{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://paulsen.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=22&itemid=1922", "Paulsen Applauds Appointment of Brad Finstad as Minnesota State Director for the USDA Office of Rural Development", "2017-11-06", "2017", "2017-11", "Republican", "House", "MN", "Erik Paulsen", "P000594", "paulsen.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C.\u00a0\u2013 Congressman Paulsen (MN-03) issued the following statement on President Trump\u2019s appointments of two Minnesotans to key agriculture positions. Brad Finstad, the CEO of the Center for Rural Policy and Development, was named the Minnesota State Director for the USDA Office of Rural Development; and Joe Martin, former Assistant Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, was named Farm Service Agency Director.\r\n\r\n\t\u201cI\u2019ve known Brad since we served in the Minnesota Legislature together and I know his commitment to rural Minnesota is unwavering,\u201d\u00a0said Congressman Paulsen. \u201cHis personal and professional background will serve him well in making sure our state\u2019s rural communities have the resources they need to address childcare, the opioid epidemic, and aging infrastructure.\u201d\r\n\r\n\tFinstad currently serves CEO of the Center for Rural Policy and Development, a non-partisan, not-for-profit policy research organization based in St. Peter, Minn. Prior to his current role, he served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2003 to 2008, representing Brown, Redwood, and Watonwan counties and serving on the Agriculture, Rural Economies and Veteran Affairs Committee. He also worked as an agricultural advisor to U.S. Representative Mark Kennedy from Minnesota\u2019s 6th Congressional District, and graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Agricultural Education.\r\n\r\n\tPaulsen also applauded Joe Martin\u2019s appointment to Farm Service Agency Director, saying, \u201cJoe Martin\u2019s long tenure in the Minnesota agriculture community will ensure the USDA offers the best service to Minnesota farmers and rural Minnesota.\u201d\r\n\r\n\tCongressman Paulsen, a champion of small business and advocate of free enterprise, entrepreneurship, and innovation, serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, the bicameral Joint Economic Committee, and is co-chair of the Congressional Medical Technology Caucus.\r\n\r\n\tFor more information on Congressman Paulsen\u2019s work in Congress visit\u00a0paulsen.house.gov.\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://paulsen.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=22&itemid=1922"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7358400616794825, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}