Recognizing Mr. Craig Pedersen

Floor Speech

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Mr. VALADAO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the incredible career of Mr. Craig Pedersen and to congratulate him on his retirement.

Mr. Pedersen has spent most of his life in Kings County. Born in Reno, Nevada, his family moved to Lemoore in 1962 to return to their family farm. While he didn't know it at the time, this would begin a lifelong career in the agricultural industry for Mr. Pedersen. After graduating from Hanford High School, Mr. Pedersen began working full time with the family farm in 1982 and would eventually become business partners with his father, Robert. Together, they formed Pedersen Farms in 1987.

After many years of learning the agriculture business on his family farm, Mr. Pedersen began to take on leadership positions in the local agricultural community. He has served as the Chairman of the California Cotton Growers Association, the California Wheat Commission, and the Kings County Farm Bureau. In 1992, Mr. Pedersen accepted a multi-year fellowship with the California Agriculture Leadership Program, which allowed him to travel across North and South America to obtain an even better understanding of the agriculture industry. Following his fellowship, former California Governor Pete Wilson appointed Mr. Pedersen to serve a four-year term on the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board. In 2015, Mr. Pedersen was elected to the Kings County Board of Supervisors, where he has continued his lifelong commitment to the Central Valley agricultural community.

Mr. Pedersen has been an essential part of the Central Valley community for over thirty years. His work has been widely recognized throughout Kings County, where he has received both the California Agriculture Leadership Profile in Leadership Award in 2000 and the Kings County Agriculturalist of the Year award in 2002. I cannot think of a man more deserving of these recognitions than Mr. Pedersen, who has dedicated his entire adult life to supporting agriculture in the Central Valley.

I ask all my colleagues in the United States House of Representatives to join me in honoring the lifelong work and achievements of Mr. Craig Pedersen and congratulate him on a well-deserved retirement.

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