The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry passed the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012.  Debbie Stabenow is its chairwoman.

Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., is the ranking minority member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., chairs the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee.

Tom Vilsack is U.S. secretary of agriculture. See remarks he made in October 2011 about priorities for the 2012 farm bill.

June 1, 2013, Associated Press article about the Catholic Church’s waning influence in American politics. The article is posted on The Washington Post website.

Read this article from HowStuffWorks about why humans have a tendency to give.

Read a Nov. 30, 2010, story in USA Today, “Unraveling the mystery of why we give, or don’t,” about new research into the biology of altruism.

Read an article from the Autism Support Network about how a mother and her son with autism enjoy Christmas.

Read a Nov. 30, 2003, Boston Globe article about the rising profile of Christian evangelical groups at liberal colleges in the Northeast.