD programs have helped New Mexico’s rural communities remain resilient, however more work is urgently needed to bring economic growth up to the level enjoyed by rest of the country. To enable USDA to work effectively to face these challenges, New Mexico needs a state director who can understand the local context and ensure that USDA RD resources match theeconomic and social development needs of our diverse communities. Therefore, we respectfully urge you to appoint a State Director as soon as possible. Thank you for your attention to my/our request and we hope you will consider New Mexico's needs on this and other important matters under your leadership at USDA. If we can be of any assistance in your work at the Department, please do not hesitate to contact us, Sincerely, Tom Udall Martin Heinrich United States Senator United States Senator Steve Pearce Ben Ray Li United States Representative United States Representative Michelle Lujan Siam United States Representative