Tuesday, June 16, 2020

Final Sessions: UN Global Compact 20th Anniversary Leaders Summit. June 15, 2020

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Eastern Europe Plenary: Climate Change and a Just Transition

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Francophone and Western Europe Plenary: SMEs and COVID-19

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Reflections on Local Action for Global Change

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Passing the Baton: Leadership for the Decade of Action

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Climate Change \ Food Insecurity. Politico Update. June 15, 2020

Small meatpackers scramble to meet booming demand

Politico Morning Agriculture Newsletter

Monday, 6/15/20

https://www.politico.com/morningagriculture/

Small meatpackers scramble to meet booming demand

By RYAN MCCRIMMON

With help from Ximena Bustillo, Liz Crampton and Doug Palmer

06/15/2020 10:00 AM EDT

Quick Fix

— The pandemic has fueled concerns about consolidation in the meat sector but small meatpackers may not be able to fill the gaps without financial and regulatory aid to help them handle the added volume.

— The super PAC supporting House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson thinks he’s in a good position to win his reelection. The group, backed by members of the sugar beet industry, has told donors that the race has shifted in recent weeks to his benefit.

— Oil refiners are aiming to escape biofuel blending rules by winding back the clock, asking the EPA for economic hardship status dating back to 2013 that would free them from their obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard.

HAPPY MONDAY, JUNE 15! Welcome to Morning Ag, and check out this deep-dive on fish farms where the fish are getting way too big. Send tips to rmccrimmon@politico.com and @ryanmccrimmon, and follow us @Morning_Ag.

Get the free POLITICO news app for the critical updates you need. Breaking news, analysis, videos, and podcasts, right at your fingertips. Download for iOS and Android.

Driving the Day

SMALL MEATPACKERS SCRAMBLE TO MEET DEMAND BOOM: Driven by a cultural shift toward buying local and the closure of large meatpacking plants due to coronavirus outbreaks, small processors have seen an influx of business amid the pandemic. But the rising demand could do more harm than good if Congress and the Agriculture Department don’t throw small meatpackers a regulatory lifeline, POLITICO's Ximena Bustillo writes.

Most small plants can only kill 10 to 20 animals per day, and they can’t easily increase their speed or volume, says Rebecca Thistlethwaite, director of the Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network. Meanwhile, the large facilities that employ thousands of workers can slaughter up to 20,000 per day, she said.

As livestock producers with fewer options to sell their animals increasingly turned to smaller packers, those plants scrambled to invest in bigger coolers, freezers, holding bins and other operating needs just to keep up with the amount of product coming in. Many have backlogs stretching longer than a year.

To ease the demand, small processors, ranchers and other advocates are calling for financial support from Congress and regulatory changes like waiving overtime fees, on top of broader antitrust enforcement in the heavily concentrated industry.

How we got here: ProPublica has a deep-dive on the breakdown between large meatpackers and state health officials that allowed coronavirus outbreaks to worsen in slaughterhouses across the country. Read the story.

WINNERS PLAY THE LONG GAME: Our sustainability newsletter, "The Long Game," is designed for executives, investors and policymakers leading the conversations about how society can grow and thrive in the future. Interested in building a sustainable future for generations to come? Join the sharpest minds for a discussion about the most significant challenges from pandemics to plastics, climate change to land use, inequality and the future of work. Subscribe today for a nuanced look at these issues and potential solutions.

PETERSON’S STATE OF THE RACE: The sugar beet-backed super PAC investing solely in Peterson’s reelection this cycle, Committee for Stronger Rural Communities, believes that “certain elements of the race are firming up and moving in the right direction” for the Minnesota Democrat, per a state of the race memo circulated among donors obtained by MA. According to the memo, Peterson has been boosted by active campaigning, such as holding fundraisers on Zoom, favorable internal polls, strong PAC fundraising, and what they say is a weak Republican challenger.

Bipartisanship: It highlights Peterson’s recent work with Republicans during the pandemic, noting that he appeared alongside GOP Rep. Jim Hagedorn at an appearance at a meatpacking plant in Worthington, Minn., to plan for how to deal with a backlog of hogs due to plant closures. Earlier in the day, he also spoke with Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue “to flesh out the message and plan.”

