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  • Bob Graham Fast Facts | CNN Politics

    Bob Graham Fast Facts | CNN Politics



    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at the life of Bob Graham, former United States senator and Democratic governor of Florida.

    Birth date: November 9, 1936

    Birth place: Coral Gables, Florida

    Birth name: Daniel Robert Graham

    Father: Ernest “Cap” Graham, Florida state senator, dairy farmer and cattle rancher

    Mother: Hilda (Simmons) Graham, teacher

    Marriage: Adele (Khoury) Graham (1959-present)

    Children: Kendall, Suzanne, Cissy and Gwen

    Education: University of Florida, B.A., 1959; Harvard Law School, LL.B., 1962

    Graham’s family operates dairy, beef cattle and pecan farms in Florida and Georgia.

    Was a primary author of portions of the Patriot Act that dealt with improving and sharing intelligence between US and foreign agencies.

    Co-chaired the congressional investigation into the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

    Voted against going to war with Iraq in 2003.

    Graham’s daughter, Gwen, represented Florida’s 2nd Congressional District (Tallahassee), 2015-2017.

    1966-1970 – Member of the Florida House of Representatives.

    1970-1978 – Member of the Florida Senate.

    1979-1987 – Governor of Florida.

    January 3, 1987-January 3, 2005 – US Senator representing Florida.

    2001-2003 – Chairman of the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

    January 31, 2003 – Undergoes heart surgery to repair a valve.

    February 27, 2003 – Files papers to form a presidential campaign committee.

    May 6, 2003 – Formally launches his presidential campaign.

    October 6, 2003 – Announces he is dropping out of the presidential race.

    November 3, 2003 – Announces that he will not seek reelection to the Senate in 2004.

    September 2004 – Graham’s book “Intelligence Matters: The CIA, the FBI, Saudi Arabia, and the Failure of America’s War on Terror,” written with Jeff Nussbaum, is published.

    2005-2006 – Senior Research Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University.

    2006 – The Bob Graham Center for Public Service at the University of Florida is established.

    May 16, 2008 – Congressional leaders appoint Graham to chair the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism. In December 2008, the commission issues a report, saying it is likely a WMD attack will occur somewhere in the world by 2013 if nothing is done to enhance security.

    2009 – Graham’s book “America, The Owner’s Manual: Making Government Work for You,” written with Chris Hand, is published.

    May 2010 – President Barack Obama establishes a commission led by Graham and former Environmental Protection Agency Commissioner William Reilly on the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill and offshore drilling. The commission ends its work in January 2011.

    June 2011 – Graham’s first novel, “Keys to the Kingdom,” is published.

    September 2012 – Graham calls for the investigation into the September 11 terrorist attacks be reopened. He asserts that Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the attacks has been covered up.

    January 2014 – Graham visits Cuba as part of a group sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations in order to investigate Cuban plans to drill for oil offshore.

    September 9, 2016 – Graham has an op-ed in The New York Times calling for the release of more documents related to the September 11 terrorist attacks.

    November 24, 2020 – Graham’s children’s book, “Rhoda the Alligator,” is published.

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  • Here’s why beef is still pricey | CNN Business

    Here’s why beef is still pricey | CNN Business


    New York
    CNN
     — 

    A slowing economy may lead to a decline in sales of pricey beef cuts, but don’t look for any bargains just yet.

    Market forces that have been building for a long time, including devastating droughts, will likely keep hamburger and steak prices steady — and relatively expensive.

    In part, that’s because there’s less beef. A contraction in beef supplies “has been coming for a while,” said David Anderson, a professor in Texas A&M University’s agricultural economics department. “We’re starting to see the effects that we knew were going to be coming for a couple of years.”

    When extreme drought hit the United States in recent years, farmers started to rapidly sell cattle because the dry conditions, along with higher feed costs, made it expensive or impossible to maintain their herds. That wave of sales, particularly of cows used to breed, has led to supply constraints this year.

    “Tightening cattle supplies are expected to cause a significant year-over-year decrease in beef production, the first decline since 2015,” a March market outlook from the US Department of Agriculture noted.

    “If we produce less beef, the pressure’s on for higher prices,” said Anderson. The “big unknown is going to be consumer demand.”

    The beef supply tends to grow and shrink in roughly 10-year cycles, said Lance Zimmerman, senior beef analyst for the North American market with Rabobank. When supply shrinks, consumer prices tend to go up. But with people nervous about the economy, this year’s more complicated.

    “The biggest thing that looms large, in all of our minds as market analysts right now, is do we have recession risk that we need to price into the market for next year,” Zimmerman said. “If that’s the case, beef prices may be steadier.”

    And with food inflation stubbornly high, consumers are already cutting back on certain items, including beef.

    Tyson

    (TSN)    , which processes about a fifth of the country’s beef, poultry and pork, noted a sales dip in beef in the three months ending December 31, 2022.

    With grocery inflation stubbornly high, some consumers trade down.

