Now our job, our duty, our responsibility to ensure the safety and security of our citizens cannot be complete unless we guarantee health care security for our citizens.

I think a lot of people don't understand the makeup of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program population, of the food stamp population, 80 percent senior citizens, people with disabilities, children, and those who are actually in the work force working. The folks who are not - who are able-bodied, who are adults, who don't have dependents, there's a desire to make sure that they get to work and that they aren't basically gaming the system. But the reality is, they have a responsibility to either be involved in work or education, or they're limited in terms of their benefits.

One out of every 12 jobs in the economy is connected in some way, shape or form to what happens on the farm.

I think, certainly, Barack Obama has created an opportunity for America to understand that diversity is a blessing, diversity is a strength. It isn't necessarily something to be concerned about. And I think, at the end of the day, we're going to learn that this country operates best when it celebrates and surrounds itself and appreciates diversity, and doesn't shun it.

Over the past two years, the Obama Administration and USDA have worked to build a foundation for sustainable economic growth in rural America. At the center of our vision is an effort to increase domestic production and use of renewable energy.

I think President Barack Obama is going to be treated very, very well by history in terms of his ability to save the economy. And that's certainly true in rural areas. The unemployment rate is substantially reduced, the poverty rate is down, and in large part because of the investments that were made during the Recovery Act and thereafter, historic investments.

At President Obama's direction, the U.S Department of Agriculture is working hard to unleash the power of America's innovators and entrepreneurs to build a green energy economy.