“National stories like this show Peterson’s value to the 7th CD, and his genuine bipartisan streak. When things need to get done, people turn to Collin to take the ‘bull by the horns,’” the memo states.

It also attacks Peterson’s top GOP challenger, Michelle Fischbach, former state senate president. She lacks strong local support and knowledge about policy issues like agriculture, an important industry to the district, the memo argues. “She stumbled in a media interview when she had to admit she had no idea of the current soybean price. In a district where farming is the linchpin of the local economy, this is a high-scale gaffe that has taken hold in the ag community and will not go away.” Read the rest of the memo here.

REFINERS TRY END-AROUND IN ETHANOL FIGHT: In the latest round of tug-of-war between oil and agriculture, small refineries made an unprecedented request that would free them from their annual RFS requirements, despite a recent court order that threatened to wipe out most of the annual blending waivers handed out by the Trump administration.

ICYMI: Earlier this year, a federal court ruled that the agency could only extend the waivers for small refiners who had been continuously exempt from annual blending requirements since the start of the program in 2013. As Pro Energy’s Eric Wolff explains, oil refiners are now petitioning the EPA for economic hardship status dating back to then, allowing them to meet the court’s standard going forward.

Between the lines: The move comes at an awkward time for President Donald Trump, whose political standing in the Midwest has weakened in recent weeks. The oil and agriculture industries are key pieces of Trump’s political base, and he’s long been caught in the middle of their fight over federal biofuel policy — especially the use of blending waivers, which ethanol producers claim are crushing their business.

Now the stakes are even higher since the drop in travel sent gasoline consumption plummeting, slamming both oil companies and ethanol producers whose biofuels are blended into the gasoline pool.

— With half of all U.S. biofuel production on pause, Washington has been under heavy pressure to throw the industry a lifeline. House Democrats included direct aid for biofuel production in their latest stimulus package, but the bill hasn’t gained any traction in the Senate.

“Politically, they have to do something,” an oil industry member told Eric, referring to the Trump administration. “They’d love to be able to lay low until November, if that doesn’t disrupt Iowa. But there’s a lot of bad options on the table.”

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Trade Corner

U.S., U.K. WANT A TRADE DEAL BY NOVEMBER: Washington and London will launch their second round of formal trade talks today, aiming to sign a deal before the U.S. elections this fall. That’s an ambitious timeline that would likely require negotiations to wrap up by early August, our Pro Trade friends tell MA.

Of course, agriculture remains a major sticking point. The Trump administration wants the U.K. to ease restrictions on chemically rinsed poultry, genetically modified crops and hormone-treated beef, but British farmers fear being undercut by less costly American products that aren’t held to the same production standards.

HAPPENING TODAY at 12 p.m. EDT/9 a.m. PDT: A VIRTUAL INTERVIEW WITH LOS ANGELES MAYOR ERIC GARCETTI: Los Angeles is grappling with a rising number of Covid-19 cases and a wave of protests for racial justice after the killing of George Floyd. California Playbook authors Carla Marinucci and Jeremy White will find out how Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is dealing with these twin crises during a virtual interview TODAY. REGISTER HERE.

Row Crops

— Some grocery stores are struggling to make a profit from food delivery services that have seen a jump in sales. Retailers have hired thousands more workers to meet the demand and dedicated entire stores to online orders only, but the higher costs are eating into their margins. The Wall Street Journal has the story.

— The pandemic is fueling interest in organizing in sectors that traditionally lack labor unions. Grocery, restaurant, warehouse and other workers have been pushing for safer workplaces and higher wages, including hazard pay, per POLITICO’s Shia Kapos.

— Perdue on Friday issued a memorandum directing the Forest Service to expedite environmental reviews and potentially allow for more logging and development on public lands. More from The Hill.

— Julie Callahan was named assistant U.S. Trade Representative for agricultural affairs and commodity policy, after filling the position on an acting basis since April, the agency announced. Callahan previously worked at the FDA and USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service.