    Beef sales “were down 5.6% compared to record high sales in the prior year,” said CFO John Tyson during a February analyst call discussing the quarterly results, noting that prices were down in the quarter due to “softer domestic demand for beef.” The company said that it expects its beef margins to fall this year because of the smaller domestic supply.

    “Retailers through last year continued to push price on the consumer,” said Adam Speck, senior livestock analyst at Gro Intelligence. Now they have to answer a question as they plan for the year: Will demand be high enough to warrant raising prices even more?

    “The answer is probably no,” said Speck. That may not be a huge relief, as beef prices are still relatively high. In 2022, fresh choice beef retailed for $7.59 per pound, according to March data from the USDA. That’s up from $7.25 per pound the previous year.

    Stores may try to test the waters during barbecue season.

    In the spring, “we’re at the bottom of our traditional seasonal demand,” said Bernt Nelson, an economist with American Farm Bureau Federation. Demand for beef typically dips after the holidays, and picks up when people fire up their grills in the summer, he noted. If demand remains strong, “we may see some higher beef prices,” towards the fall and later, Bernt said.

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  • No. 2 at USDA, who led efforts to remedy historical racial discrimination, set to leave department | CNN Politics

    No. 2 at USDA, who led efforts to remedy historical racial discrimination, set to leave department | CNN Politics


    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    Jewel Bronaugh, the No. 2 person at the US Department of Agriculture and the first Black woman in the position, will leave the department on Tuesday after a two-year tenure in which she led agency efforts to diversify its workforce and provide relief to farmers of color who say they have been discriminated against over the years.

    Bronaugh announced last month that she was leaving the agency in order to spend more time with her family. Xochitl Torres Small, the under secretary for rural development, has been nominated to succeed her.

    Along with helping steer a department that boasts 29 agencies and more than 100,000 employees across the country, Bronaugh has played a central role in the USDA’s efforts to remedy decades-long discrimination that has impacted farmers and ranchers of color. Most notably, she has co-chaired an independent commission that has examined the USDA’s policies and programs for factors that have contributed to historic discrimination against farmers of color and identify disparities, inequity and discrimination across the agency.

    “I understood as a Black woman, coming into the role as deputy secretary, the weight that went with that. The responsibility that went with that. The people who for years have not been able to get resources from USDA. The history that that has had on farmers and landowners and people who live in rural communities, I knew that I had a responsibility,” Bronaugh explained in an interview with CNN.

    “I knew coming in that there was a lot of work to be done and I was going to have to be real to that commitment, not only to everyone that USDA serves but specifically as a voice for people who have felt like they had not had a voice that represented in their interactions with the USDA. It was my responsibility to carry that.”

    Born and raised in Petersburg, Virginia, by educators, Bronaugh at first had aspirations to become an educator herself and earned a bachelor’s degree in education from James Madison University.

    But after earning a master’s degree and doctorate in vocational education from Virginia Tech, she stepped into agriculture when she took a job as a 4-H extension specialist at Virginia State University, a historically Black college and university. She also became dean of the College of Agriculture at Virginia State University and was executive director of the university’s Center for Agriculture Research, Engagement and Outreach.

    In May 2018, she was appointed commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and made history as the first Black woman in the position. She was confirmed to her current role in May 2021.

    At USDA, Bronaugh led international agricultural trade missions in the United Kingdom and countries in East Africa to help US farm businesses and organizations strengthen export and trade relationships.

    She also helped create a chief diversity and inclusion office within the Office of the Secretary and has focused on diversifying USDA’s workforce, which has seen a slight uptick in the number of employees of color over the course of her tenure. According to USDA data, 73% of USDA employees are White, 28% are employees of color and 11% are Black. Forty-five percent of USDA employees are women.

    Her very presence atop the department has been inspiring for current and former Black USDA employees, including Shirley Sherrod, who was the USDA’s director of rural development in Georgia before being pushed out under controversial circumstances in 2010.

    “The fact that she is the first Black woman to hold the position means a lot to us. It gives us hope for the future,” Sherrod, who is also a member of the Equity Commission, told CNN. “When you look at the US Department of Agriculture and you look at all of the actions we have suffered as Black people trying to get the programs that should have been available to everyone, to access them and feel that they were being implemented fairly – to actually have someone in the second position … really helping to oversee that and have a voice in places we don’t normally get a chance to be in, just to me meant a lot.”

    As Bronaugh prepares to leave the agency, one of her final orders of business will be to release the Equity Commission’s interim report on its findings on Tuesday, which she hopes will provide a blueprint for acting on the inequities she has tried to address during her time at USDA. She said there is no time frame on when the agency will begin implementing the recommendations but she is hopeful it will happen immediately. If confirmed by the Senate, Small would be tasked with presenting the commission’s final recommendations to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack later this year.

    “Being able to get the Equity Commission to a set of interim recommendations has been huge for me,” Bronaugh said. “That is going to give us an opportunity to look at, you know, where we have discretion, where we have authority and where we have resources to immediately start to address some of the historical inequity issues here are USDA.”

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