Ron Kind: “I was a proud cosponsor of this resolution. On a previous trip to Afghanistan, I too had a chance to spend some time…”

“I was a proud cosponsor of this resolution. On a previous trip to Afghanistan, I too had a chance to spend some time with the National Guard Agri-business Development Teams. And we can't thank our troops for the mission that they are carrying out in Afghanistan enough. And it is especially true for the citizen-soldiers that we send over there, our Guard and Reserve units. But the Agri-business Development Teams are performing a very vital and important function in the development and assistance that is taking place in Afghanistan, a country which, after all, is an agrarian nation. I am especially proud that one of the leaders in the National Guard is a gentleman by the name of Colonel Marty Leppert, who as a kid grew up on a dairy farm outside of Reedsburg, Wisconsin, in the heart of my congressional district. And I commend USDA and USAID, but especially our military leadership for recognizing the value of identifying our soldiers with agriculture backgrounds, and utilizing that expertise in the development of these ag development teams working with Afghan farmers.”