— FCC Chairman Ajit Pai will testify Tuesday at a Senate Appropriations hearing on the agency’s proposed auction of 5G-friendly airwaves on the C-band, Pro Tech’s John Hendel reports.

THAT’S ALL FOR MA! Drop us a line: rmccrimmon@politico.com; hbottemiller@politico.com; lcrampton@politico.com; jyearwood@politico.com and pjoshi@politico.com.

About The Author : Ryan McCrimmon

Ryan McCrimmon is an agriculture reporter for POLITICO Pro, where he covers the farm economy, agricultural trade, federal spending on food and farm programs and other ag issues. He also writes the daily Morning Agriculture newsletter.

Before joining POLITICO, Ryan was a budget and tax reporter for CQ/Roll Call and covered Texas state politics for the Texas Tribune in Austin. Ryan graduated from Northwestern University, where he studied journalism, Middle Eastern politics and Arabic. He also covered Big Ten sports for the Northwestern News Network and Big Ten Digital Network

Ryan was born and raised in Charlottesville, Va. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his dog Bailey and loves playing basketball, making music and traveling to national parks

National Latino Farmers & Ranchers Trade Association

1029 Vermont Avenue, NW, Suite 601

Washington, DC 20005

Office: (202) 628-8833

Fax No.: (202) 393-1816

Email: latinofarmers@live.com

Twitter: @NLFRTA

Website: www.NLFRTA.org

Monday, June 15, 2020

$$$ Houses of Worship Eligible for Financial Assistance. June 2020

Lets' try this one more time since initial grant opportunities for faith-based organizations were from February to April 2020.

Did your faith-based organization submit a grant?

Why and Why not?

Hmmm

In the midst of a disaster it can be difficult to keep track of everything and find the information and documentation needed when your facility is damaged. One simple thing you can do now is create an account on Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Grants Portal for your House of Worship. This website will allow you to upload critical documents for your facility as well as place you in a notification system for when federal declarations are made to your area.

FEMA, working with State, Local and Tribal leaders, is hosting important "how-to" Webinars to support local leaders navigate this system. We encourage you to review the following opportunities.

FEMA will be offering a series of webinars titled: Grants Portal Applicant Basics where you will learn how to register and set up a new Grants Portal account, submit a request for Public Assistance (RPA) and how upload documents and create tiles. Below, you will find dates, times and the link to visit for the course offerings and further below you will find further information related to Grants Portal:

June 15 at 2:00 p.m.: https://fema.zoomgov.com/j/1615279340, Meeting ID: 161 527 9340 Password: 564786
June 16 at 7:00 p.m.: https://fema.zoomgov.com/j/1614137342, Meeting ID: 161 413 7342 Password: 564786
June 17 at 2:00 p.m.: https://fema.zoomgov.com/j/1615279340, Meeting ID: 161 527 9340 Password: 564786
June 19 at 2:00 p.m.: https://fema.zoomgov.com/j/1615279340, Meeting ID: 161 527 9340 Password: 564786

FEMA’s Public Assistance (PA) Program provides supplemental assistance to States, Tribes, and local governmental entities, as well as eligible private nonprofit (PNP) organizations including Houses of Worship. Public Assistance is FEMA’s largest grant program providing funds to reimburse communities responding to and recovering from major disasters or emergencies declared by the President. The program provides funding for emergency assistance to save lives and protect property and assists with funding for permanently restoring community infrastructure affected by a federally declared incident.

You or your denomination can create your account today in Grants Portal for Public Assistance. Profiles can be created once you collect the following information:

Recipient (Owner or leaseholder with responsibility for making repairs)
Non-profit IRS status (with or without 501C3)
EIN Number
DUNS (optional)
POC Name, Title, Phone #; Email
Complete Physical Location
Counties with facilities

Gather the information detailed above and reach out to the Public Assistance Office at your State or Territory Emergency Management Agency about creating your account in Grants Portal today! Once you have an account you can upload and store documentation in the system at any time before a disaster is declared. When an event occurs and you make an approved Request for Public Assistance, you will receive an Event Profile in in Grants Portal and can upload information that pertains to that event.

For more information on in Grants Portal and how FEMA addresses PA applications from PNPs, including Houses of Worship you can go to IS-1002: FEMA Grants Portal – Transparency at Every Step and IS-1026: Eligibility of Private Nonprofit Organizations respectively.

For additional information, please see FEMA's Applicant Quick Guide to Grants Portal Account Creation and Request for Public Assistance for more information - https://grantee.fema.gov/Content/files/Applicant%20Quick%20Guide%20Grants%20Portal%20Account%20and%20RPA%20(Mar%2028%202020).pdf

Thank you for everything you do as faith and community organization leaders in supporting your local communities everyday. You are a critical partner in our efforts to build a more resilient nation and a key resource in serving those in need during times of disaster.

Military Service. Diversity & Inclusion is still an Illusion. June 2020

The Community Imperative. Local, Regionally, and Nationally.

An age of conflict in personal and communal values of service.

Our oath did not just end at the end of our enlistment, discharge, or retirement.

CDS

The Oath of Enlistment (for enlisted): "I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States ...

Military data reveals dangerous reality for black ... - CNN.com

www.cnn.com › politics › military-diversity-data

19 hours ago - Top US military officials are seeking to reassure the nation's roughly two million active duty and reserve personnel that they are committed to ...

Military data reveals dangerous reality for black service members and veterans

By Zachary Cohen and Janie Boschma, CNN

Updated 11:52 AM ET, Sun June 14, 2020

Washington (CNN)Top US military officials are seeking to reassure the nation's roughly two million active duty and reserve personnel that they are committed to addressing issues of racial inequality across the branches following George Floyd's death and protests across the country.

But the challenges they face are huge.

A CNN review of data provided by the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs reveals the stark reality that black service members are less likely to become officers and, as a result, are more likely to be seriously injured serving their country than their white colleagues.

Those issues are very much intertwined, according to David Shulkin, who previously served as President Donald Trump's Veterans Affairs Secretary.

"While there's been some increase in relative numbers in minority officers, it's not been proportional to the increase that we're serving, so therefore you do have more minority members serving in the front line jobs and therefore getting higher numbers of these injuries," he told CNN in an interview Friday.

The data reviewed by CNN includes a mix of publicly available numbers and records kept by the Department of Defense.

CNN has reached out to the Pentagon for comment.

Veterans are becoming more diverse

While an overwhelming majority of service members are still white, the numbers reflect a steady rise in diversity within the military that coincides with the adoption of policies of integration and equal rights for black service members in the wake of World War II.

Less than 10% of World War II veterans were minorities but since then, each veteran cohort has been more diverse than the last.

Of the veterans who have served since September 11, 2001, 35% are minorities, according to the data reviewed by CNN. Black veterans make up 15% of veterans who have served since then.

America's military leaders take a stand as Trump remains silent on racial inequality

While integration policies were adopted by the Army and Navy well before many states in the South and other American institutions took similar steps, it took years before the changes were enforced, resulting in retention issues for the branches, according to the Department of Defense.

Significant support for segregation in the Army continued into the early 1950's and the service did not complete its integration until 1954, according to the Pentagon.

Black service members underrepresented in officer ranks

One of those issues is the lack of minority service members in leadership positions.

Black service members are still disproportionately under-represented among the officer ranks despite enlisting at a higher rate than other minorities and whites relative to their share of the US population, Department of Defense data shows.

Black service members represent 19% of all enlisted personnel, but just 9% of officers.

For white service members, the trend reverses. Two-thirds of all enlisted service members are white. But among officer ranks, more than three-quarters are white.

It is an issue that has been highlighted in the wake of Floyd's death, most notably in a post from the Air Force's top enlistee earlier this month.

Chief Master Sgt. Kaleth Wright, who's responsible for 410,000 enlisted members, said his "greatest fear" is "not that I will be killed by a white police officer (believe me my heart starts racing like most other Black men in America when I see those blue lights behind me) ... but that I will wake up to a report that one of our Black Airmen has died at the hands of a white police officer."

He also outlined his struggle with the "Air Force's own demons" of racial disparities in military justice and discipline and the "clear lack" of diversity in leadership.

Current and former service members have echoed that point, suggesting issues like the lack of diversity in leadership roles continues to have a direct impact on the retention and recruitment of minorities.

"The fact is that had I been afforded more direct mentorship and more examples of leaders who reflected my own life experience, I would have been more likely to remain a member of the Army. Like my father a half century before me, I decided to seek out other ways to continue serving my community and country," Garrison, who current works as Human Rights First's chief ambassador to the national security community, told the House Armed Services Committee in January.

Garrison also told lawmakers that some of the current administration's policies are also having a negative impact on the recruitment and retention of minority service members.

"The fact that many major military bases are still named after Confederate leaders; the ongoing worries about white nationalism in the military's ranks; and the fact that an individual who holds extreme views on race, continues to serve at the highest level of immigration policy-making -- these factors risk causing a detrimental impact on our military's ability to recruit and retain new and diverse talent," he said during his testimony before the committee.

First black service member to lead a US military branch

The lack of diversity at the highest levels of the military was highlighted yet again this month when the Senate voted to confirm Gen. Charles Q. Brown as the first black service member to lead an American military branch earlier this week.

While Brown's confirmation has been applauded as a historic moment for the military, the fact that it took place more than 70 years after President Harry S Truman's executive order that desegregated the services underscores the incremental pace at which change has occurred.

Prior to his confirmation, Brown reflected on the impact of Floyd's death while addressing some of the challenges and fears that he has endured as a black service member.

First black service chief in US military history confirmed by Senate

In a moving, deeply personal video, Brown said he was "full with emotion" for "the many African Americans that have suffered the same fate as George Floyd."

He also described being one of the only African Americans at his school and often being the only African American in his platoon, and later, in leadership.

"I'm thinking about a history of racial issues and my own experiences that didn't always sing of liberty," Brown said. "I'm thinking about wearing the same flight suit with the same wings on my chest as my peers and then being questioned by another military member: 'Are you a pilot?'"

"I'm thinking about the pressure I felt to perform error-free, especially for supervisors I perceived had expected less of me as an African American. I'm thinking about having to represent by working twice as hard to prove their expectations and perceptions of African Americans were invalid," he added.

Brown said he hopes he can help address some of those issues in his new role as the first African American chief of staff for any military branch.

"I'm thinking about how my nomination provides some hope, but also comes with a heavy burden. I can't fix centuries of racism in our country, nor can I fix decades of discrimination that may have impacted members of our Air Force. I'm thinking about how I can make improvements personally, professionally, and institutionally, so that all Airmen, both today and tomorrow, appreciate the value of diversity and can serve in an environment where they can reach their full potential," he said.

Black veterans more likely to sustain severe injuries during service

For minority service members, and black veterans in particular, the challenges they face while in the military have had a direct impact on their long-term health.

A review of VA data shows that black veterans are more likely to sustain severe injuries during their service -- a trend that is directly linked to the fact that they are disproportionately working "frontline jobs" during their time in the military, according to Shulkin.

"In the VA system you're seeing a reflection of what has come from the Department of Defense, which is a growing proportion of minorities or serving many of them in frontline roles," he told CNN.

The Department of Veterans Affairs assigns injured veterans a "disability rating," which represents how much a service-related injury affects their earning ability.

The ratings determine the amount of the monthly benefit they should receive as compensation. They range from 0% to 100% -- the higher the rating, the more severe a veteran's disability.

Nearly 31% of injured black veterans have a disability rating of 70% or higher, compared with around 23% of white injured veterans," according to the data.

"The disability rating is an indicator of the severity of the injury and the disruption to life after serving," Shulkin said, adding that the current data is a reflection of the numbers of minorities who are serving as well as the roles and categories of job duties that they are doing in the military.

"While our minority communities are shouldering the disproportionate share of service to the country, they are not necessarily, being represented in the more senior positions to that same level," he added.

Those numbers become even more troubling given the fact that the minority veteran population is projected to increase over the next 20 years despite the fact that the total number of veterans is expected to decrease over that same time period, according to the VA.